People in cities across North America are currently suffering from playoff fever with the NHL and NBA playoffs well underway. One third grader from Chicago, who is a die-hard Blackhawks fan, may have it worse than others.
Maggie Ciara, a 9-year-old student at Columbus Manor Elementary School, took a math test that involved multiplication problems on Wednesday and wrote down an answer that confused her teacher. As you can see from the photo above that DNAinfo Chicago passed along, she wrote the word “Hossa” on the line where she was supposed to write what 9 times 9 equals. Get it?
“I thought it would be funny to do it,” Maggie told DNAifno Chicago.
Maggie was referring to Blackhawks star Marian Hossa, who wears number 81 on his jersey. In fact, she wrote “Hossa” under every math problem that called for the answer 81. After explaining the meaning behind her answer to her teacher, Christine Mech, Maggie received an A+ on the exam.
“Maggie is a very clever little girl,” Mech said. “I love the way Maggie has a sense of humor. She did get her 100 percent on the quiz, and we had a little bit of a laugh afterward.”
A photo of Maggie’s test even appeared on the Chicago Blackhawks official Facebook page and has received more than 1,000 likes since her mother shared it. On Thursday, Maggie wrote a letter to Hossa telling him that she hopes her clever joke brings the team luck during the playoffs, which the Hawks will need as they trail the Red Wings 3-1 in their series.
Young kids do some pretty creative things to show their support for their favorite sports teams, and oftentimes they are ridiculed for them. Fortunately, Maggie’s teacher has a sense of humor. After all, hockey fans know her answer was 100% correct.
H/T Deadspin
