‘DSC_4085’
courtesy of ‘Ghost_Bear’
“FANS: As you leave the arena, please be considerate of our neighbors and use your horn only as a necessity. Thank You.”
The Capitals are having an immensely successful season, and as Ben noted earlier this morning, the squad just locked up their third straight division championship. Much of the success has been at home; until a shootout loss earlier this week, the Caps had enjoyed a double-digit win streak on home ice. The hometown crowd has certainly been enthusiastic in the Phone Booth, but some neighbors are now asking that the raucousness stay inside.
WTOP.com reported that the sound of constantly honking cars after Caps wins at the Verizon Center have moved nearby parking facilities to ask fans leaving to not lay on the horn so much to celebrate. The above warning can now be seen on signs in the garage under the facility, and we’ll see how well it works come late-April now that the men in red are about to set off on another playoff campaign.
It will probably work about as well as asking people to respectfully sing the National Anthemn or to not stand up or lean forward while the puck is in play.
Not too long ago, I was trapped in the garage at the Bed Bath & Beyond complex in Chinatown with a bunch of hockey types leaving a game, drunkenly slamming the horns. Honking within the garage – where the sound just amplified and bounced around as hundreds of honking cars crawled to the exit. Passively discouraging that kind of loutish behavior with signs is the least of what should be done.
There is no use in ridiculing my actions. If you do not understand what I am doing, then you are not one of us, and so this is not for you. You are welcome to join us. Otherwise, leave us alone.