Let's Go Blues!

I had never been to a Blues game until college.  My first game was a rush game that Billy was helping coordinate for his fraternity.  Since then, I've been to too many games to count, and my children all went to a game before they were a year old (well, Fletcher hasn't gone yet, but I have no doubt that he will).  In fact, the first picture of our newly formed family of 5 was the one that we took the day after we got home from the hospital to show our Blues spirit in preparation for the first game of the Blues/Blackhawks first round playoff series. 

Most of you are probably aware that my sister-in-law Laurenn is from Chicago and is a huge Blackhawks fan.  This has been a point of jest and occasional contention since she and my brother started dating.  While the kids were in Greenville Saturday night, they watched the Blues/Blackhawks game with my parents, my brother, and Laurenn.  As soon as he found out they were going to watch the hockey game, Barrett went into his suitcase and pulled out his Blues jersey, and Laurenn got her Blackhawks gear on too. 

Now, before I continue, I have to preface the rest of the story with a couple key pieces of information.  First, my kids adore their aunt Laurenn.  She is always attentive and plays with them, which they absolutely love.  Second, Barrett is already turning out to be quite the ladies man, and he has a particular affinity for blondes.  Despite being generally hesitant to leave my side as a toddler, there are several instances where he was more than happy to do so, and in all of those occasions, it was a young blonde woman for whom he was willing to part with me.  I am pretty sure that we are going to have to keep an eye on any blonde girls he hangs out with when he gets older.

All that said, during the game Saturday, Laurenn was defending her team to the room full of Blues fans.  As part of that, she kept telling Audrey and Barrett they should cheer for the Blackhawks.  Audrey, of course, just cheered more adamantly for the Blues.  Barrett on the other hand submitted to the request and began cheering for the Blackhawks.

Fast forward to last night.  Billy was preparing to leave to go to the game.  As soon as Barrett heard this, he began chanting, "Let's go Blackhawks."  We tried to explain that he couldn't cheer for both the Blues and the Blackhawks, because only one team would win, but I don't think he understood.  We jokingly told him that he couldn't wear his Blues jersey if he was cheering for the Blackhawks, and he got really upset.  I don't think he understood the fact that we were joking either.

This morning when we told him the Blues beat the Blackhawks, I think he was genuinely at a loss as to how he should feel.  In the end, he decided to wear his Blues jersey to school, which I think made Billy feel better.  The good news is that he can't cheer for the Blackhawks any more this year, so hopefully he'll forget about this by the fall, and we'll just chalk it up to the fact that he was temporarily brainwashed by a Blackhawks fan.