A Night To Remember or Forget?

Well, I did it. I went to my first NHL game on Jan. 17, 2009. The game was a home game for the St. Louis Blues, playing their top rival, the Chicago Blackhawks. I was excited as I loaded my five year old into the car and headed out into the cold winter night.

I decided to spend the money for the total experience, paying for good seats and forking out the $15.00 fee for garage parking, plus buying of souvenirs and overpriced concessions.

I knew I would probably only have one chance to do this as I live in South Korea, and we are not always home during hockey season and we are definitely not usually in a hockey city. So ready to spend and on our way we went.

Everything progressed as planned as we made our way to our seats at center ice. The view was amazing, close but not so close we would miss part of the action (i.e. not at the glass), something a Canadian friend told me to avoid.

My son was a dream, happy as a lark (as usual) and in awe of Louie, the mascot. This was supposed to be a die hard hockey fans ultimate experience, a real NHL game with a top rivalry!! I was on the edge of my seat!!

All was going well until hell personified sat next to us. The scene that played out was like something you would see on television, in a comedy. She was rude and scary, and I felt sorry for her husband, whom she immediately put in his place the first time he opened his mouth.

I swear, she was pure evil, making it clear she wanted nothing to do with my excitement or friendly Midwestern personality. In return, I did my best to lean away from her, focusing on my son until the game started.

I decided contorting myself into having a spinal injury was more comfortable than dealing with the demonic one.

When the game did start, I felt thrilled to be there but that was not to last for long. I soon felt disappointed as I quickly learned the night really was not about hockey. It was about catering to our technology shortened attention span and HDTVneedy brains.

There was more razzle dazzle than a casino in full whirl and at one point I actually forgot to watch the game!! I focused more on the Jumbotron, which had all kinds of stuff going on; more than on the game.

There was player trivia, attempts at give-aways and my favorite (NOTE: I am oozing with sarcasm by this point), “Who looks the most like which Caddy Shack characters?!” Not to mention the Kiss Cam.

All of this when all I wanted was pure, fast, thrill a minute hockey. The game was good, going into overtime with a 1-1 tie and the Blackhawks winning in the end.

Unfortunately, I did not realize it was a good game until I overheard someone say so. I guess my lack of realization had to do with the fact that I did not see that much of the game. I would say there was an even split between the game time, hell woman and the Jumbotron. I would estimate my brains TOI being about 20 minutes.

As for demon woman, maybe she had a better night than me, falling asleep during the third period.

Maybe she was sleeping it off or maybe she exhausted herself at first intermission when she loudly proclaimed, “Well, I guess we’ll have to stand up if we want to see,” as the man and two boys in front of her stood up for a stretch while two teams of young kids played.

She followed that performance by again loudly and rudely declaring, “I guess we can sit down now,” after they sat down. Maybe she just needed to spew. I have to commend the man and boys. Nobody said anything to her or bothered with it.

Maybe they just were not in the mood to re-enact a scene from the Exorcist. I am pretty sure I was not the only one happy to see her sleeping away.

Overall, on a scale of one to 10, I would rate my experience at a five. Not because of demon woman, but because of distractions from the game. I got the feeling that a lot of folks just were not into the game even though it was a sellout crowd.

I lived in St. Louis for six years and I know the rivalry is strong, but honestly, something was missing from the night. Maybe it was just me. Maybe I love the game too much and had too many expectations.

When I returned to Korea, I told another Canadian friend about my disappointment and he sighed and said with the voice of experience, “It’s not about the game anymore.”

I realize the NHL is “the fourth” sport and maybe it has to work harder to get fans but the overkill was just too much. Will I go back to a live game? Probably not. I’d rather get it on my computer or TV.

The view is great and even at work (I’m a professor with free time; don’t judge), I can focus better than at a live game. I do not have to worry about catching the coupons falling from the remote controlled blimp flying overhead (which my son found entertaining) or about scenes from a sitcom playing out in real life to my left as the evil one snores away.

I’m glad I went. I needed to see it for myself. Maybe I will try an AHL game or something in the juniors. Somewhere out there, it has to be about the game.

Cheers.