Thursday, October 29, 2009

Her First Hockey Game




At home, she talks like she loves hockey but when it's on TV she loses interest quickly so we suspect that it's more that she wants to be the girl who likes hockey than she is the girl who likes hockey. The moment of truth came tonight when we were given a couple of free tickets to the Predators game. Um, that hockey talk? It seems that it might be the real deal.

Our first dad-daughter outing in a long time, she was positively giddy riding down the interstate in the back seat. I told her what I knew about the game. (Not much.) She asked me if I was sure I was going the right way because we were going to be late for the game if I wasn't.

Once there, we enjoyed a nice walk from the library parking garage to the Sommet Center. Walking among the many Predators jersey-outfitted fans, my girl remarked, "There sure are a lot of lucky people seeing hockey tonight." We entered the arena and it was like she had been there before. Instead of being a shy kid in a crowd in an unfamiliar place, she was focused and in charge. When I'd slow the pace to look around, she'd pull me forward. "It's already starting, dad."

Still, I wondered just how much of the game she'd enjoy. With it being a school night, we'd be exiting after the first period. Would she last even that long? We entered Section 306 for our seats but I decided to go out and around to the other entrance closer to our seats. Holding her up as I walked away, my back to the ice, my daughter kept her head directed to the action, hungry for any glimpse of the real thing. Finally in our seats, there was no question to her intention to take it all in.

She asked me that very basic question first: "When will they fight?" I quickly texted that to my wife, but was scolded by my little hockey fan. The crowd was clapping and I was not. She called me on it. We cheered together and we chanted "Let's go, Predators" along with the rest of the crowd. Imagine if we sat in Section 303. Some of those chants wouldn't play as well at school for her the next day.

We left at the end of the period and she was giddy the whole way home. I'm still not sure if she'll watch any games on TV, but I think it's my duty as her dad to secure tickets for some more Preds games for her. Thanks to my wife's friend who gave us the tickets tonight and thanks to our friend and blogger, Jane Q. Public, for giving her a really cool Predators t-shirt. We had a perfectly awesome time.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

love Ari's comment "when will they
fight"? am so glad yall had such
a good time. love - mom

introverted one said...

*Sigh* I remember taking the Elder Extroverted One to her first Predators hockey game. She thoroughly enjoyed it. And I was proud to say to my other friend with kids (who left after 1st period) that the EEO made it to half way through the 3rd (we make school night sacrifices for hockey!).

Which led to the EEO going to the Pred's G.O.A.L. program. Then we moved to Chattanooga. No ice.

Oh well. All that to say this: YAY ARI!!!!

Christy said...

Love this. I was probably around her age when I went to my first baseball game and was probably just as excited.

The Old Man and His Dog said...

Reminds me of when I received luxury box seats to a Flyers game back in the late 90's. I got them from my Aetna rep and took my oldest daughter Marisa. She used to love watching hockey on TV with me and we collected hockey cards together. I could never afford to buy hockey tickets so when I got these I felt like a hero. We were served by a waitress, there were fireworks and quite a show. A night to remember.

Just last week Aline was given 4 tickets to a Devil's game from ADP. We requested the Sat after Thanksgiving because both my daughters and my grandson are coming up for Thanksgiving. Hope it's as great as it was the first time.

Unknown said...

That is so awesome. I like it, I love it, I want some more of it... :D Let's go Predators. :) I wanna go tooooooo!!

Anonymous said...

just thought of something else -
i don't think i've ever seen a
bigger smile on Ari's face than i
did on the two pictures on your
blog. you just KNOW she's happy
and excited. looks like you've
got a hockey fan on your hands, no
i shouldn't say that - looks like
you've got a hockey fanatic on
your hands! well, her mom is a
football (only UGA though) fanatic
so she's getting it honest. love -
mom

monstermash said...

Glad she finally got to go.

So, did she also chant "YOU SUCK" along with the "LET'S GO"?

:)