The Similkameen News Leader
Editorial
October 16, 2007
SHOWING PRIDE WITH A BASEBALL BAT
We've finally figured it out.
Someone must have decided Princeton is not supposed to have a successful Junior B hockey team.
How dare those coal-fired power plant haters get away with having such a good hockey team. Maybe it's all that non-polluted air they're breathing over there.
Maybe it's because the stands are filled by rabid hockey fans including sponsors - at each home game and carloads venture to many of the road games to spread a little bit of that good ole Similkameen Valley pride. It's the best explanation we can come up with regarding the incredibly tough first five years the Posse have endured.
Sure, some of it wasn't pretty, but new teams usually have a rough start. And now with possibly the best team ever assembled in the history of the franchise (last year was tough to improve on, but they somehow managed) we see even more roadblocks being put up as attempts to slow down and otherwise demoralize the team.
Sure, things got out of hand in Chase, but it takes two to tango. We suspect the robbery of hockey equipment recently in Kamloops from the Posse bus was a little more than a raid by souvenir hunters. But then again, maybe Princeton wasn't handicapped enough going into that game with all those suspensions and all.
We also suspect the damage to cars owned by Posse players parked at the Arena while the team was on a road trip was not an act of random violence. But then again, maybe the boys weren't supposed to feel safe anymore at the Arena they call home.
Think about it.
It really wouldn't have been hard to figure out when and where the team would be if a few Posse-hatin' folks chose to host a little road trip of their own. Providing one of those Posse-hatin' folks could read a hockey schedule. And a map. And be able to connect the dots from where they are to where we are and back again. While we're on the subject of being victimized, we'd like to point out that game suspensions and fines do nothing about solving the problem.
They just give us more time to plot the Posse takeover of the league and junior hockey in general. And figure out ways to incorporate a referee-training clinic as a fundraiser for the Posse.
There is a problem and it's real. The problem is that outside of the Similkameen, there appears to be a real
'hate on' for the Posse.
Could it be those retro uniforms are confusing the style of the other teams?
Could it be that the community-owned team is filling the Arena at most games?
Could it be that the Posse are winning?
Whatever the reason, the team needs our support probably now more than ever because the only beatings they should experience is on the scoreboard the few games they'll actually lose this season.
