mr. tran enjoys the sporting life
one thing i did while i was in stockton back around thanksgiving was go to a hockey game..."what? a hockey game in stockton?" you may (not) be wondering...yes it is true...stockton has four professional sporting teams believe it or not...of course they aren't in the major leagues or anything but having four teams for a city like stockton isn't too shabby...so i figured i would write a little bit about them...
stockton's oldest team is the stockton ports which is a baseball team that started back in the late 1800s...the team in the poem "casey at the bat" is rumored to be inspired by the ports...the ports play in the California League which is a few steps below Major League Baseball...below the majors are various levels of minor leagues starting with triple A, then double A, then single A and a few more after that...single A is divided into two subcategories (high and low) and the California League, along with the ports, plays in the high class...the ports are affiliated with the oakland a's which means that good players on the ports will move up the chain into double A and triple A and may eventually end up at oakland in the majors...the ports are a good team and are currently the reigning league champions...a few of their players were a part of the us olympic team in beijing...i actually sort of went to one of their games with anh back in high school but that's a story for another time...
the next team is the stockton cougars...they're a group of kinda sexy older ladies on the prowl for young male flesh...or they're stockton's indoor soccer team...they arrived in stockton in 2006 and were a part of the Major Indoor Soccer League so they were actually a major league team and were known as the california cougars at the time...but then in 2008 the league shut down...apparently the interest in indoor soccer isn't that great...very surprising...so that league broke up into three smaller leagues and the renamed stockton cougars now play in the Profession Arena Soccer League...the team hasn't been that great in the past but they're still a young team...they're currently leading their division and are halfway through their season so that's not too bad...the league finals are going to take place in stockton this year in march so i guess i'll see you guys there, right?...no? ok...
next we have the stockton lightning, an arena football team...they're a part of the af2 which is the minor league of the Arena Football League (there's no affiliations between af2 and AFL teams though)...the team came to stockton in 2006 as well so they're still a young team...they've come close to getting into the playoffs in the past so their prospects look good...
last, there's the stockton thunder, the city's hockey team...they came to stockton in 2005 and are a part of the ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League)...the ECHL is two steps below the National Hockey League...the ECHL feeds into the American Hockey League which then feeds into the NHL...the stockton thunder are affiliated with the edmonton oilers (and sadly not the san jose sharks)...the thunder are a decent team and have been to the playoffs a few times...they have lead the league in attendance averaging around 7,000 fans a game...when i went, there didn't appear to be 7,000 people but that may have been because the game was the day after thanksgiving...also, i'm bad at estimating in general and could be wrong...
the thunder, along with the lightning and cougars, play in the relatively new stockton arena which you can see at the very top of this entry and above this paragraph...the over head shot of the arena also shows the ballpark where the ports play along with some of the revitalized waterfront area...the stockton arena is pretty nice...all the NHL hockey arenas have an upper and lower level but the stockton arena has just a lower level and can fit around 10,000 people...my only complaint was that there should have been more lighting inside...the rink was lit perfectly but there were less lights on over the audience and the dimness gave off a high school gym vibe...the scoreboard was also kind of puny...i guess i should explain why my brothers and i went to the game...first, we're obviously from stockton and wanted to support and see our hometown team...second, we like hockey...third, we were in town...and fourth, the tickets were cheap...
overall, the game was good...the thunder played against the alaska aces...we had seats that were very close to one goal so we had a great view of the action when it was on our side...it was a little harder to make out stuff at the other end which is a sacrifice you make as you get closer to the ice...the crowd was rowdy so that was cool...one guy near us kept yelling and taunting the other team's goalie...his girlfriend was embarrassed and told him that the goalie couldn't hear him so he just yelled louder...meanwhile the thunder's mascot, thor, went around the stands trying to pump up the fans and interact with kids...the thunder ended up winning 3 to 2 or something like that...i'm not sure if i'll be going to another thunder game unless they end up in the playoffs and i happen to be in town then...however, it was a good experience...when i go to sharks games, i sit up in the upper level and have a nice, albeit far view of everything...it was a good change of pace to see a game up close and experience what it's like to hear every hit and shot, to see the glass and boards shutter as players crashed into them and to actually flinch when it looks like a puck in flying at your face...