Last season, at an NHL TweetUp event held in downtown Nashville, dozens of people signed a sympathy card for Washington Capitals goaltender José Théodore who had lost his son Chase just two months after being born.
This time, it’s one of our own.
While there’s no tragedy here, but rather celebration, we at section303.com encourage you to send a card to the family of 2010 first round pick Austin Watson. His mom gave birth to her 10th child today.
Nashvillians pride themselves on making people feel at home and they treat their hometown athletes as if they were family. This is a perfect excuse to further welcome the Watson’s to Middle Tennessee and an even better excuse to make Austin, himself, feel like part of the Predators family.
The Watston family is going to need one more jersey. Do they make them in newborn sizes?
We guarantee no other fan base in the National Hockey League (or in pro sports for that matter) would welcome an athlete in this way. But, then again, Nashville is special. It’s why players want to play here. It’s why players want to raise their families here. It’s why players want to retire here. Middle Tennessee is one big community and we all help each other out. David Freeman, out of civic pride and not out of love for hockey, assembled a group of investors to keep the franchise in Nashville for crying out loud. I don’t think you need a better example than that. So let’s “pay it forward” and fill Austin’s mailbox with cards and notes congratulating him on his ninth sibling.
And hey, if you want to get literal, that’s 13 tickets they’ll have to buy for all of his games in Nashville. So that always helps, yeah?
Hey, you never know. Théodore’s still out of a job and Nashville just happens to need a veteran back-up. Sending that card a year ago may just be the thing that leads him to sign in Music City.
Think of what a card to Watson and his family could do in the coming years.
If you decide to send something, you can mail it to:
Austin Watson
c/o The Peterborough Petes
151 Lansdowne St. West
Peterborough, ON K9J 1Y4