Re: They Lived Happily Every After...or, detoxing from residency
Flynn's first hockey game -- mullets optional
Actually, the title to this post is factually a lie. About 17 years ago I saw a North Stars game in an arena that doesn’t exist anymore. I think I have blocked out the game however, as my first official experience with hockey (pronounced HAWK -- EEEE) was laden with especially large men swearing, sloshing beer on anyone near them, and basically burning off more calories, YELLING at the opposing team, than they had in months. I was morbidly fascinated with the entire experience.
Yesterday we saw the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs play the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux as a family. I have to admit, watching a game in person -- the goofy sport actually starts to make sense. Unlike on television, you can see every line change, and the puck is visible. Huh. Who knew? If you can SEE the puck -- the skating around aimlessly begins to loosely resemble -- strategy.
If you didn’t grow up with "hawk - ee" it's hard to understand what a big deal MINNESOTA hockey is. I imagine it's like Texas football or even East Coast Lacrosse -- to a lesser degree. Learning the rules to hockey feels foreign even for a person who truly does enjoy watching and playing sports, like myself. I know both women and men here (admittedly more women than men) who have no CLUE what a wide receiver is, can't tell you if basketball is played on a field or court let alone what "three in the key is," and have no opinion on the designated hitter -- yet turn into intense FANS at a hockey game when there is a "blue line" violation and the ref misses it. HUH? It's a mystery to me. Hockey is not just a sport here -- it's part of the cultural foundation.
So off we went to the hockey game. If I'm being completely honest, it was fun. I learned a few more tips about hockey, asked I'm sure were a million dumb questions (DH was very sweet to answer all of them) and might even be in the "beginner" stage now as far as my hockey expertise goes, instead of "completely clueless about hockey and proud of it."
The kids enjoyed themselves as well. DD thought the cheerleading "costumes" would have been "MUCH prettier had they been better colors. Why did they use that yucky gold color?" (picture burgundy and a horrid gold mixed with white) She did approve of the shiny golden pompoms however. She also thought the players "skated well" but they were best at "bumping into each other -- why do they keep doing that Mom? I thought this was supposed to be players who were good. Can't they avoid bumping into each other more?" When I asked her who she wanted to cheer for she replied she didn’t care who won, she just didn’t want "anyone to get hurt."
DS wanted to know why at period breaks "loud men screaming" was played instead of music? ( aka Metallica, Guns and Roses, AC/DC, and Journey) I told him some people thought that WAS music and after he thought about it for a couple of seconds, he was about as shocked as a three year old could be. He then went on to say that music was played with instruments, NOT machines and singing is NOT screaming. It was hard for me to keep a straight face.
So I have experienced one more cultural milestone here in good ole' Northern Minnesota.
What's next? Who knows. You can bet your ass it won't be deer hunting while it's below zero wearing blaze orange though. I'm fairly certain that's one experience I can live without!
Flynn's first hockey game -- mullets optional
Actually, the title to this post is factually a lie. About 17 years ago I saw a North Stars game in an arena that doesn’t exist anymore. I think I have blocked out the game however, as my first official experience with hockey (pronounced HAWK -- EEEE) was laden with especially large men swearing, sloshing beer on anyone near them, and basically burning off more calories, YELLING at the opposing team, than they had in months. I was morbidly fascinated with the entire experience.
Yesterday we saw the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs play the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux as a family. I have to admit, watching a game in person -- the goofy sport actually starts to make sense. Unlike on television, you can see every line change, and the puck is visible. Huh. Who knew? If you can SEE the puck -- the skating around aimlessly begins to loosely resemble -- strategy.
If you didn’t grow up with "hawk - ee" it's hard to understand what a big deal MINNESOTA hockey is. I imagine it's like Texas football or even East Coast Lacrosse -- to a lesser degree. Learning the rules to hockey feels foreign even for a person who truly does enjoy watching and playing sports, like myself. I know both women and men here (admittedly more women than men) who have no CLUE what a wide receiver is, can't tell you if basketball is played on a field or court let alone what "three in the key is," and have no opinion on the designated hitter -- yet turn into intense FANS at a hockey game when there is a "blue line" violation and the ref misses it. HUH? It's a mystery to me. Hockey is not just a sport here -- it's part of the cultural foundation.
So off we went to the hockey game. If I'm being completely honest, it was fun. I learned a few more tips about hockey, asked I'm sure were a million dumb questions (DH was very sweet to answer all of them) and might even be in the "beginner" stage now as far as my hockey expertise goes, instead of "completely clueless about hockey and proud of it."
The kids enjoyed themselves as well. DD thought the cheerleading "costumes" would have been "MUCH prettier had they been better colors. Why did they use that yucky gold color?" (picture burgundy and a horrid gold mixed with white) She did approve of the shiny golden pompoms however. She also thought the players "skated well" but they were best at "bumping into each other -- why do they keep doing that Mom? I thought this was supposed to be players who were good. Can't they avoid bumping into each other more?" When I asked her who she wanted to cheer for she replied she didn’t care who won, she just didn’t want "anyone to get hurt."
DS wanted to know why at period breaks "loud men screaming" was played instead of music? ( aka Metallica, Guns and Roses, AC/DC, and Journey) I told him some people thought that WAS music and after he thought about it for a couple of seconds, he was about as shocked as a three year old could be. He then went on to say that music was played with instruments, NOT machines and singing is NOT screaming. It was hard for me to keep a straight face.
So I have experienced one more cultural milestone here in good ole' Northern Minnesota.
What's next? Who knows. You can bet your ass it won't be deer hunting while it's below zero wearing blaze orange though. I'm fairly certain that's one experience I can live without!
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