Having been out of town makes this post quite delayed and I wouldn’t even revisit it if it weren’t for the side story.  I was going to my first ever NHL playoff game last Thursday at Philips Arena and I usually park in a garage across from Centennial Olympic Park.  I don’t mind walking through the park, especially during the holiday season when it’s decked out in festive lights, and it allows me the ability to not get stuck in a massive logjam that most people encounter as they try to leave.

As I’m passing through the park and getting close to CNN Center (Philips Arena is connected to it) I notice a bunch of yellow police tape cordoning off a section of the park.  Several reporters are standing in front and small groups of people are milling about each reporter, probably disappointed that they can’t get behind each reporter and make an ass of themselves on live TV.  One of the reporters was giving her live report and I overheard her talk about a shooting.  Sure enough, there were still investigators in the background combing the grass for evidence.  With the fatal shooting of the week before at CNN Center, I figured it was another fatality.

I didn’t get a chance to follow up on the story before I left but when I followed up with it today it turns out there wasn’t a dead person in this shootout.  There was a guy with a gun walking through CNN Center and the Georgia World Congress Center (also connected to this large complex) police followed him and commanded him to drop his weapon.  When he refused to they shot him in the leg.  What stuck out in this story though was the quote from a member of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.  He said “The motive appears to be suicide by cop”.

Suicide By Cop?  It’s a term I haven’t heard before but it makes sense.  It’s an odd description though because no one truly knows someone’s intentions.  If he yells “Go ahead and shoot me” is it because he has a death wish or is he simply seeing if the cops call his bluff?  If he runs and doesn’t give up his gun, is it because he wants to get shot or is he trying to make a run for it?  How do they know how his intentions were to be riddled with bullets fatally by The Fuzz?

On a side note, even though the Thrashers lost that game that night (and subsequently were swept out of the playoffs in less time than it takes to drive across the country), I was impressed with one thing.  I had mused earlier that with Atlanta being a city of transplants, the arena would probably be overwhelmed with Rangers fans.  Well I was wrong, at least for Thursday's game.  I’d daresay there were less than 10% of people with Rangers jerseys on and the Thrashers fans were surprisingly vocal – not something the sports “fans” of Atlanta are known for.

I was with another ECHL Off Ice Official, one of the Goal Judges, and as we were standing in line for beer a teenager passes by, recognizes him, and yells “Hey, that’s the goal judge guy!!!”  It was neat to me that someone recognized him, as it shows that infiltration of hockey in a non-traditional hockey market is in full swing.  If someone notices a person working in the minor leagues here, maybe hockey isn't as under the radar as I think it is.  Obviously it still takes a massive backseat to homoerotic fat guys in tight pants, I mean, college football, but it's still a start.

Here are two photos I took on the Blackberry.  The first is quite blurry but I thought them adding a glowing rim around the glass was neat when the lights were dimmed.

Opening faceoff.  Yes, I was up high in the upper deck.