This past weekend, Steve and I went see a KolnerHaie Hockey game here in Cologne. I was not particularly excited about going because I am not that fond of watching hockey. I find the sport boring and very long. I have a short attention span and I get very antsy after sitting through even one period. But since it was important to Steve, I decided to give it a try.
When we arrived at Koln Arena we were very surprised that we were able to get tickets. Since it was playoff game, we were certain that it would be sold out. The few tickets that they had left were in the highest section of the arena (and when I say high, I mean almost touching the roof). But we didn´t complain because we were just happy that we were able to get into the game.
While we were waiting to go inside, we watched fan after fan pour into the arena wearing jerseys and scarves. People were laughing and singing and you couldn´t help but feel excited being part of such an enthusiastic crowd. Inside the arena, the fans were even crazier than the ones we saw coming in. There were two sections that were packed with fans chanting and playing drums. It felt more like a big party than a sporting event and I was really quite surprised.
Unlike other arenas that I´ve been too, Koln Arena was beautiful and very modern. The first thing that we noticed were the rows of seats and far apart they were. You could sit down and have people walk past you without having to stand up every time. All of the seats were cushioned and they had cup holders specially designed to hold cups by the handle and not by the cup. This kept your cup away from your legs so that when you stood up to yell, you didn´t knock your beer over!
Before the game started, we got our snacks from the food vendors, which were fantastic! To our great surprise, they were cheap too. I bought a brat and it only cost me 2.50EU. At a Red Wings Game back home, it would have been $8 minimum. Beers were inexpensive too...big ones for 3.20EU...supersize for 6EU. I felt like we were at a Whitecaps Game in Grand Rapids! If we didn´t need tickets to something to get in, I would go back to the arena to just to eat dinner!
The pre-game show that we watched was almost more exciting than the game. They started by dimming the lights in the whole arena until it was completely dark with the exception of the center ice. Then everyone in the crowd lit sparklers and began cheering. The next thing you see is this huge inflatable shark on the ice. One by one, the Sharks skated out of the shark´s mouth as the crowd cheered them on. It was probably one of the best pre-game shows I´ve seen. Once all of the players were on the ice, the shark came down, the lights came on, and it was game time!
During the first ten minutes of the first period, the score was 3-1. They scored four goals in ten minutes and I missed all of them. I was either getting snacks or going to the bathroom. I was so disappointed. I did the best that I could to stay focused on the game but I just wasn´t happening. My attention span was at a zero and I couldn´t sit still to save my life. As a result, I was getting up every fifteen minutes or so to go do something. It was exhausting because every time I would leave, I had to walk down three flights of stairs from our seats, down two more flights of stairs to get to the snack vendors and then walk all the way back up. By the end of the night, I walked
2 ½ miles just getting snacks and going to the bathroom!
After three long boring hours of hockey, the end was finally in sight. There were two minutes left in the game and it was 4-3 in favor of the Sharks. Certain we were going to win, I had my coat on and I was ready to go! And then suddenly...GOAL! The other team scored with one minute left in the game. Overtime. Steve smiled and said, "Mint"...happy that we would be staying longer. I stewed in silent frustration knowing that we would have to sit there for at least another hour.
Two beers and one overtime later...no one has scored on either team. 2nd Overtime. It is now 10:00 p.m. and we have been watching this stupid game for 4 ½ hours. My butt hurts and I´m hungry but the only thing the vendors have left to eat are brats and I already had two. In spite of my extreme irritation, I tried to keep my opinions to myself because I knew how much fun Steve was having. I didn´t want to ruin the experience for him and so I kept walking to the bathroom (even when I didn´t have to go). I figured if nothing else, it was good exercise. And with any luck, someone would score while I was climbing up and down the stairs.
Near the end of the period I was nestled back in my seat and when I looked over at Steve, he was sleeping. I was so mad! I thought, "Here I am suffering through this miserable game for you and you´re not even watching it!" So I woke him up and said, "I think it´s time to go". He agreed but wanted to watch the end of the overtime before we left. Once again, no one scored. 3rd Overtime. It is now 11:30 p.m. and we have been watching the game for over 5 hours now.
At this point I am ready to scream. I´m at the breaking point where I could snap at any moment. I have never watched a sporting event for six hours (unless you consider horse racing a sport, which I do not) let alone one that I hate watching to begin with. Before Steve had a chance to say anything, I grabbed my coat, grabbed his hand and said, "Time to go". He gave me a brief look that said, "Oh, we´re not staying for the next overtime?" But never said it out loud because I´m sure he knew I had had enough and he didn´t want the "powder keg" to explode.
By the time we got home from the hockey game it was 1:30 a.m. We were so exhausted that we didn´t even try to find out who won. The next morning, Steve went online to get the final score and the Sharks ended up winning 5-4! But the most amazing part of the story, they played 6 overtimes before anyone scored...that´s 168 minutes. On record, it was the second longest hockey game in history! The game didn´t end until 2:30 a.m. That means they played for almost 9 hours!
Though it was great to be part of history in the making, it still doesn´t change my opinion of the sport. I still find hockey boring and difficult to pay attention too. The games are so long and after one period, I am ready to go! Perhaps I have an attention deficit disorder of some kind or maybe I´m just not that fond of men with sticks. I don´t know. What I do know is that I would much rather see guys in tight pants running up and down a football field than watch masked men trying to hit a puck around on a pond of ice!
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