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Something amazing happened to me yesterday, Jade left a comment! I'm so glad she still takes the time to read this silly blog. I was also told (not by Jade, but she may agree) that it's time to get off my soap box and stop talking about the situation in professional cycling.
So for now, I'll talk about the other sport.
Clem, Jason and myself went to an NHL hockey game in Raleigh. The Carolina Hurricanes were hosting the New York Rangers and the promoter got us tickets, since we were playing in the same venue the next night. It was a bit of a last minute thing, I found out they had tickets the day before and got on the list. Then it turned out everyone except for Clem dropped out, so we invited Jason. We had six tickets, so we figured we be able to spread out. That wasn't the case. As you can see over my shoulder in the picture above, two women were sitting in our seats, and none of us and the balls enough to ask them to move. So we squished ourselves into the remaining four seats. Which was not easy since Clem is about 6' 6" tall and I'm about the same length, not tall but wide. Jason fit right in the middle. After a period of play we figured out no one was behind us, so Clem moved back and took the above picture.
But that's where the complaining about the game will stop. We had really great seats!
As you can see, we were 7 rows from the ice in the corner. Being down that close makes the game so much faster. These kids can skate. We got to see an amazing tic-tac-toe goal scored by the Rangers. Luckily for us we were sitting in the Rangers section so when Clem burst from his seat to applaud the visiting teams goal, he wasn't alone.
I really like watching the goalies. Many of them have rituals and superstitions that repeat every game. Some of them like to tap the pipes of the goal just before face-offs. Some guys take three squirts from their water bottles during breaks. A big superstition is to not step on any of the painted lines. This was a famous one for one of the better goalies of the game, Patrick Roy. I remember reading about him always stepping over the blue line, and one day, during the playoffs, he was stepping over the line and tripped! He fell to his knees and got up quickly and tried to brush it off. He still lost the game, and proceeded to blame the loss on the trip.
I'm sure most of you didn't know that when I was a young lad, I used to play lots of roller hockey. In Hawai'i my friend Calvin and I would organize games every Tuesday and Thursday nights at Puohala elementary school on their basketball court. We start playing at around 7:15 after we closed up The Bike Shop and would play until the lights would turn off at around 10:30. I would always play goal. I loved strapping on the pads pulling on the mask. Most kids would prefer to whack the slap shot and score the goal. I got more pleasure out of snagging a puck out of the air, or making a super stretch toe save. That got me going.
From those days, I gained a few superstitions that I still have today. To this day, I still put on the right thing of everything first. Right sock, right shoe, Right glove, always on first. If I pull the left on first because I'm not paying attention, I always take it back off and put the right one on first. Even my tendinitis bands, right arm first. Once a goalie, always a goalie, I guess.
I have seen the Rangers play once before. Back in 1996, at Madison Square Garden. I paid a pretty penny for the ticket, $125 bucks. But I was 3 rows behind their bench. It was a good time to be a Rangers fan. They had just won the Stanley Cup two years prior, they had traded for the best player the game has ever seen, Wayne Gretsky. Which reunited him with former Oilers teammate, Mark Messier. And got to see "The Great One" skate live, at least once in my life.
Today the Rangers are a good middle of the pack team. They have another one of the best to ever play the game, Jaromir Jagr, number 68. Jagr started his career playing in Pittsburgh with Mario Lemeiux. He has eventually found his way to Rangers, where he remains a goal scoring machine, always at the top at the end of the season with goals and assists. But back in the 1990's a special person in my life though he was "handsome", my mom. I was touring once through Pittsburgh at the "Igloo" where the Penguins play and got a deal on an authentic Penguins jersey with Jagr's name and number sewn on. I gave it to her on Christmas. Though I don't think she ever wore it, I know she was really happy to have it.
And now, I've gotten to see Jagr play too. Although he wasn't much of a factor in the 4-2 win by the Rangers, he was still a joy to watch on the ice, carving and passing, shooting when it was right, and taking the hits like everyone else.
This game was for you Mom.
So for now, I'll talk about the other sport.
Clem, Jason and myself went to an NHL hockey game in Raleigh. The Carolina Hurricanes were hosting the New York Rangers and the promoter got us tickets, since we were playing in the same venue the next night. It was a bit of a last minute thing, I found out they had tickets the day before and got on the list. Then it turned out everyone except for Clem dropped out, so we invited Jason. We had six tickets, so we figured we be able to spread out. That wasn't the case. As you can see over my shoulder in the picture above, two women were sitting in our seats, and none of us and the balls enough to ask them to move. So we squished ourselves into the remaining four seats. Which was not easy since Clem is about 6' 6" tall and I'm about the same length, not tall but wide. Jason fit right in the middle. After a period of play we figured out no one was behind us, so Clem moved back and took the above picture.But that's where the complaining about the game will stop. We had really great seats!
As you can see, we were 7 rows from the ice in the corner. Being down that close makes the game so much faster. These kids can skate. We got to see an amazing tic-tac-toe goal scored by the Rangers. Luckily for us we were sitting in the Rangers section so when Clem burst from his seat to applaud the visiting teams goal, he wasn't alone.I really like watching the goalies. Many of them have rituals and superstitions that repeat every game. Some of them like to tap the pipes of the goal just before face-offs. Some guys take three squirts from their water bottles during breaks. A big superstition is to not step on any of the painted lines. This was a famous one for one of the better goalies of the game, Patrick Roy. I remember reading about him always stepping over the blue line, and one day, during the playoffs, he was stepping over the line and tripped! He fell to his knees and got up quickly and tried to brush it off. He still lost the game, and proceeded to blame the loss on the trip.
I'm sure most of you didn't know that when I was a young lad, I used to play lots of roller hockey. In Hawai'i my friend Calvin and I would organize games every Tuesday and Thursday nights at Puohala elementary school on their basketball court. We start playing at around 7:15 after we closed up The Bike Shop and would play until the lights would turn off at around 10:30. I would always play goal. I loved strapping on the pads pulling on the mask. Most kids would prefer to whack the slap shot and score the goal. I got more pleasure out of snagging a puck out of the air, or making a super stretch toe save. That got me going.
From those days, I gained a few superstitions that I still have today. To this day, I still put on the right thing of everything first. Right sock, right shoe, Right glove, always on first. If I pull the left on first because I'm not paying attention, I always take it back off and put the right one on first. Even my tendinitis bands, right arm first. Once a goalie, always a goalie, I guess.
I have seen the Rangers play once before. Back in 1996, at Madison Square Garden. I paid a pretty penny for the ticket, $125 bucks. But I was 3 rows behind their bench. It was a good time to be a Rangers fan. They had just won the Stanley Cup two years prior, they had traded for the best player the game has ever seen, Wayne Gretsky. Which reunited him with former Oilers teammate, Mark Messier. And got to see "The Great One" skate live, at least once in my life.Today the Rangers are a good middle of the pack team. They have another one of the best to ever play the game, Jaromir Jagr, number 68. Jagr started his career playing in Pittsburgh with Mario Lemeiux. He has eventually found his way to Rangers, where he remains a goal scoring machine, always at the top at the end of the season with goals and assists. But back in the 1990's a special person in my life though he was "handsome", my mom. I was touring once through Pittsburgh at the "Igloo" where the Penguins play and got a deal on an authentic Penguins jersey with Jagr's name and number sewn on. I gave it to her on Christmas. Though I don't think she ever wore it, I know she was really happy to have it.
And now, I've gotten to see Jagr play too. Although he wasn't much of a factor in the 4-2 win by the Rangers, he was still a joy to watch on the ice, carving and passing, shooting when it was right, and taking the hits like everyone else.
This game was for you Mom.
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