Sunday, March 9, 2008

the good ol' hockey game, the best game you can name

Me and Mrs. Steve went to see the Capitals play the Penguins today at the Phone Booth. Three of hockey's biggest young stars, Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, and Yvgeni Malkin, were involved in this game. The game was broadcast by NBC as the Game of the Week, a compliment to the Caps considering they are struggling to make the playoffs. I could spend a few paragraphs talking about how great the game of hockey is when you see it in person. However, instead I want to give a big thumbs-up to the fans in Section 413 who attended the game for adding to the overall sporting experience. Being that Washington is a transient town, the Capitals do not have a strong fan base. As a partial season ticket holder myself, I have been subjected to fans from other teams coming to DC and being obnoxious from the drop of the first puck straight to the very end. Oftentimes, the overall experience is ruined by these individuals who arrive drunk and leave even more drunk (Yes, I am talking to you, fans of the New York Rangers). Today's crowd was probably about 65% Capitals fans and 35% Penguin fans. I found that Penguin fans could appreciate good play on both sides and supported their team positively instead of denegrating the home Washington Capitals. At no point did any fan shout "Caps suck" or "overrated" or other insults that are unsubstantiated. (Again, I am talking to you Ranger fans). The back and forth action provided in this game along with the 99% sold out arena provided an electric atmosphere. I wish I could see this type of fan experience at other arenas. However, with player salaries continuing to increase and the likelihood of a player spending his entire career in one city continuing to diminish, the fans feel they have the right to take out their angst on the opposition. Sporting events would be better off accentuating the positive and eliminating the negative.

That being said, the Yankees still suck.

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