Who Knew!?
I’ve learned recently that I enjoy hockey. Who knew! About a year ago, “Uncle Ted” gave away free tickets to the Caps games to employees in an attempt to up the attendance in the stands.The Kid and I dressed in the appropriate colors and attended all the games we could. Being the great businessman that he is, “Uncle Ted” gave me no free tickets this year forcing me to actually PURCHASE them when I have the inkling to attend a game. This wouldn’t be a problem, except that “Uncle Ted” gave away excellent seats. Excellent. And since attending the weekend games has become a “thing” for me and The Kid to enjoy together, she’s come to expect the excellent seats. I can’t blame her. In fact, I may actually be using her as the excuse to justify buying excellent seats. If you’ve ever had excellent seats to a hockey game, I’m betting you aren’t blaming me either.
Lucky for us as fans of the local team, the Caps are doing well this year. They’re in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Thanks to Wikipedia and some friends with experience, I’m getting pretty comfortable and casual with the lingo. Again, who knew I’d ever be able to talk sports, let alone actually WANT to?!
Unfortunately, the tickets to excellent seats in the playoffs are even more budget-unfriendly than regular season games. The fiscally responsible parent in me says I should ration the games we actually attend, while this emerging hockey fan screams “JUST BUY THE TICKETS!”
While we’ve dressed in red to show support when attending the games this season, I compromised and found the sports channels on TV. Who knew my TV could actually receive sporting events without the universe imploding?
DH does not watch sports. He did not attend the games even when it was just a fun thing to try. But as a supportive husband, he has listened and followed (or appeared to follow) as I detail the path through the playoffs. A week ago, I noticed (but subtly did not point out) that he was actually sitting and WATCHING the game with me. To reward this behavior, I promptly made manly snacks to seal his attendance for at least another period. A few days later, the 3 of us watched the game on TV, shouting, commenting, and critiquing. The things that all good fans should be doing to support their local team – short of actually BUYING tickets to the game.
On Wednesday, I wasn’t home in time for the game (an away game requiring our support via TV), but figured I’d watch the end or catch the score later. When I arrived home, I found that DH and The Kid had watched the first 2/3 of the game – this is an actual miracle. My favorite part of his recap was the retelling of The Kid’s commented that she didn’t like the all white crowd – she prefers the crowd to in color – specifically red. Fashion sense and a taste for (hockey) blood – That’s my kid!
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Assisted Procrastination 
May 8, 2009 at 7:31 am
You have no idea how awesome it is for me to hear you’re watching hockey! I watched casually as a kid, but I watch A LOT now. Football and hockey pretty well dominate the TV from September until late spring. July and August are the “dark times”, before football starts up again.
My Stars aren’t in it this year, but I’m enjoying watching the Caps. Ovechkin is a monster.
May 8, 2009 at 11:52 am
Hockey-we lived hockey as kids!!!! We attended games a couple of times a year. My favorite part was ice skating after the games at the “Civic Center”. We played hockey on the creek behind the house. You guys are a little late catching on
May 8, 2009 at 10:45 pm
Correction: The kid was commenting on the jerseys being worn by the teams, not sure if she was also including the crowd. The penguins in black and the Caps in almost all white. She said it looked boring. She wanted the other jersey colors because the better colors made the game more fun.
May 13, 2009 at 12:05 pm
We got into hockey the same way and love it. We loved going to the games, even purchased tickets several times. I have not been watching games on TV until the Stanley cup series, but it has been fun. Who knows, maybe next year I’ll be able to speak about more than just the Caps.