4
Mar
So last week a co-worker came to me with three tickets to see out local hockey team, the Aeros, vs the Manitoba Moose. Since I have four boys a decision had to be made. Since I took Aoghdan to his first show last year and Diarmuid is really to young to enjoy a hockey game I decided it would be Seamus and Hamish going. I hadn’t seen a hockey game in years and was looking forward to spending the time with the boys. So I bailed out of work a little early and thanks to my better half was able to just pick them up and head downtown to the Toyota Center. We got there in plenty of time and since the tickets included a parking pass it was all very easy to manage. The boys, dressed rather handsomely I must say, were almost vibrating with excitement. Now Rob had warned me that these seats were amongst the craziest of hockey fans but I had idea what we were in for!
So the first shock involved how much they wanted for food. I have been to sporting events and a lot of shows and the Toyota Center’s food vendors rank up there with highest prices I have ever paid for what amounted to state fair food. Seamus got a personal pizza (8.00), Hamish got a corn dog (6.00), fries to split between the boys (4.75), I got four small chicken strips (8.50), and a large drink to share (5.75)(for a damn Coke)! A pleasant surprise was that the Aeros schwag was the cheapest sports memorabilia I think I have seen with a good selection of 5.00 stuff that wasn’t cheap or cheesy. But with the concession prices it didn’t balance out all that well. But the best surprise were the seats. They were, and I don’t know the hockey term for it, right behind the opposing team’s goal for the first and third periods, 2 rows from the glass!
We quickly found out that most of the noise in the arena during any given game is made by the section we were sitting in. At first the boys were a little intimidated by the cowbells, shouting, banging on the glass, and the friendliness of the folks sitting around us but the quickly got into it even sneaking up two rows and banging on the glass a couple of time. We learned a lot of the traditions for our section, joining in taunting Schnieder (Goalie for the Moose), berating the refs, and yelling at the Aeros to take shots. The first couple of times players were checked into the boards the boys were kind of taken aback but the first time someone got checked and his skates made it above the boards where you could clearly see them on the other side of the glass Seamus screamed out “I love this game!” which elicited a good chuckle from those around us. The first time a puck flew towards the glass, hitting with that gunshot sound hockey fans are familiar with, Seamus jumped out of his skin and had a shocked look frozen on his face for better than a full minute.
We even got see some guy set his beer on the ridge on the glass, and watch physics take effect and dump it directly into his lap about 30 seconds later. I hope his nice pants weren’t ruined. The boys loved the game and a lot of that was due to the section in which we got to sit. We plan to go back soon but plan to eat somewhere else first in order to avoid the outrageous prices. And Rob promises I’ll get all the tickets he can’t use since he has season tickets.
The boys are still talking about the game and Michelle even waited for us to get home and took more pictures (the ones in this post are from my horrible phone camera) and even used one of them for her Project 365 picture. The one below is the one she used. Make sure you check her site and her gallery on a regular basis since she’s a bad ass photographer and is only getting better!
Comments
Ron on 03.05.2010
Nice tale!
Those are good seats to see action; not so good to see plays develop.
You do get to see what the goalie sees.
FYI banging on the glass is NOT good etiquette. Cowbell’s regional, questioning the ref’s lineage and species preference for a mate are fine.
Those concession prices aren’t bad compared to some arenas. Toronto’s about as high as it gets.
Too bad your boys don’t get to play on a nearby pond.
Romeo Sid Vicious on 03.08.2010
Apparently the Houston fans don’t have good etiquette.
There was quite abit of banging on the glass after a score by the Aeros.
I would love to have somewhere for them to skate. I used to skate at a rink, ice skate, growing up but that rink is now pretty much surrounded by the ghetto and the only other one I know about, open to the public, is in the middle of a mall that I try to not to ever enter.