The Arena Experience
In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not a huge fan of other sports. Compared to hockey, televised football, baseball, and basketball frankly just bore me. And yet, sit me down in front of a live game and you won’t hear me complain. I’ve been known to get into a Bisons game at Dunn Tire Park, cheer on the UB Bulls basketball team next to my season-ticket-holder parents, and I’m sure I’d even enjoy a Bills game from Ralph Wilson Stadium, although some of my parents’ horror stories suggest otherwise. Even if I don’t particularly enjoy the game itself, I can’t resist the sports atmosphere. So for me, a live hockey game--complete with atmosphere--is nothing short of sublime. There’s the food, the Jumbotron, the organ and about a million other things to love, but my favorite by far is the collective fan experience. Hockey is exciting on TV and even on the radio, but during a good game, the air inside the home building is almost palpably electric. People bond through their mass anticipation: they cheer and groan in unison as opportunities are created and missed; complete strangers strike up conversations about this player or that one, exchange compliments about sweaters and signs. And every once in a while there’s a moment of complete elation that’s entirely unlike any other experience in the world. I’ve spent a lot of time on YouTube this long, hockey-less summer, and one of the videos I keep revisiting is this one, but I usually don’t even watch it. I just love listening to the crowd’s prayerful quiet after the face-off, then their desperation as they yell “SHOOT!” at Tim Connolly, their frustration as his shot is turned away, their pure joy as Drury scores. That, more so than the goal itself, sends chills down my spine. It’s like suddenly being thrown into the experience. (Incidentally, the guy who shot this sits about ten rows in front of the seats my dad shares with his office, so the viewing angle is pretty familiar to me.) I wish more things in life—finding the movie I want at Blockbuster, getting off of work an hour early, finally completing a year-long knitting project—could be celebrated the way they are in a hockey arena: throwing hands up in the air, screaming, grabbing complete strangers by the shoulders, shaking them, high-fiving anything that moves, and being joined by almost 19,000 other people, all doing the same thing.
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3 comments:
I realized this year that going to a Sabres game is my most happy leisure time activity. It's special since I can enjoy it with my wife (and other family members), but I think I'd choose an outing to the arena even over some elaborate vacation trip.
Last Christmas Heather and I went to visit her brother in Florida. We had some great times, visiting Universal Studios for one, but I couldn't help thinking, "Hmmm...the Sabres are playing Nashville tonight! Man, we can't watch the game!"
I can't wait for the season to start!
The crowd desperately and panickingly crying, "SHOOOOT!" in that video is awesome.
Mark: Of the four games I got to go to last season, we only won one of them, and the three we lost were against Montreal, Toronto, and Ottawa of all the hated teams. But I still had a total blast at all of them! Obviously, it's more fun if we win, but I don't think there are many things in Buffalo I would rather do than watch hockey.
I'm looking forward to at least a couple Sabres games this year (and the Ice Bowl if I can swing it), and I'm already planning to see a Wild game while I'm out at school. I've never been in another arena before, so that should be interesting.
Heather: Isn't it? That's definitely my favorite part, and I think I could listen to it all day.
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