The Weekly Dis
Please: Wait until Pearl Harbor Day to get a Christmas tree
A ground-floor supporter/subscriber to The Disrespected was wondering about that phrase we hear bandied about the Blue Jackets so often – "playing the right way." It's one of coach Dean Evason's favorite phrases. What does it mean, exactly?
Let's begin the discussion with Evason speaking about young center Adam Fantilli during a mid-month confab with local reporters. Evason was talking about how Fantilli was maturing as a pro.
"When we have our conversations with players, our one-on-ones or what have you, we don't say to them, in Fantilli's case, 'Well, you scored 30 goals. We need 31 out of you this year,'" Evason said. "We don't ask that. We just ask them to play the right way. To compete. To play the way that the Columbus Blue Jackets play on a consistent basis. And then believe that will allow you to have personal success – and if you do, you're obviously going to help the team win.
"That's what we try to stress. And it's hard. It's hard with young guys. All the stats, they look at all those, and the highlights and what have you. It's just reminders to be good teammates and do the right things on the ice to help your team win. And that's not asking them just to score goals."
The follow-up put it to Evason directly: Describe what you mean when you talk about "playing the right way."
"It's just, every single shift you're just competing your butt off," Evason said. "That's all it is. It's not rocket science, this game. Every guy in that room, and on the other team, can play. They've obviously proven that they can skate, they can shoot, they can pass, they can score ... But it's that one-on-one battle, it's that compete level, when you're faced with it, that we ask every player to do. And if you do that on a consistent basis, and everyone does it, then you have a better chance to win."
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Monday: I had predicted that Crew coach Wilfried Nancy would be named coach of Celtic FC by Sunday the 23rd. I was off on the date – but the outcome will remain the same. Nancy is headed with at least one assistant (Kwame Ampadu) to Glasgow. Both sides are treating it as a fait accompli.
Source: Celtic FC finally contacted #Crew96 late last week re Columbus coach Wilfried Nancy. The two clubs, and Nancy, are in advanced stage of negotiations to get Nancy to Glasgow. Talks concern Nancy buyout as well as that of at least one Crew assistant. Yeah.
— Michael Arace (@michaelarace1.bsky.social) 2025-11-24T17:24:18.062Z
Michael Arace
Wednesday: Here's a big-picture look at the three-year golden era that was Nancy in Columbus. It includes a short Q&A with Crew coach Issa Tall on what's ahead for what was the best club team on the continent 15 months ago.
Michael Arace
By the way, roster decisions were made earlier this week. Anyone else surprised at how many players Tall hung on to?
To clarify present #Crew96 roster: G (3): Hagen, Lapkes, Schulte. D (7): Amundsen, Cheberko, Farsi, Herrera, Moreira, Ruvalcaba, Zawadzki. MF (8): Arsten, Brown, Chambost, Gazdag, Habroune, Mrowka, Picard, Sejdic. F (4): Abou Ali, Aliyu, Rossi, Russell-Rowe.
— Michael Arace (@michaelarace1.bsky.social) 2025-11-26T18:25:13.467Z
Friday: I write four times a week, M-W-F behind a paywall and then The Weekly Dis on Saturday. My posts go up, and are delivered to subscribers' inboxes, at 6 a.m. This one was a deep dive into how the Jackets keep blowing third-period leads, and what it is costing them.
Michael Arace
Around 15-16 hours after it posted, the Jackets blew a 3-1 lead in the third period and lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-3 in overtime, before a sellout crowd in the Nationwide Arena. As Kevin Rouch of CBUSsports.com pointed out as we were headed to the locker room: In this month of November, the Jackets are 2-0-4 in games where they have a two-goal lead in the third period. Zounds.
I asked Evason, one, whether he has ever before experienced anything like this and, two, does he believe that something can get into the collective mind of a team.
Evason: "No. I'm sure there have been situations where, you know, late in games and what have you, there have been spells where we squeeze it a little bit tight and we get down, or whatever, on ourselves as a team. I can't recall any exact comparison to this.
"Can it get in (the head)? Sure. Obviously. Momentum swings and confidence and all that kind of stuff ... You guys have already talked the other players, and they're talking about this. They're aware of it. So, yeah, can it get in? Sure. You know, it's the same thing when you're not scoring. You start thinking about scoring, right? And then you're not going to score.
"So, we need to believe, again, that we just got to keep doing the same things over and over and over again. And then it'll turn. And when it does turn, as you guys know – when things turn, it turns. And we need it to turn. But we still have to do our work – not only physically, but mentally, to make sure that we have that thought process that, yes, it's going to get better. And I know that the coaching staff and the leadership group in there, they know that. They know that."
Christmas in July
Last year, Columbus Underground ran a piece entitled, "9 Holiday-Themed Restaurant and Pop-Ups." Among the restaurants listed is Lois Mann's Restaurant at 1904 S. High St. It can be difficult to spot, even with GPS. It is a wonderful hole-in-the-wall joint in a now-scruffy neighborhood that has been around forever. You can get pizza and sandwiches and other such fare, but the reason to go to Lois Mann's place is for the cabbage rolls or the meatloaf dinner or the ham steak. Nomsayin'? They also go hard on breakfast. And they have silverware that might be older than most U.S. Senators.
I mention Lois Mann's because one of its unique quirks is that it is decorated for Christmas 24/7/365. It's part of their niche. It's cool.
What I do not care for are the places that get the holiday season going too early. I don't want to be in (insert fast-casual chain restaurant here) the day after Halloween if they've already hung garland all over the bar and there are five Christmas trees in there, with blinking multi-colored lights. Lois Mann's can get away with it, but only Lois Mann's.
I also mistrust almost anyone who puts up their Christmas tree before Dec. 1. Pearl Harbor Day is when people should be getting a Christmas tree, not Black Friday.
I'm a geezer and this sounds extremely get-off-my-lawn, but I don't remember anyone in the 1970s getting ready for Christmas in November. I'd bet that Jean Shepherd, the wonderful talent who wrote "A Christmas Story" rolls around in his grave every time a pine needle hits somebody's living room floor in November.
While consumerism has been been rising since V-J day, the 21st century has turbo-charged advertisers to the point of unnatural manipulation and it won't be long before the 5th of July is the official start of the holiday season. Get off my lawn.
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I'll admit that Mrs. Arace wanted to get our Christmas tree on Black Friday. But I had things to do, and I had the minivan. Nomsayin'?
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Michael Arace
