Tempted as I was to go and see The Lemonheads for the second night in a row, peer pressure meant that we all headed off to the ice hockey instead. The Chicago Blackhawks have been having a bad time for the last 15 years or so, usually playing to a half empty United Center, and with thousands of fans staying away in protest at the owner and some of his decisions (like banning games from being shown on TV). The fact that the unpopular owner died a few months ago, the games are back on TV, and the club isn't a complete circus any more, has seen some fans start to return to the arena. However, it was still under half full for this game, so it was easy to wander up 10 minutes before the start of the game, and pay $15 for seats at the back. We didn't sit in them, of course, because there were so many empty seats towards the front, that were just begging to be used instead.I've always thought that ice hockey (or just "hockey", as the Americans call it), is the best of the big 4 American sports, probably helped no end by the fact that the game is Canadian, and all of the players are either Canadian or Eastern European. There aren't as many stop-start interruptions as in American Football, Baseball or Basketball, so you tend to get much better and longer periods of uninterrupted play. The fact that, in principle at least, it is quite like football, also helps the enjoyment.
The game experience was a weird one, with lots of drunk idiots at the back of the arena, whooping and cheering at inexplicable things. Whilst the game was going on, everything was relayed on a huge screen suspended over the ice - so it was hard to work out whether you were better off following the ice, or the TV coverage of what was happening on the ice. And, any game that is divided into 3 periods of play, is pretty weird as far as I am concerned.
When you go to a hockey match, you really want to see 2 things - goals and fighting. Thankfully, the one (and probably the only) game I went to had lots of both. It finished 6-3 to the Blackhawks, which is apparently quite a few goals for a hockey game. And, there were some good punchups between the players, including an extended fight in the first period. The venue punctuates the fighting with comedy punching noises, which makes it clear that everybody sees the fights as a key part of the overall action. They ranged from semi-serious to comedy play fighting, but were amusing. We also saw hockey sticks get broken, some sin bin action, and some powerplays. Generally, much of what want on passed me by, but I obviously managed to understand the basic premise that teams were trying to score some goals.
This was an interesting experience, although not one that I'd go all out to repeat in a hurry. Of course, going to a half empty arena took something away from the whole thing, I'm sure it would have been much more enjoyable if it had been full and rocking. However, getting in for $15 was fantastic - I guess it was a direct result of the obvious trouble that the Blackhawks have in selling out their games, but it certainly made for a decent evening's entertainment at a very reasonable price. Given that, I don't know why more people don't get off their arses, move away from the TV, and go to fill the arena.
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