The View From Row U

Holy mother of Moses!  You guys, this year's Stanley Cup Playoff (hockey) is already so exciting!  If you are new to this little space you should know that this girl loves hockey and to be more specific she loves the Anaheim Ducks.  In case you do not believe me or think I am a bandwagoner, you can read of my love here here and here.

Last night, from the comfort of my couch, Penny and I watched the Ducks come back from 2 -4  against the Dallas Stars and win 5 - 4 in overtime. I was very excited as was Penny. I think my whole condo complex knew what was happening during the final five minutes of the game. I was that excited.  With their win last night the Ducks are moving on to the second round of the playoffs and will either play the Kings or Sharks, a California series that will be epic.

I am sure as the playoff wind on I will give you a guide of sorts, but that is not what today is for.  Today is about the thrill of seeing playoff game in person.

On Friday my buddy Justina and I made our way to The Honda Center for game five of the Ducks Stars series.  I had saved some money knowing that the Ducks were going to make it to the playoffs this year and I needed to see a game. Actually I won some money in Reno when I went to the sports book and bet on the Ducks, so it seemed appropriate to use that money for a game.  Because it is the playoffs tickets are pretty pricey and we could only afford the ones in the very last row of Honda Center, Row U.



Despite the highest seats ever, we made the best of our situation.  We were positive and decided our seats were amazing because you could see everything and there was no one behind you that might kick you or spill their beer on you.  We also had the nicest family sitting next to us that had positivity oozing from their pores.  They kept offering to buy us things and were so proud of our hockey knowledge.  They gave Justina their orange Ducks towel when one of our neighbors stole her's and the nice family ran us down because she left her cell phone at the end of the game. I think I adopted them, but forgot to tell them.

[caption id="attachment_1523" align="aligncenter" width="600"] You can see the whole game really well from the top. And there is no on behind you to spill their beer on you.[/caption]

Life in Row U was shaping up rather nicely.  There were some rather ruckus Ducks fans sitting on the other side of the nicest family ever, but they were three people away and cheering for my team so it was cool.

Then the unthinkable happened.. During the first period a group of Dallas Stars fans sat right in front of us in Row T.  I honestly didn't care that they were Dallas fans, I did however care that they were bereft of social graces and kindness.  The man who sat in front of me decided that he was going to let everyone know who he was cheering for despite the detriment that it might cause the beautiful young lady sitting behind him.

He moseyed on over to his seat in section 403 Row T seat 2 and sat his booty down whilst wearing the following headwear during the game.



I paid $50 to look at this stupid cowboy hat all night long.  By the way, how completely out of place is a cowboy hat at a hockey game?  It is almost as bad as 6 inch hooker heels, another post for another day, but worse, because it blocked my view of the best hockey team ever.

To be fair he did take the hat of for a good part of the game, but whenever the drunk Ducks fans from Row U would start to get all riled up and yell slurs about people from Texas (something about steers and well you know) he would place that hat back atop his head. I guess he really wanted us to think he was a steer.

At one point I was so fed up with cowboy that I very kindly decided he needed to be a gentleman and a true cowboy and remove his hat while indoors. I leaned forward and had this conversation with him.

"I am not sure why you are taking your anger out on me.  I am a really nice person." - Really Nice Erica

"What are you taking about." - Rude Cowboy

"Whenever you put your hat on I cannot see anything.  I am not the one who is yelling terrible things about people from Dallas.  I am just trying to watch some hockey and enjoy the game, but I cannot because of your hat." - Blessed are the peacemakers Erica

"Whatever." - Cowboy leaves his hat on.

"Hey you should take of your hat, she is really nice!" - Girl sitting next to cowboy who was taking selfies all. night. long.

"What?" - Confused Cowboy

"Please just take off your hat, I want to see the game." - Me

With reluctance he takes off his hat, for a few minutes.  He then returns the hat to his head every time the Ducks scored a goal in the third period (that was three times). 

The game ended and I saw a pretty good portion of it and left the Honda Center feeling rather serene for my passive resistance to the social injustice that I encountered (joke! I know that this was nowhere near social injustice).

Although I did find the sliver lining of sitting in Row U I would in no way be opposed to the Anaheim Ducks giving me seats at the glass or a box for a playoff game so I can actually enjoy the sport the way it was meant to be enjoyed, not behind the dumb cowboy hat of a fan of the opposing team.

I am also pretty sure at this point in my blog journey the Ducks should make me the blog ambassador for their organization. I will go to all the home games, take fabulous photos, and educate all the blog readers on why hockey is the best sport ever.

Anaheim Ducks, organization, I promise you I will make so many beautiful women hockey fans in a year that you will need to make this my full-time job.

[caption id="attachment_1519" align="aligncenter" width="600"] We love the Ducks![/caption]

Enough of this tomfoolery, but really Ducks I will be your ambassador for the blogs, think about it.  Dear readers, in case you are interested in loving hockey now is a great time.  We are moving into the second round of playoff and things are heating up.  I will be back later to this week to fill you in on all that is happening in hockey,

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="214"] via[/caption]