June 05, 2004

STANLEY CUP FINALS, GAME 5

Tonight, it's do-or-die. Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

It's in Calgary. The Tampa Bay Lightning are down 3 games to 2. There is no tomorrow if they don't pull this one out.

But on Thursday, all was merry and gay. It was Game 5. The series was knotted at 2 game. And I was in possession of a ticket to the game, thanks to the benificence of Rommie, who gave me his ticket because he was leaving town on vacation.

I had never attended an NHL finals game. And since it was only the third one ever held in Tampa, I felt honored to go.

Like with the other games here this season, the atmosphere was beyond bizarre:

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On the plaza of The Forum In Tampa But Which Has The Name Of A St. Petersburg Company, thousands of people milled about. And took slapshots for fun and prizes. Nothing like playing hockey in shorts and flip-flops.

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What goes best with hockey? Ice. And an ice sculpture of the Stanley Cup goes with it, too.

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They're available for pony rides and gall bladder operations, too, I believe.

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What could be more American than beaded helmets, ice art and desecration of the flag?

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One woman who was at the game with her daughter fashioned this pair of undies into an international insult of sorts. "I made them while I was waiting to get in,'' she told me. "Calgary fans wanted to have their picture taken with them.''

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The kids' portable rock climbing wall was adorned with a new goal for reaching the top this time: The Cup.

I believe the arrangement was that if you could get to the top of the wall, you could act like Mark Messier and take the cup to a strip club in a motorcycle side car.

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Fans milled about with great anticipation, not the least of which was for the pre-game band of the night, Cheap Trick.

I understand Calgary will attempt to match this kind of entertainment for Game 6 with a show by the reformed members of Night Ranger.

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Fans who didn't have tickets set up their folding chairs two hours in advance so they could watch the game projected on the adjacent parking garage wall. It didn't clog foot traffic one bit. Nope. Not at all. Nada.

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My buddy Alan snapped a few behind-the-scenes shots, including this one of Hulk Hogan attending the game. Hulk's daughter, Brooke, is in the evening gown. Her mother is on the right. I had difficulty ascertaining which member of the family scared me most.

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Alan also shot this photo of Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Derrick Brooks and his son just before he was to come out and shout, "Let's Play Some Hockey!"

There's nothing a franchise without a championship loves more than being patronized by the members of the other franchise in town that do have a ring.

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When the Bolts came out for pre-game warm-ups, they took it easy, trying not to expend too much energy.

Unfortunately, they skated with that same intensity into the first period. It was not a wise move.

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The pregame extravaganza included a great light show and no small amount of hoopla, including a take-off of Thunderbug as the main character in Lord of the Rings. It was quite the hoot.

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Mr. Brooks, it's time.

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There was a huge amount of buzz in the mezzanine, with fans milling about adorned with great costumes and Stanley Cup accessories.

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There weren't many Flames fans, but there were enough to interview, apparently. Some Tampa fans greeted them warmly with shouts of, "FLAMERS, GO HOME.'' Sadly, Calgary fans had no homophobic chant to hurl at Tampa fans.

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I had a great seat for the game in section 302. First row on the balcony. I could see everything.

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The opening face-off was not a success. And Calgary scored first, unfortunately.

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But we scored soon after. And the "White Wave" of fans wearing white t-shirts given to them on the way in made their presence known.

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You get the distinct sense that the teams don't like each other much.

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And if there's anyone Tampa fans hate, it's Jerome Iginla, No. 12.

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These two expressed hatred for many fans. The Commodore spoof was quite the hit among passersby during the first intermission.

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I never noticed the Screech resemblence but, you know, he's right.

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During the intermission, Alan and I bumped into Mary Ellen, the lady who gives away sports towels to fans who sign up for credit cards. Alan kept seeing her at every spring training event he went to this year. "I call him 'My Stalker'," she lovingly said.

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The contentiousness continued through periods 2, 3, and the overtime period.

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Vinnie Lecavalier had some great hist, but was a non-entity during the game, unfortunately. And we lost in overtime, 3-2.

That, of course, precipitated a hockey fight in my section.

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No one was hurt, but one hellacious choke hold was put on a Calgary fan who was unaware of the percentage of retired cops in the stands.

Ultimately, a good time was had by all. If you overlook the crushing loss, of course.

We're headed out tonight again to the plaza to watch the game. Here's hoping the team puts up a better show.

GO BOLTS!

For all the photos, or to just see them at full-size, click here.

Posted by Jeff at June 5, 2004 04:14 PM | TrackBack
Comments

You are not wearing the sombrero. I hope there wasn't some sort of problem....

Posted by: Tommy at June 6, 2004 12:00 PM

There was no problem. I had the 'brero with me at all times. It's just that when I wear it, I tend to block out the sun. And the view of the people behind me who paid good money to see the game.

Posted by: Jeff at June 6, 2004 01:22 PM

Very good. If one of the lightning players had gotten a hat trick, would you have thrown it?

Posted by: Tommy at June 7, 2004 06:54 AM

Without hesitation.

Posted by: Jeff at June 7, 2004 07:34 AM