By Scott We Go
These pics were inspired by St. Louie's best: The Checkerdome, 42, Bradford, beer and multi-ethnic females, acid wash jeans, and vintage Blues.
I must admit, I've been such a die hard Blues fan since childhood, it's hard for me to see the NHL in any other color besides blue. My dad brought me to Blues games at the old Barn starting at age 2 and we had season tickets until a 4 year hiatus (replaced with heavy drinking at U of Illinois - Illini hockey? .... meh, not so much). Some of my most vivid memories of childhood are being at Blues games with Dad, smashing peanut shells with our boots, mullets and mustaches everywhere, acid wash jeans, giving high fives to the players as they came back to the locker-room, getting pucks from Bernie Federko, Bobby Bassen, Hullie, Oates, Garth Butcher and CuJo among many others; the towel guy, the fog horn, going nuts for a Hull from Oates goal against the Winnipeg Jets and realizing, as we're going nuts, Hullie has just put another one in before the first one was even announced!
This year is a bittersweet one for my Blues and I. Since I got back from school, I've had 6th row goal-line seats on the Blues-shoot-twice-end with my best friend, Dustin.
HIGHLIGHTS: Dustin winning one Halloween costume contest (as Richard Simmons) and coming in 2nd by a hair (as Pauly Shore) to an old lady dressed like a beer pong table, meeting the Blues Chick while winning the Clarkson Eyecare contest for a T.J. Oshie autographed stick (nice!), our playoff run two seasons ago, the Perron goal, the Oshie goal, almost catching the Towel Guy's towel .... so many more. The bittersweet part comes from the fact that Dustin now has twins due on November 27th, which also means that $ is not leaving his pockets right now unless it has to do with diapers, baby food, or breast milk pumps. I tried to convince my girlfriend to join me, but to no avail. And also, I see it as a result of the U.S. economy, that no one else was willing to make the financial commitment. Although I was tempted to be "that guy" that goes it alone, I couldn't bring myself to cough up a small fortune for many nights of lonely drives home. It's also bittersweet because I'm so excited about this year's squad with the addition of the Halak-ness Monster and the other boys having grown up a bit.
So, I can't watch every game from the edge of my seat, but my best friend does have healthy twins on the way. I'll miss getting there on time (ya, right!), the first Budweiser of the night, the terrible introductory video, the between-period entertainment, the towel guy ("that guy" alone at every game .... I know this because we followed him to his car one night .... CREEPY, I know), not knowing anyone around us even though we had season tix (I think we were in the corporate section, new people every night), yelling out each player's nickname way too loudly and too many times throughout the game, screaming at Jackman about how much I hate him, and Cam kicking ass (Dustin coined the phrase, "He just Cammed all over your face, bitch!" © 2008).
Oh well, I guess I'll be hitting up Stub Hub a few times this year and watching too much TV. In conclusion, I wasn't sure what this post was going to be about, but I had to get that off my chest.
Great stuff, Scott.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if I dreamt this, or if I once saw a photoshop, but back when Purina owned the team, did the Checkerdome ever actually have the Purina checkerboard painted on the roof?
I remember it having one, but I cannot locate a picture of it.
DeleteI'm thinking Stan Musial?
ReplyDeleteStan the man! Aka 42. About the checkerdome, I need to ask dad about that one but I'm thinking you're right. I miss that place though. It was loud, hot and the seats were so steep there wasn't a bad seat in the house.
ReplyDeleteNot sure how I was signed in under someone named Charles lol.
ReplyDeleteIs he called 42 because of the 1942 World Series? I coulda sworn he wore number 6.
ReplyDeleteYes plus I played in a charity golf scramble put on by whitey and I heard Lou Brock and Jack Clark refer to him as 42. ? Who knows.
ReplyDeleteGreat post - I almost moved to St. Louis to join you with season tickets!
ReplyDeleteI'm a big fin of the Blues organ music and entire scene - with the team they'll have on the ice - this is terrible timing to give up the seats.
Tell Dustin that the twins will be fine with his wife, diapers are overrated and since they're being born in November - skipping out of the house 41 times (plus playoffs) won't even be noticed. It's very important for the mother and babies (especially so with twins) to bond during the first year of life - and more importantly, their "Uncle Scottie" can't end up being "that guy" at the game alone.
And, if Dustin simply subscribes to the Sports Talk Pool Blog - he'll make so much money by following the predictions posted on the site...
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