No moment of silence for Officer Simmons
Kevin Roderick • Bio • Email

In December I noted that the Kings held a moment of silence for Stu Nahan before a game at Staples Center. The team just got home from a long road trip, so the day that Los Angeles buried LAPD officer Randal Simmons would have been the first chance to honor him. The organization chose to pass on that, apparently. A fan writes to the Let's Go Kings website:

To the Los Angeles Kings management,

I want to communicate to you how shocked and disappointed I am in AEG and the KINGS for failing to acknowledge Officer Randy Simmons's sacrifice at tonight's Calgary vs. Los Angeles Kings hockey game.

Friday, February 15th 2008 is a day where the entire city of Los Angeles stopped to salute and honor one of her Finest Sons. I am curious as to why the KINGS Organization did not acknowledge a true hero of the city they claim they "play" for?
Why wasn't there a moment of silence? Was it a lack of awareness? A lack of respect? Please do not tell me that it was an oversight. This season the Kings have done a good job of recognizing members of the various armed services, but when it came to honoring a Public Servant who made the ultimate sacrifice for the citizen's of Los Angeles the Kings and AEG failed.

After the Brush Fires this past fall, where several fire fighters were lost, the Kings held several fund raising events for those fire fighters and their families. I am really disheartened to see that on the day when the entire city honored a true hero, the KINGS organization did not have the respect, insight and heart to do the right thing and take a few moments to recognize Officer Simmons' sacrifice. There were LAPD officers who probably just came from the funeral working tonight’s game! What message did the Kings send to them?

The loyal fans and season ticket holders in my section were appalled. I spoke to a representative of the Kings that was near my section during the first period and he did not have a response other than to say he was sorry but I could see in his eyes that he realized the Kings messed up....

AEG and the Kings you should be ashamed of yourselves for your lack of vision. There were fans from Calgary who were on road trips that were commenting on how sad it was to hear about Officer Simmons death and they wondered why nothing was said at tonight's game.

It is truly sad that the only King who showed support for Officer Simmons is the Burger KING that donated all of the proceeds from an entire day to the Police Memorial fund.

I am curious to hear a response from the organization.

Am I off base here? Was anyone else wondering why there was no moment of silence? If so please post your comments and also share them with the Kings Organization.

Comments from other fans at the site mostly disagreed with him.

February 16, 2008 11:07 AM • Native Intelligence • Email the editor
 

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