To Whiteout Or Not?

To Whiteout Or Not To Whiteout, That Is The Question? —

It’s 4 am Arizona time and I’m lying wide awake in bed because of a conversation and questions on Twitter a couple of nights ago. There were some quiet whispers Sunday night after some positive scoreboard watching that the Winnipeg Jets could actually make the playoffs. The odds are increasing.

Just like last year at this time when we were hanging onto third place in the South East Division, the whispers started about whether Winnipeg should do a “Whiteout” or something new like a “Blueout”

That led to the following tweet.

@WpgJetshocktalk do we go with the white out or what you think true north has planned?? I say a dark out!!

— thesawch (@thesawch) March 3, 2014

image courtesy of curtiswalker.com/jets

My initial thought after I read @thesawch’s tweet was “what does True North have to do with this? Who do they think they are? Arcade Fire?

I get that TNSE might want to start their own new tradition and I can respect that if that’s the case but is it really up to them? Would this not be a fan’s decision?

I thought about it for approximately two seconds and tweeted ~ #Whiteout! After I tweeted out my response, I got to thinking that this could be a generational thing. As a fan of Jets 1.0, it’s a no brainer for me but maybe not as simple as I first thought. There is a whole new generation that never saw a Winnipeg Whiteout so it doesn’t hold the same attachment.

For me, there was nothing more intimidating or awesome as the Winnipeg Whiteout.

image courtesy of curtiswalker.com/jets

The original Winnipeg Whiteout started in a 1985 playoff series versus the Flames and was a response to Calgary’s “C of Red”. It really took hold in the 1987 playoff series versus Calgary and was a mainstay from that point forward. It has been carried on by the Coyotes in Phoenix as well as the Moose/IceCaps. I don’t remember who championed the cause to get Winnipeg fans to wear white to the playoff series against Calgary but it was probably a local radio station. It spread like wildfire and I’m sure the Winnipeg Jets front office endorsed it as well. The Whiteout actually coined the phrase ~ “Charge of the White Brigade”.

As the playoffs draw closer and if the Winnipeg Jets make it, you will be hearing more on this subject. It’s going to take somebody to champion the cause again. It might be a local radio station, a local newspaper or the hockey team itself or maybe even social media.

The Winnipeg White out is exactly that — the WINNIPEG WHITEOUT and it belongs to the hockey fans of Winnipeg. I truly believe it’s their/our choice.

How can you argue with this tweet by Chris Mackie?

@Linklater204 @Jay_Richardson #NHLJets #WPGJets Winnipeg is the Winter Whiteout not a BlueOut!! #OurTeam #OurTraditions #GoJetsGo

— Chris Mackie (@WhiteOutNation) March 3, 2014

As a Winnipeger and a Winnipeg Jets fan I will be eternally thankful to Mark Chipman and David Thomson for bringing NHL hockey back to River City but please let Jets fans have this IF that’s what they want. Get behind it and help promote it. How about a new version of “The Charge of the White Brigade”?