Wrapping up yesterday's post about our visit to a Dallas Stars/MN Wild game (which really is the wrap up of our Texas vacation), here's what we found inside the American Airlines Arena...
With the exception of watching my niece play soccer against UMD last fall, it's the first time I've ever attended a sporting event as the "minority fan". It was actually kind of fun. It's easy to strike up a conversation with other Wild fans and talk about Minnesota connections.
Before the game started, we asked an arena worker where the Wild players would be entering the ice. Apparently other Wild fans did the same, and thus, our small community formed.
I stayed up above, but the kids could peak through the tunnel and see the players starting to line up. And then, just as the players emerged...
some freaky new father stuck his baby over the railing and totally ruined all of my shots. What did he think the baby was going to do? Get an autograph?
During warm-ups, AJ got this close to the action:
My other boy did, too.
I have to say the Dallas fan were extremely nice to us. One woman whose season tickets had her sitting right where we were standing, volunteered to let our kids stand in her place while she stood off to the side. A while later, she approached Jeff and handed him Sydney's souvenir program. Apparently my daughter had gotten tired of holding it and asked the woman to take care of it. That is a gracious woman.
At last, with warm ups over, we returned to our seats. The pre-game show, designed to rev up the fans, focused on the Stars' successful 20 year run in Dallas. Twenty years! There were sound bites from Norm Green from a news conference that I think I was at. And that was 20 years ago. Unbelievable!
At last the players took the ice. Thankfully, the guy at the front desk of our hotel had warned me that during the National Anthem, the couple times that the word "stars" is mentioned, the crowd gets crazy loud. Yes, they do.
And then, because I didn't feel old enough, the Stars brought out Mike Modano so they could further highlight their 20th anniversary.
At last the game started, and it was a good game - for the first two periods. Random observation - it included the biggest ref I have ever seen. He towered over all the players.
And that was probably a good thing, because he ended up having to get in the middle of a lot of skirmishes. By the third period, with the Wild losing 5-2, it turned into one of those "I went to the fights and a hockey game broke out" kind of event.
During the long breaks - some due to commercials, others while the refs tried to sort out who deserved how long of a penalty - the arena played clips of well known movies that had winter scenes, such as Fargo and Grumpy Old Men, super-imposing the headline, "Meanwhile, back in Minnesota..." And then they'd show Wild fans at the game so that the Dallas fans could mock us. But it was all good fun, especially when we found ourselves shown on the arena's big screen.
The game ended with the Wild losing 5-3. Not the ending we wanted, but still a great time.
Kind of like our vacation. We wish it wouldn't have had to end, but sure are thankful for the experience.
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