A Tale of a Game Away…

Last night we had the pleasure of going to the Jackets – Caps game at the Verizon center and it did not disappoint as far as experience goes. As I mentioned yesterday, i do think its a valuable exercise to be a visiting fan somewhere, sometime. I also forgot to mention yesterday the camaraderie that comes from finding another visiting fan in the crowd – and you greet each other like long lost best friends with a “Go Jackets!” (I saw a total of 9 CBJ fans in person – a lot more than I expected!)Interestingly it was more fun than I thought – a lot less pressure to win when you’re visiting, and I felt a bit more free to just watch and enjoy the game. And I was proud of our team, admit it or not we had those Caps and their fans nervous and honestly, I saw glimpses of the Mason we all loved during his Calder years. Some of those saves – seen live – were sick and impressive.

Yes, we are officially out of the playoffs but being at an away game made me see some new aspects of the “game experience” we as Jacket fans should be proud of and some we need to bring into play…

Food: advantage Jackets – nothing beats Skyline Chili and Tim Hortons 😉 (and knowing the bartender at the kiosk closest to your seats)
Crowd: draw – and here’s why. Ok yeah, there’s a lot of them – but the 3 burst airhorn is entirely too annoying and, while biased, I am excited about the kind of environment groups like “Arch City Army” are trying to bring to NW Arena. Plus, it was a bit – dare I say, refreshing – to see that even the Verizon Center crowd can suffer from cheer-a-phobia and it can be quiet there too. But major props to all the Caps fans, very nice, hospitable and classy even in an OT win
In Game Promos: Advantage JACKETS! Oh Jackets fans – you have no idea how good we got it – I saw two – TWO – total give aways during the game – no chipotle dropping from the sky, no IGS blimp, no fan-cams, no fan-interaction games on the jumbotron and other than that same roulette around the arena thing and that stupid move your arms to vote that should be banned from all sports immediately.
* major props though to the “find the fan in the upper deck and move them to the lower bowl” promo – obviously we need a sell out to make this an option but its really cool
Music: Advantage Jackets. I won’t complain again even about the cover bands. I felt like I was at a Carnival at some point
Arena as a building:draw – because while NWA is newer and has some really nice aspects, major props to the signage and staff. Good people and helpful to someone who didn’t know where they were going half the time.
Arena “district”: advantage Caps. Acknowledging that its DC and that there were more fans total – there was more of a tactile energy running around outside the arena before the game and lots of options for places to hang out from a cool dim sum lounge to a traditional irish bar
Parking: again, its DC but my god, CBJ faithful – be thankful every day when you pull into that spot for only 5-10 dollars and walk maybe 5-10 minutes tops

Overall-we had a really good time, at a nice place and got to watch a good game (thank god!) It was really interesting for this still novice hockey fan to see two such diverse styles playing against each other and take it all in. And, Jackets fans, we’ve got it good in C-Bus at least when it comes to game experience, try bringing someone with you to a game – at least we know they’ll have a good time compared to some other arenas…now lets just get the game on the ice to be of the same quality 😉