Chicago Blackhawks fan’s ‘playoff lawn’ cut down in its prime by city
Like many Chicago area hockey fans, Frank Miller wanted to show his support for the home team on its run to the Stanley Cup Final. But Miller, a diehard Blackhawks fan from the suburb of Park Ridge, didn't think a playoff beard was enough.
So he decided to grow a playoff lawn.
It's exactly what it sounds like. Basically, he just didn't cut his lawn. Sure, it was a terrible eyesore, but Miller put up a sign to explain himself: "PLAYOFF LAWN", it read, "Won't cut until Hawks win the Cup!"
According to Miller, people were into it, honking their cars as they drove by and, on some occasions, even stopping to take a picture for some reason.
But others were not so pleased with Miller's lawn looking like a marijuana grow operation.
And one night, the unthinkable happened: The city cut it, like a snake in the, uh, grass.
But at some point the city of Park Ridge -- and perhaps some of his neighbors -- decided they weren't as impressed with Miller's display of Hawks loyalty. And that's when someone paid him a visit last month.
"I was watching the playoffs one night with my son and hear a lawn mower going off, and I come outside, 'What are you doing?' The guy was cutting my lawn with a giant industrial-sized mower, and he said that the city had come and paid him to cut my lawn," Miller said.
This is shocking: if you don't mow your lawn, the city will do it for you?
Into the trash you go, lawnmower.
From NBC Chicago:
Don't cry for Miller's playoff grass. When the lawn assassin left, Miller simply recommitted himself to the playoff lawn. He hasn't cut it since. (Frankly, now that he knows the city will eventually get fed up with him and send someone else out to do it, I wouldn't be surprised if he never cuts it again.)
But, considering it's bad luck to shave a playoff beard once you've started growing it, if the Blackhawks suddenly find themselves unable to play their game versus Boston, don't blame Zdeno Chara and Tuukka Rask: Blame the city and citizens of Park Ridge and their shameless, slavish obsession with curb appeal.
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