Dear Washington Capitals: Since When Is It Against The Rules To Be Angry?

Apr 29, 2010, 3:59 PM UTC

About two weeks ago, you may have come across this video of an angry Washington Capitals fan after his team’s loss to Montreal in Game 1 of their first round series:

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â†µAs we know, it got a lot worse for the Capitals from there (I’m still not ready to talk about it), but what about the fan in that video? Well, according to a reader of the popular Hot Clicks section on SI.com, his tickets were revoked. From a reader e-mail:

â†µâ†µ“Jimmy, love Hot Clicks, man! In the April 16, in the A.M. edition you had a YouTube video titled “Angry Caps Fan.” The guy in the video is a diehard fan who had been a season ticket holder for years and led the goalie taunting cheers. I put it that way because I found out last night prior to Game 7 that he had his tickets revoked and account cancelled because of his actions.”

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And I know this is a particularly hellish day for the Washington Capitals organization, but (if true) that's completely ridiculous. Since when is it against the rules to tell a cameraman to point his camera elsewhere? The reader e-mail continued to explain that before his tirade, the fan had asked nicely—several times—to be taken off camera. So, again, what did he do wrong here? His team was losing, and he didn't want to be the token shot for "depressed Caps fans."

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Besides, this is SPORTS. If you were to punish everyone that goes on a profane rant, the crowd would be cut in half. And you'd be losing arguably your best fans, the ones that care a little too much, so much that they ignore the standard decorum of society. And again, that's okay, because it's sports.

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Cursing is unfortunate, but it's certainly not grounds for having your tickets revoked.

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Perhaps the Capitals didn't appreciate the image set forth by the display, but again, it's completely ridiculous to think that they can just revoke his season tickets as a result. This is how they treat their diehard fans?

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Hopefully not. Hopefully this was an oversight, and it'll be corrected once word of the spreads, and Caps management hears of the mistake. In the meantime, you can join this Facebook group, and help spread the word.

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UPDATE: Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post confirms the story's true, but suggests it's "slightly more complicated," and is awaiting for comment from the Capitals. We shall see...

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