Should the paltry number of New Jersey Devils supporters hear the word "shootout" in the coming months, they may want to duck for cover.
Chances are it doesn't involve hockey.
It seems the adage "location is everything" does not apply in the Garden State.
Later this week, the Devils will vacate the impersonal confines of their arena — it was the Continental Airlines Arena last season and the new title sponsor, Izod, doesn't get its name in lights until the end of this month — and set up shop in the dazzling Prudential Center.
From the outhouse to the penthouse? Well, not exactly.
Not when your new digs are smack dab in the middle of downtown Newark.
Yes, that Newark. It has five times the murder rate of New York City, per capita, and is considered one of the most dangerous cities in the United States.
It seems there is a group of marketing virtuosos in Jersey who may want to think about another line of work.
Took a few minutes to read a rather eye-opening article called Determined To Show Newark At Its Safest and came to the conclusion you can do just that. Provided the city is in your rearview mirror, the doors are locked and you're doing about 80.
Heck, even I've been to Newark once, with the key word being once. If you ever get a chance to visit Jersey's largest city, don't. That is all.
One of Jersey's favorite sons, Jon Bon Jovi, will christen the arena with the first of 10 gigs Thursday night. It's a coin flip whether he makes it in the front door.
They got one thing right, though. In making the move to Newark, the Devils got one step closer to hell.