Thrashers.Today.Com

By Bud L. Ellis
thrashers.today.com

ATLANTA – Unlike many guys, I have no trouble remembering my wedding anniversary.

I married my best girl six months to the day after we met (actually, we celebrate two anniversary dates each year: the day we met, and the day we tied the knot). It capped a whirlwind weekend for me, which went a little something like this:

Friday night: Cover a high school football game.

Saturday afternoon: Cover a college football game.

Sunday afternoon: Cover an NFL football game.

Monday morning: Get married.

In case you’re wondering, we both returned to work on Tuesday. No frills, no major expense … and yeah, neither one of us would do it any different if given the chance.

So what in the name of Ilya Kovalchuk does this have to do with the Atlanta Thrashers, you may ask? Fair question. But stick with me. It’s late August, and precious little is happening in advance of prospects camp and training camp next month. From there, it’s full-steam ahead into the season.

Back to my big weekend. It came in October 1999. I pounded out my college story on Saturday, filed it with the newsroom, and raced 70 miles back to my Northeast Georgia home. Once I arrived, I grabbed my radio and tried to listen through the static to the frenzied voice of Scotty Ferrell calling the first game in Atlanta Thrashers history.

Yes, the Thrashers are two days older than my marriage. The bond with my wife is even stronger than it was that day we said “I do.” And my enjoyment of the Thrashers, which came into reality on that first Saturday night in October nearly nine years ago, continues to grow.

A couple of weeks after that opening-night loss to New Jersey, the bride and I attended our first Thrashers game in person. I proudly wore the white home jersey my mother-in-law purchased for me as an early Christmas present. We sat one row from the top of Philips Arena at center ice and cheered on the Thrashers as they beat Tampa Bay. It was my first NHL game, and although I had covered plenty of International Hockey League contests when the Atlanta Knights were in town, seeing the NHL in person was a beautiful thing, like eating prime rib when you’re accustomed to a lesser cut of meat.

Hopefully, the Thrashers can rebound from last season’s abysmal showing and move back into playoff contention. We moved away from Atlanta shortly before the puck dropped on the Thrashers’ second season. Back in the Big A for the Southeast Division championship season of 2006-07, I can tell you it was one of the biggest thrills of my sporting life to go to games during that surge to the playoffs.

I’m really looking forward to the season starting. True, there are plenty of questions about this team, some which we’ve already addressed here in the past month. True, nobody gives this team much of a chance of being in the thick of things come March.

But as in marriage, when you pledge your allegiance to a sports team, you do it for better or for worse. Here’s hoping for the Thrashers, the best is yet to come.

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