devils vs rangers...on home ice
so last night i finally got to see my boys play on home ice…that's right--brian and i went up to the meadowlands to the devils/rangers game….and let me tell you…it's a whole 'nother ball game compared to the hockey in philly…
in case you didn't already know, the devils & the rangers are bitter rivals…mortal enemies if you will…and with new york being so close…apparently they bus the rangers fans in…i am not even exaggerating when i tell you the fan base was probably half & half…
with this high ratio of rival fans together, mob mentality quickly sets in…there were chants throughout the building for both teams and there were even entire sections of the place that were fighting purely amongst themselves…talk about strength in numbers…i would NEVER in a million years talk trash like that in someone else's house--i don't care how many other devils fans would surround me--its just not cool…
however, if its your house--man does it feel good! it was nice to be able to walk freely at a hockey game and not get glared at for the red jersey...it was funny--i came out of the bathroom looking for brian and thought "ok--what was he wearing--his jersey! he'll be easy to spot"...think again...it was great to have to fish through a sea of red for once...
in any case, this mob mentality amongst the masses quickly spreads…i even found myself screaming things like "you suck lundqvist!!", "aww…shanahan is back on the ice...you ok shanahan? did your mommy kiss it for you?!" or "come on boys! send those pansies back to manhattan!"
but i digress…the game was interesting…when not being distracted by the taunts of the surrounding rangers fans, we discovered that offensively we were not doing too well…brodeur however, had a fabulous game! but man alive were there some bogus calls made…and the one instance i caught us high-sticking--they didnt call it--figure that out
the boys decided NOT to put me out of my nervous misery and took it into overtime…and i nearly passed out once i realized they were determined to take it all the way to a shootout…however, i was excited--as it was my first time seeing a shootout live…(sidebar: they showed some clips from the seinfeld episode where we find out putty is a face-painting-hissing-brodeur-loving devils fan---it made me smile)
when it came to the shootout: i couldn't help but remember the comments of the loud-mouthed new yorker to our left (who conveniently disappeared once it went into overtime) who said "this'll be the only time you hear me say this: brodeur is a good goalie! i'll only say it once! he's a tough motherfucker!" and guess what? brody made it look easy: you couldn't pay the rangers to score on him in that shootout…and gionta scored one for our side---winning the game in a shootout…"at least you get a point out of it you trash talking LOSERS!"
so i'm glad i finally got to see us play on home ice…i took some great pictures, screamed my little heart out, and had a blast…if this is the only game i ever see at continental airlines arena…so be it--it was worth it…
moral of the story: you'd better watch your mouth when you're in someone else's house
p.s. wanna see the pictures? http://sports.webshots.com/album/557499130dIWtNa
in case you didn't already know, the devils & the rangers are bitter rivals…mortal enemies if you will…and with new york being so close…apparently they bus the rangers fans in…i am not even exaggerating when i tell you the fan base was probably half & half…
with this high ratio of rival fans together, mob mentality quickly sets in…there were chants throughout the building for both teams and there were even entire sections of the place that were fighting purely amongst themselves…talk about strength in numbers…i would NEVER in a million years talk trash like that in someone else's house--i don't care how many other devils fans would surround me--its just not cool…
however, if its your house--man does it feel good! it was nice to be able to walk freely at a hockey game and not get glared at for the red jersey...it was funny--i came out of the bathroom looking for brian and thought "ok--what was he wearing--his jersey! he'll be easy to spot"...think again...it was great to have to fish through a sea of red for once...
in any case, this mob mentality amongst the masses quickly spreads…i even found myself screaming things like "you suck lundqvist!!", "aww…shanahan is back on the ice...you ok shanahan? did your mommy kiss it for you?!" or "come on boys! send those pansies back to manhattan!"
but i digress…the game was interesting…when not being distracted by the taunts of the surrounding rangers fans, we discovered that offensively we were not doing too well…brodeur however, had a fabulous game! but man alive were there some bogus calls made…and the one instance i caught us high-sticking--they didnt call it--figure that out
the boys decided NOT to put me out of my nervous misery and took it into overtime…and i nearly passed out once i realized they were determined to take it all the way to a shootout…however, i was excited--as it was my first time seeing a shootout live…(sidebar: they showed some clips from the seinfeld episode where we find out putty is a face-painting-hissing-brodeur-loving devils fan---it made me smile)
when it came to the shootout: i couldn't help but remember the comments of the loud-mouthed new yorker to our left (who conveniently disappeared once it went into overtime) who said "this'll be the only time you hear me say this: brodeur is a good goalie! i'll only say it once! he's a tough motherfucker!" and guess what? brody made it look easy: you couldn't pay the rangers to score on him in that shootout…and gionta scored one for our side---winning the game in a shootout…"at least you get a point out of it you trash talking LOSERS!"
so i'm glad i finally got to see us play on home ice…i took some great pictures, screamed my little heart out, and had a blast…if this is the only game i ever see at continental airlines arena…so be it--it was worth it…
moral of the story: you'd better watch your mouth when you're in someone else's house
p.s. wanna see the pictures? http://sports.webshots.com/album/557499130dIWtNa