Dallas Stars Power Countdown: 10 Days: Rid Of The Red
By Josh Clark
The Dallas Stars play the Florida Panthers at the American Airlines Center tonight, marking their second to last preseason game for the year. Keep an eye out on Blackout Dallas for preview and post-game coverage.
This is the last day of double-digits in our countdown. Can you believe that? We started this up an astounding 86 days ago. Now we are here and we have almost finished what we started. 10 days remain until the Dallas Stars open up their season against the Chicago Blackhawks on October 9th at the American Airlines Center.
With the regular season so close, I thought now would be the best time to give you a full-out reminder of the hash tag that has sat at the bottom of these countdown posts for 66 days and what it stands for.
Here is the campaign article I wrote 9 1/2 weeks ago regarding opening night and what needs to be done:
[Good morning and happy Saturday, Stars fans!
I thought I’d start your weekend off with an epiphany and a cause for concern.
The Dallas Stars had a fantastic season, as everyone knows. But the attendance was nothing near what it should have been, though that will be saved for another day.
But the real thing that sent many Stars fans, including myself, over the edge was when Detroit and Chicago came to town. The American Airlines Center seems to fill with a sea of blood red jerseys and shirts. It’s gotten to a point of outrage and pure annoyance.
The Stars need the support from their fans and do not need to feel as though they are on the road in opposing territory. Last year, the annual, “Let’s Go Stars” chants were quickly drowned out by, “Let’s Go Red Wings” or, “Let’s Go Hawks” and it was sickening, to say the least. After the annual yell of, “STARS” during the national anthem, the “red rats” would yell, “RED” later on. The Stars are wearing green, not red, and we need to make that clear. At the three Hawks games and one Wings game last year, at least 45% of the arena was filled with red. That is not a misprint: 45%. Home teams are supposed to enjoy a hefty and energetic crowd to cheer them on, not a crowd that mocks and dejects them.
The reason I am bringing this up is that this is a continuing tradition that needs to be abolished. The masses of Dallas Stars reporters and employees have tweeted, wrote, and notified fans about trying to change this, and I’m joining the fight. The Stars need a sea of intimidating green filling the seats on October 9th when they open their season against the Chicago Blackhawks, and that needs to happen. So buy your tickets, get some Victory Green, and be ready to outdo and consume the repulsive noise coming from any red-covered human being. This season needs to start off on the right foot, and that will only happen if we take back the AAC, a building that is rightfully ours. If the Stars can see a full building of green for the first time ever against the Hawks, that could motivate them to go for all the marbles. If there’s someone to impress, why not impress them?
Take all the seats before Blackhawks fans have a chance to overpopulate. If they find their way in, we need to shut them down early. This is our division rival, and we need to treat them like it. There’s 75 days to fulfill these tasks, can everyone pitch in?
I don’t know how far this post is going to reach, so we need to spread it as far as possible. The last hash tag, #InJimNillWeTrust, that we used spread a LONG way, especially on July 1st. Here’s a new hash tag to use, #RidOfTheRed. Use it whenever you’re talking about the season opener, when you get new Stars gear, when you get tickets to the game, when you spot a Blackhawk fan around the city, it doesn’t matter, just get it trending so everyone knows about it! Get this trending and maybe, just maybe, we can find a way to get the Stars a full and vibrant home crowd.
The Stars are in for a special season, and they will need all the help from the fans that they can get! That’s the least we can do! Get it trending and we’ll get there.
Comments and questions below and GO STARS. 75 days, time to #RidOfTheRed.]
Please remember, the American Airlines Center is the Dallas Stars house. Let’s try and keep it that way. Do what you have to do, and in 10 days hopefully a sea of green will engulf the AAC and will drown out any speck of red. 10 days, do your part to get it done.
Comments and questions below, and as always, thanks for reading! Go Stars.
#RidOfTheRed