Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Take shots! 11! He Shoots! He Scores!!

I have a confession to make: I am a hockey fan. My affliction began with a fateful playoff game in 1998, when I bought a single ticket to the first round of the San Jose Sharks vs. the Dallas Stars and watched Andrei Zyuzin win it in overtime. When I could not get tickets for the next round, I bought season tickets for the next year to guarantee playoff tickets.

So began five years of season-ticket-holder fun, the residue of which is being felt today with nightly indulgences in Center Ice. My husband is currently obsessed with the World Junior Championship tournament, meaning that most of our waking moments are spent watching the NHL Network or live feeds from other rinks around the country. My two year old son already knows the word "hockey" and can recognize it instantly.

I even tried playing it, but it's too time-consuming and expensive to find the right equipment and get ice time. But I do get to belong to what feels like an exclusive club - in the US anyway - of people who can talk comprehensively about the game.

I don't get to see the Sharks much now that we're on the East Coast, and they play half of their games at 10:30. But every once in a while, I get to hear the greatest play-by-play team in the world, Randy and Drew.

And now, I am agog about Claude Lemieux clearing waivers today. Wha??? The guy was mean in his prime, but he started in the league in 1983.

Not everyone can be Jeremy Roenick.

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