OK...so it's Tuesday. Which implies that, yet again, I've managed to not write in my blog every day. Sue me.
I got home late last night from the Islanders-Lightning playoffs game. I ended up with a ticket because my cousin, who is a huge Islanders fan, had to go to Paris all of a sudden with his girlfriend. Man, I hate when that happens.
So I end up catching a ride to the game with my cousin's friend Kyle. Kyle, who is from Connecticut, was a way cool partner for a rainy night adventure to Long Island.
Apparently, he's started an online business selling statues from Southeast Asia...and he supports himself doing it. If and when I get the URL, I shall definitely pass it on. In any case, Kyle was very laid back, in spite of the fact that he drove from Connecticut in the rain to pick me and some tickets up in Manhattan, then drove, just short of rush hour out to Long Island to get to the Coliseum...which we did in plenty of time to scarf down some McDonald's.
OK...now, in case you didn't know this about me, I am a New York Rangers fan. Being a New York Rangers fan is about as far from being a New York Islanders fan as you can be, and still be in the same sport. There are very very few rivalries in US sports that compare to this. I guess the Yankees-Red Sox thing is pretty close (might even be more than this, recently.) In England, Premiership Football is all about these rivalries. But in New York, being a hockey fan, you're a Rangers fan, or you're an Islanders fan. You're not both. You're never both. Both teams sell shirts that say "I only root for two teams: The New York ____(Rangers/Islanders) and whoever's playing the _______ (The other team.)" Oh, and they mean it.
So, there I am, a New York Rangers fan, deep in the belly of the beast. I have never seen so much ugly orange in one place in my life. It's terrifying.
But let me say this about my experience in Long Island: The Coliseum is an amazing place to see a hockey game. The place FEELS small. The seats are so close to the ice, when they say "beware of flying pucks," you feel like it's something you should pay attention to. They give away t-shirts during the intermissions...if you consider attractive young women with compressed-air t-shirt cannons to be "giving away t-shirts." And the place is LOUD. Not the normal roar of a sporting event. I have season tickets to the NY Rangers. I go to a MINIMUM of 40 games a year. I know what sporting events sound like when they get loud. This place was like standing next to an F-4 Phantom as it was taking off...only to have all it's munitions detonate simultaneously. I'm serious. I could NOT hear Kyle talking for the first 10 minutes of the game...which is exactly how long it took for the Lightning to score 2 goals, and thus shut the entire place up.
DiPietro looked scared in net for the Islanders, the Islanders were totally pumped up by being at home and all the noise and the scantily-clad women giving away t-shirts and such and took some really dumb penalties. I can't believe I'm writing this, but you don't give the Lightning those kinds of chances, because they will kick your ass.
And kick ass they did.
If there is a greater pleasure than watching the hated Islanders lose at home during a playoff game, I am not certain what that would be.
Oh, except that I'm going to Wednesday night's game at the Coliseum as well.