Well That Was Fun

Let's at least get one post up in April, shall we?

This past November, I made a solemn vow to Get Into Hockey. I had a wise businessman friend of mine once tell me 'Shame you never played hockey growing up I think you would have liked it' for reasons I can't particularly remember, if there were any. I have watched the NHL playoffs with varying levels of sincerity for the past eight years or so, including watching a ridiculous 7-OT playoff game back in college. But I've never really invested myself in it, paid attention during the regular season, and tried to get the flow and strategy of the game.

Come December 1, the Spectacular Brigitte took my vow to heart and got me tickets to a Blackhawks/Phoenix Coyotes game as part of my birthday gift. Some might ask, "They play hockey in Phoenix?" To which I would answer, "Not particularly well." Chicago whupped em 7-1.

One of the most interesting things about the game was how different the hockey crowd was from your average 'mainstream' sports crowd. The Glorious Brigitte and I showed up five minutes before the start of the game; everyone else was already in their seat. I went to get us beers partway through the first period; I was nearly assaulted on my way out and then had no line to get to the counter because everyone stays in their seats during the action. (Easy to do when intermissions last 17 minutes each... which of course we had no idea about until that game.) I felt terribly out of place in my Iowa State sweatshirt (red at least); I'd estimate that 68% of hockey fans come to games in an actual hockey sweater. And, most befuddling to me at the time, everyone very 'impolitely' clapped during the singing of the national anthem. I'm not a zany patriot or anything but people who make too much noise or especially talk through the anthem drive me up a wall. It's as though two minutes of respectful behavior is just too much for them. This particular case was clearly orchestrated and, to be honest, a bit chilling in the 'impressive/give you goosebumps' way.

After the game I remembered that once upon a time I read something somewhere about the Chicago Stadium (and later United Center) tradition of clapping and cheering throughout the anthem (on wikipedia, this paragraph might get a 'This statement cites no references' tag). So we were probably the only first-time newbies at that game who didn't make a ruckus during the anthem.

We attended two more regular season games, this time not making the same mistakes. However, they lost both of these games, looking rather stinky in both. The first was the worst professional athletic performance I've ever seen, wherein they were thoroughly worked over by a not very good Minnesota Wild team; the second was largely disappointing except for a massive on-ice brawl that included fights between three separate pairs of players at the same time, one of which resulted in blood on the ice. As a result six Blackhawks ended up in the penalty box. If you're going to get killed by the Vancouver Canucks in a game with playoff seeding implications, it was the way to go.

Having been seriously invested in the regular season, it seemed fitting to the Stupendous Brigitte and I that we should try to attend a playoff game, and secured tickets for this past Saturday. The game was game 5 of the series, and because of the Adorable Brigitte's hex on the Hawks (she openly declared that she wanted them to lose game 3 in Calgary so we would be guaranteed that our tickets would be to an actual event), the series was tied 2-2. As a best of seven, game 5 in a 2-2 series is very critical; the winning team goes on to win something like 80% of such series. It was also be a big deal for me personally as it was the first professional playoff game I'd ever attended.

The atmosphere at the UC was awesome, everyone was very excited and a little bit on edge. I'd heard good things about the crowd at the first couple of games, and was not disappointed. The lead-up to the game was as usual, with a little extra spirit to everything.

Then this happened:



That was the national anthem. I figure I have to write that because I sure as heck couldn't hear anyone singing in that video. Again, I'm no zany patriot but found myself doing some strange sob/hyperventilating thing throughout the thing every time I tried to holler myself. A very cool moment.

Then the game happened. Hawks scored 3 goals in the first ten minutes and went on to a merry and decisive 5-1 victory. For those who don't follow, they had another nice game last night in Calgary to win the series 4-2. Up next: them Canucks they beat the heck out of (but who beat the hell out of us on the ice).

And next up for me: sounds like game 6 of the Bulls/Celts series on Thursday. Standing room only. I love the city.