one down
Recently, Dionna & I finally made it through Phase 1 of the Four Games in Four Sports Challenge by going to the final Boston Bruins game of the season, against the Ottawa Senators at TD Banknorth Garden. Or, as Dionna put it, “We Sold Our Soul” Garden. Touche, corporate sponsorship. It was also “Fan Appreciation Night.” For supporting a team that will finish 13th out of 15 in the East, there better be a lot of appreciation.
First thing we did when we finally found the way into the arena (a secret escalator in the middle of a subway station) was Dionna needed to buy a water. Inexplicably, if you buy a bottle of water in the Garden, they won’t give you the cap. …Okay. I’m going to need an explanation. But there is none to be had! And when I bought a Diet Coke in a cup later on, they DID give me a lid for that…WHAT? I know they don’t give lids at TBiA or the AAC for some reason…but if you won’t give out a cap for a water bottle, you would think you wouldn’t give out a lid for cups. Confusing! I don’t understand! And another thing…how about some consistency in your security? You’re terrified of…whatever it is you can do with a bottle of water…but you spend 3 seconds looking in my purse during the bag check? WHAT? It was almost as lax as Seattle & Canada.
Anyway, we’d bought cheap seats, obviously, but this is the first time the seats were literally cheap. Plastic seats? In a new arena? Really? Having seen a few out-of-town arenas now, I can confidently say we are really spoiled in Dallas. The AAC is a palace. Padded seats, not a bad sightline in the place, clean. Sure, the ceiling absorbs crowd noise & it’s not conducive to a hockey atmosphere, but it is a palace. The Garden felt old, even though I knew it’s pretty new. But the atmosphere was pretty impressive, considering how bad the Bruins are. There is a buzz in true hockey markets that simply isn’t there in places like Dallas. And Dallas is even a pretty decent non-traditional market. I can’t imagine what it’s like in some place like Phoenix or Columbus or Miami.
The Bruins also have several pretty cool traditions. Although we didn’t know who he was, the anthem singer was obviously a regular, a portly man with a deep voice who was obviously beloved by the crowd. It was disconcerting, being from a city where fans regularly mock our anthem singer (American Idol reject Celena Rae, if you didn’t know) when they bother to acknowledge her at all. The Bruins goal song is supremely awesome. Apparently it is some nameless techno song. Whatever it is, it is instantly humable, even to first timers like me and Dionna. We danced along with the rest of the crowd & again, it’s weird to have such a cool song to celebrate to, instead of the always awkward “Rock n Roll, Pt 2,” which we cheer to in Dallas b/c we’re glad the Stars managed to score, but that we have a omnipresent awareness of b/c of Gary Glitter’s…extracurricular indiscretions. At the end of the goal announcement, the Garden PA guy does a little “WHOO!,” which the crowd reciprocates, which makes it doubly awesome. Stuff like that is what makes a game experience uniquely your team’s.
It should be noted that I have gone to numerous Stars games and one each in Vancouver & Boston. Interestingly, as you can see, I noticed several of these cool traditions in Boston. Dallas has some also, that I love b/c they’re ours (shouting “STARS!” during the anthem, chanting “STUUUUU” whenever Stu Barnes does anything including make a routine touch pass or get a secondary assist, etc). Vancouver’s game experience is awesome b/c it is Canada & everyone loves hockey there, but I can’t actually remember any traditions off the top of my head. And it should noted, Vancouver doesn’t have the storied history of winning some of the other Canadian clubs do. They don’t even have one Cup to their name, like Dallas does. I just found it interesting that even when the team sucks like the Bruins do, a traditional hockey fan base still has a history they can build entire game presentations on.
The game was pretty good, lots of goals & lots of hitting. For some inexplicable reason, the refs kept stepping in whenever a fight seemed imminent. Goodness, refs. It’s the last game of a miserable season, let the fans see an f-ing fight. How is sending them off to the box with off-setting roughing minor improving the game presentation? Anyway, Jason Spezza got two goals, much to the delight of my last-place fantasy team. Sens won 6-3. An all-around good time.
In the second intermission, we went on a quest for overpriced stadium food. We’d seen some fries that looked good, but they were inexplicably nowhere to be found. So we ended up walking around the entire concourse before we found them. This is also when I got my Diet Coke with a lid, which set off another round of complaining about the stupid water bottle rule (Dionna, of course, was still carrying around the water, & she continued to the whole game before finally being forced to throw it away b/c it’s difficult to ride the subway with an open bottle of water). $4 mediocre fries in hand, we returned to our seats. Dionna was in charge of the fries, I was in charge of ketchup during goal celebrations. We actually had to sit one out b/c of this. But we danced the best we could, sitting in our seats, holding overpriced stadium food.
As it turns out, Fan Appreciation Night basically consisted of non-stop giving away stuff at every available play stoppage. Obviously, Dionna & I didn’t win anything. But then, we didn't really support the Bruins all year & I was actually actively rooting for the Jason Spezza hat trick, so touché. Dionna did come close once, coming within a foot of a free t-shirt, that ended up being more than a free t-shirt. We were sitting in front of the Boston version of Screaming Girl…remember her? The one in Dallas sits in the nosebleeds & wails all game “Let’s go Starrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrs! C’mon boys! You can do it! Starrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrsss!” as if the players can somehow hear her & use her sage advice as motivation to pull out the W. Meanwhile the rest of her section is bleeding from the ears. It’s almost enough to drive us to pay more to get a seat away from her. Anyway, the Boston version was just as horrifying…AND she got Dionna’s t-shirt. That turned out to be not just a t-shirt, but an XM radio. Bummer.
Oh & also? Just wanted to say? Most useless prize in the world for Boston, MA? A Hummer. I would be pissed if I won that thing. It would be a burden. You can't drive that thing down half the streets in the city. The girl who won it was all crying & stuff. I suppose it could be out of joy, but I think probably she was thinking about trying to find parking.
Anyway, one down. Three to go. Only maybe not, since apparently it costs a minimum of your firstborn child to get into Fenway.
Stars/Nucks Game 7 tonight. I'm going to ask for one win here. Just one. One more time.
First thing we did when we finally found the way into the arena (a secret escalator in the middle of a subway station) was Dionna needed to buy a water. Inexplicably, if you buy a bottle of water in the Garden, they won’t give you the cap. …Okay. I’m going to need an explanation. But there is none to be had! And when I bought a Diet Coke in a cup later on, they DID give me a lid for that…WHAT? I know they don’t give lids at TBiA or the AAC for some reason…but if you won’t give out a cap for a water bottle, you would think you wouldn’t give out a lid for cups. Confusing! I don’t understand! And another thing…how about some consistency in your security? You’re terrified of…whatever it is you can do with a bottle of water…but you spend 3 seconds looking in my purse during the bag check? WHAT? It was almost as lax as Seattle & Canada.
Anyway, we’d bought cheap seats, obviously, but this is the first time the seats were literally cheap. Plastic seats? In a new arena? Really? Having seen a few out-of-town arenas now, I can confidently say we are really spoiled in Dallas. The AAC is a palace. Padded seats, not a bad sightline in the place, clean. Sure, the ceiling absorbs crowd noise & it’s not conducive to a hockey atmosphere, but it is a palace. The Garden felt old, even though I knew it’s pretty new. But the atmosphere was pretty impressive, considering how bad the Bruins are. There is a buzz in true hockey markets that simply isn’t there in places like Dallas. And Dallas is even a pretty decent non-traditional market. I can’t imagine what it’s like in some place like Phoenix or Columbus or Miami.
The Bruins also have several pretty cool traditions. Although we didn’t know who he was, the anthem singer was obviously a regular, a portly man with a deep voice who was obviously beloved by the crowd. It was disconcerting, being from a city where fans regularly mock our anthem singer (American Idol reject Celena Rae, if you didn’t know) when they bother to acknowledge her at all. The Bruins goal song is supremely awesome. Apparently it is some nameless techno song. Whatever it is, it is instantly humable, even to first timers like me and Dionna. We danced along with the rest of the crowd & again, it’s weird to have such a cool song to celebrate to, instead of the always awkward “Rock n Roll, Pt 2,” which we cheer to in Dallas b/c we’re glad the Stars managed to score, but that we have a omnipresent awareness of b/c of Gary Glitter’s…extracurricular indiscretions. At the end of the goal announcement, the Garden PA guy does a little “WHOO!,” which the crowd reciprocates, which makes it doubly awesome. Stuff like that is what makes a game experience uniquely your team’s.
It should be noted that I have gone to numerous Stars games and one each in Vancouver & Boston. Interestingly, as you can see, I noticed several of these cool traditions in Boston. Dallas has some also, that I love b/c they’re ours (shouting “STARS!” during the anthem, chanting “STUUUUU” whenever Stu Barnes does anything including make a routine touch pass or get a secondary assist, etc). Vancouver’s game experience is awesome b/c it is Canada & everyone loves hockey there, but I can’t actually remember any traditions off the top of my head. And it should noted, Vancouver doesn’t have the storied history of winning some of the other Canadian clubs do. They don’t even have one Cup to their name, like Dallas does. I just found it interesting that even when the team sucks like the Bruins do, a traditional hockey fan base still has a history they can build entire game presentations on.
The game was pretty good, lots of goals & lots of hitting. For some inexplicable reason, the refs kept stepping in whenever a fight seemed imminent. Goodness, refs. It’s the last game of a miserable season, let the fans see an f-ing fight. How is sending them off to the box with off-setting roughing minor improving the game presentation? Anyway, Jason Spezza got two goals, much to the delight of my last-place fantasy team. Sens won 6-3. An all-around good time.
In the second intermission, we went on a quest for overpriced stadium food. We’d seen some fries that looked good, but they were inexplicably nowhere to be found. So we ended up walking around the entire concourse before we found them. This is also when I got my Diet Coke with a lid, which set off another round of complaining about the stupid water bottle rule (Dionna, of course, was still carrying around the water, & she continued to the whole game before finally being forced to throw it away b/c it’s difficult to ride the subway with an open bottle of water). $4 mediocre fries in hand, we returned to our seats. Dionna was in charge of the fries, I was in charge of ketchup during goal celebrations. We actually had to sit one out b/c of this. But we danced the best we could, sitting in our seats, holding overpriced stadium food.
As it turns out, Fan Appreciation Night basically consisted of non-stop giving away stuff at every available play stoppage. Obviously, Dionna & I didn’t win anything. But then, we didn't really support the Bruins all year & I was actually actively rooting for the Jason Spezza hat trick, so touché. Dionna did come close once, coming within a foot of a free t-shirt, that ended up being more than a free t-shirt. We were sitting in front of the Boston version of Screaming Girl…remember her? The one in Dallas sits in the nosebleeds & wails all game “Let’s go Starrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrs! C’mon boys! You can do it! Starrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrsss!” as if the players can somehow hear her & use her sage advice as motivation to pull out the W. Meanwhile the rest of her section is bleeding from the ears. It’s almost enough to drive us to pay more to get a seat away from her. Anyway, the Boston version was just as horrifying…AND she got Dionna’s t-shirt. That turned out to be not just a t-shirt, but an XM radio. Bummer.
Oh & also? Just wanted to say? Most useless prize in the world for Boston, MA? A Hummer. I would be pissed if I won that thing. It would be a burden. You can't drive that thing down half the streets in the city. The girl who won it was all crying & stuff. I suppose it could be out of joy, but I think probably she was thinking about trying to find parking.
Anyway, one down. Three to go. Only maybe not, since apparently it costs a minimum of your firstborn child to get into Fenway.
Stars/Nucks Game 7 tonight. I'm going to ask for one win here. Just one. One more time.