Playoff beards are a pretty common way for athletes to keep their mojo going during the postseason. Some fans even get in on the action to stand in solidarity with their team. But one Chicago Blackhawks fan took his playoff growth to unique heights.
Frank Miller, a resident of Park Ridge, Ill., had the misfortune of dealing with a flooded basement in his house. Through the process of tending to that matter, other things fell through the cracks — like maintaining his lawn. It wasn’t long before neighbors began taking notice of Miller’s overgrowth, which led him to spin the shaggy landscaping into his own act of solidarity with the Blackhawks players during their Stanley Cup run.
“They’re growing their playoff beards, so I just decided, you know what, it hit me: I’m going to make a playoff lawn and I’m going to make a sign for it and I’m going to embrace it,” Miller told CBS 2 Chicago. “So, embrace my ugly lawn.”
Miller’s sign read: “Playoff lawn. Won’t cut until Hawks win Cup!”
But the city of Park Ridge never let it get that far. Citing concerns that the tall grass could serve as a breeding ground for mosquitoes, the city sent Miller a warning to cut his lawn. When Miller didn’t do that, the city hired someone to cut it for him.
“My son and I are watching the game and I hear a lawnmower going,” Miller said. “I think it’s my neighbor cutting their lawn, and it started getting closer. And there’s a guy cutting my grass with this giant industrial lawnmower.
“I go, ‘Hey, what are you doing!’ And he’s like, ‘The city told me to come by and cut your lawn,’ and I go, ‘They paid you to?’ and he’s like ‘Yeah.’ I’m like, OK, that was the end of my playoff lawn.”
Miller said he is back in the playoff lawn game, though, refusing to cut it again until the Hawks have brought Lord Stanley’s Cup back to Chicago.
Win or lose, Miller is still on the hook, though — city officials said they are sending him a bill for the forced mowing.
Photo via CBS 2 Chicago
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