That'll Hurt More Than a Cross-Check

The weekend before last, a Rangers fan who did the whole "propose to my girlfriend on a sports arena jumbotron"-thing was turned down before a Madison Square Garden crowd of 18,000+ as she shook her head and covered her face as she ran out of the arena to the jeers of the fans. It made for great theater, as usually these proposals end with a big hug and a kiss, followed by some good natured applause, much to the dismay of the handful of morons that are screaming for the girlfriend to say "no". In this case, most people were immediately sympathetic, as getting your marriage proposal publicly rejected in front of thousands is right up there with uncontrolled flatulence during a company presentation around 3Q earnings.

But before soon, word got out that the whole thing was a hoax. The first rumblings were that the Rangers got played, and a couple decided to pull a fast one on the team. But then the conspiracy got even juicier, as word got out that the Rangers were actually in on the prank from the get-go, hiring the two actors to stage the who event as in-game entertainment. Are you kidding me? Are things that bad with the blueshirts that they're producing fake proposals gone bad instead of typical "win a million dollars by scoring a 'mouse-hole' goal from center ice" or "obscure Rangers trivia"?

Well, maybe they are. "Nick" and "Melissa" might very well be creating the most buzz around the Garden Ice nowadays... and they aren't underperforming with ridiculous albatrosses of contracts which are going to keep the team wallowed in mediocrity in the near term (I'm looking your way, Chris Drury, Wade Redden and Michal Rozsival).