Hockey is a team sport, and watching it should be too. Friday night, I had the pleasure of taking in a Lincoln Stars game, and had I never gone, I would never have experienced a game like it. While that may seem pretty basic – if we don’t experience something, then we miss out – but I would have had my assumptions about the Lincoln Stars, their fans, and Mid-America hockey to go by, and I would have been completely wrong. The only drawback was that I couldn’t really share the experience. Sure, I had pictures to show, but I can’t tell you how loud it was (F’n A loud!!!), what the intro was like (intimidating, to say the least), what the crowd was like (knew their stuff), or how the game felt. There was a shared experience with 4,464 (announced) other people, but it isn’t the same as turning to someone you know and telling them how you feel about a play at the time, or having someone to high five about a goal with, or even someone you know you can laugh at for a goal against their team and get away with it. Hockey is, and should be, a shared experience.
Often times, blogging is not. You sit at the keyboard, write for a while, and get a few comments. You may interact with a few people, but you don’t get to really chat them up, share a moment, or connect on a one-on-one level. I have had the pleasure of meeting up with several bloggers, who are fun, interesting and know their hockey, so much so that it puts me to shame. I have had drinks on a few occasions, and become friends with Greg from Post-Pessimist and Hockey Rants, struck up a friendship with Eric McErlain from Off Wing Opinion, watched the first round of the draft with Acid Queen of Sweet Tea, BBQ, and Bodychecks, and met some very fine people at the blogger meetup at the Draft this year. I’ve commented and emailed several others who I hope to meet face to face one day. And strangely, I still have not seen a hockey game with another hockey blogger.
Until tonight. I am now in Minnesota, and get the distinct honor of taking in a hockey game, namely the Avs vs the Minnesota Wild, with Roy of Wild Puck Banter. If you don’t know anything about Roy, get yourself over to his blog. We started blogging hockey around the same time, and he helped keep me going at the beginning, when doubt sets in and you feel like there is nothing you can do right. I am really happy I get to take a game in with him.
Look for a game recap late in the night, or sometime Monday. I hear a hockey bar is in order (in fact, I demanded it), so who knows what form it will take. I bet it will be fun.
2 responses to “Not An Island”
Iam not a blogger but i really enjoy reading blogs infact i post alot of them on a site called http://www.orangemane.com a denver bronco message board. Iam the mod on the NHL section of this site which i try to keep updated with current info and also have a game thread every game (most of the time) iam looking for more folks to come over for the game threads so please signup if you want to talk football or hockey. I will be checking out the soho151 for a game tapeleg so let me know when you are going be there.
If you’re ever in San Jose, look me up. We’ll take in a Sharks game, even if They aren’t playing the Avs.