 |
|
|
|
Adventures of a hockey fanatic by Mike Caples “Ahh, ahh, dude, you’re going to hit that car man.” It was 6:28 p.m., and we were stuck in the
Joe Louis Arena’s
parking structure trying to expace the horrors of the chaos resulting
from the final buzzer of a Detroit Red Wings game. Hours earlier, we sat in nearly the same spot
waiting half an hour to pay $15 to park our car. For that
$15, we got a front row parking spot, a beautiful woman opening our
doors and a space heater following us all the way into the arena. A Red Wings game is a cheap, affordable event
for you and your friends to go to. My friends John and Ducky decided we should go to a
Wings game, since it’s cheaper than a casino, which was our original
decision. Luckily, the Wings have dropped their ticket
prices since the NHL lockout. I
heard that the lockout was only done so that when the games came back,
it would be cheaper than before. Ticket prices were only $54 (what a steal!). To
put that in perspective, Travelocity tells me I can fly to Florida
for around the same price.
Before we even found our seats, it was time
to pay tribute to owner Mike Illich by buying his food. We agreed on getting some opening
face-off nachos. My nachos cost $4. At our local ice rink,
the nachos that John, Ducky and I bonded over only cost $2, but the
nachos at Joe Louis Arena were nowhere near the same. They had
crunchy chips and melted cheese in a cup next to them, pre-made and
ready to go for the fabulous customers. If you spent only four
more dollars, you could get some peppers and Chris Chelios’ home-made
chili on your nachos, too! We got to our seats just in time to see the
beautiful Karen Newman sing our national anthem. The people sitting in front of us
forgot to remove their caps even though the P.A. announcer reminded
them to do so. They seemed nice though, but they drank a lot of
beer throughout the game and got really loud by the second period. The game was very exciting, and we enjoyed
our seats very much. Luckily,
we got to watch the watch the game through a black net; that way, we
were protected from a freak, one in a million accident of getting hit
in the head with a rogue puck and dying (phew!). The netting was
pretty thin, so we were capable of seeing the majority of the action. My best buddy John especially enjoyed his seat;
he got to sit right behind former Red Wing Brett Hull. I was a bit confused though,
because he wore his ‘Hull’ jersey, but he also wore a hat
celebrating the Red Wings’ 1998 Stanley Cup winning season (maybe
Steve Yzerman gave it to him as a birthday present…). Apparently
the Golden Brett has been experiencing knee problems of late, because
had to stand up all the time when nobody else was. John said he
really enjoyed the view of the backside that read ‘Hull, number
17’, but he occasionally leaned over and asked for an update on
the game. Due to the fact that we are hockey players
ourselves, we took a stroll to Hockeytown Authentics where you can
buy game-used equipment from the Red Wings players. At Play It Again Sports, equipment is
cheaper if it has been used, but apparently it grows in value if Pavel
Datsyuk sweated on it. Sticks used by Nick Lidstrom cost $275,
$100 more than it would cost brand new. I was going to buy it
anyways, because I broke my own stick a few weeks earlier, but I was
a couple dollars short, and John wouldn’t lend me more than $200. The game went well, though. The players would
play for a couple minutes, then the whistle would blow and a red light
would come on in the timekeeper’s
box. This light signaled that NBC was making money buy showing
Ford, Verizon, and Mastercard ads again, and the game had to wait until
they were done. We took up square dancing while we waited. I’m
still a little confused on why they call it the ‘fastest game
on Earth.’ All in all, the game was a fantastic experience and very cost efficient. My new goal is to travel to every NHL city and watch a game and an entirely different culture. Who’s with me? |
|
