My very first hockey game
Someone commented on my "lay it on me" post asking for an update on tinctoris. There's not much to say, really: we're still madly in love and pining for each other pretty much any time we're not together. The schmoopfest continues unabated. ;-)
He took me to my first hockey game last Thursday. Yes, that's right -- it took an American to get me to my very first hockey game. Irony! And actually, it was a blast.
I think my favourite part was the one-minute dance party after every Bruins goal (the opposing team's goals were met with stony silence). The game itself was interesting to watch, especially since the score ended up being 7-5, which is high for hockey. It was nail-bitingly tied for most of the game, as each team inched up, goal by goal.
I was amused by the phenomenon of the Jumbotron. Before the game and during the breaks between periods, the crowd was kept entertained by shots of itself. There's got to be a master's thesis in that somewhere. They also used it to show highlights of the last period just before the start of the next one -- you know, in case you weren't there, or were already too drunk to remember what had happened mere minutes ago.
The most awkward moment was the playing of the American anthem. I stood, sheepishly. It was especially weird knowing that most of the Bruins are also Canadian, which would explain why they were fidgeting and staring at their feet as much as I was. tinctoris belting it out exuberantly (and well!) makes me want to go with him to a game against a Canadian team so I can impress him by remembering all ten words to O Canada.
The most absurd moment was the "fight". I haven't seen anything so staged-looking since I watched WWF with lightcastle. Minutes into the game, two players bumped each other. They immediately whipped off their gloves. They then did something I thought only happened in slapstick movies -- waving their fists around in the classic "put up your dukes! put 'em up!" position. This was a stall so they could carefully skate over to the center of the ice, so as to be more viewable to the audience and, it wouldn't shock me to find out, the cameras. Once they were positioned, they finally closed and exchanged a few punches, largely to areas well protected by padding. The refs stood by and watched the whole thing, feet away, until one of them wrestled the other to the ice. I swear, I was expected them to tap the guy out.
Oh, I forgot, I also liked watching the refs deftly stay close to the center of the action without interfering with the motion of the players or the puck. They're damn good at jumping to let the puck go by underneath them. On a side note, given that four (five?) pucks sailed out of the rink and into the crowd, I was a little worried they were going to have to call the game due to running out of supplies. But I guess they have a big stack somewhere in the back.
So, yes, I had a lot of fun and would totally do that again! Of course, given that I was there with tinctoris, enjoyment was pretty much guaranteed. Having told him that I'd have fun with him no matter where we went, he has now challenged himself to test this by taking me to the most boring thing he can come up with. Suggestions? I proposed the symphony (kidding!) or a professional baseball game (not kidding -- I left the one game I ever went to when it was 0-0 in the 12th inning).
He took me to my first hockey game last Thursday. Yes, that's right -- it took an American to get me to my very first hockey game. Irony! And actually, it was a blast.
I think my favourite part was the one-minute dance party after every Bruins goal (the opposing team's goals were met with stony silence). The game itself was interesting to watch, especially since the score ended up being 7-5, which is high for hockey. It was nail-bitingly tied for most of the game, as each team inched up, goal by goal.
I was amused by the phenomenon of the Jumbotron. Before the game and during the breaks between periods, the crowd was kept entertained by shots of itself. There's got to be a master's thesis in that somewhere. They also used it to show highlights of the last period just before the start of the next one -- you know, in case you weren't there, or were already too drunk to remember what had happened mere minutes ago.
The most awkward moment was the playing of the American anthem. I stood, sheepishly. It was especially weird knowing that most of the Bruins are also Canadian, which would explain why they were fidgeting and staring at their feet as much as I was. tinctoris belting it out exuberantly (and well!) makes me want to go with him to a game against a Canadian team so I can impress him by remembering all ten words to O Canada.
The most absurd moment was the "fight". I haven't seen anything so staged-looking since I watched WWF with lightcastle. Minutes into the game, two players bumped each other. They immediately whipped off their gloves. They then did something I thought only happened in slapstick movies -- waving their fists around in the classic "put up your dukes! put 'em up!" position. This was a stall so they could carefully skate over to the center of the ice, so as to be more viewable to the audience and, it wouldn't shock me to find out, the cameras. Once they were positioned, they finally closed and exchanged a few punches, largely to areas well protected by padding. The refs stood by and watched the whole thing, feet away, until one of them wrestled the other to the ice. I swear, I was expected them to tap the guy out.
Oh, I forgot, I also liked watching the refs deftly stay close to the center of the action without interfering with the motion of the players or the puck. They're damn good at jumping to let the puck go by underneath them. On a side note, given that four (five?) pucks sailed out of the rink and into the crowd, I was a little worried they were going to have to call the game due to running out of supplies. But I guess they have a big stack somewhere in the back.
So, yes, I had a lot of fun and would totally do that again! Of course, given that I was there with tinctoris, enjoyment was pretty much guaranteed. Having told him that I'd have fun with him no matter where we went, he has now challenged himself to test this by taking me to the most boring thing he can come up with. Suggestions? I proposed the symphony (kidding!) or a professional baseball game (not kidding -- I left the one game I ever went to when it was 0-0 in the 12th inning).