Hopefully someday I’ll have the cash again to buy season tickets (read: a (not THE) poor college student)… until then, it’s ticket deals and stubhub for me.

The team needed support and the players managed to fuck me a third time. First a lockout the season before I jaunted off to Mesopotamia; Then in VP DICK’s wisdom we got stuck there not for one season but half of the second one. Being stationed in Alaska does actually make it hard to watch games since you’re three hours behind and usually still working when the games start.

So I was hockey starved. But I bought the ticket despite the fact the Blues still had Ryan “I can’t score a goal” Johnson and thus would be doomed not to be any good.

It was great because throughout the year the rebirth of the Blues in St. Louis began and there were a couple of “real” sellouts where the fans got rowdy and loud. Do to the suckiness of the Blues I was able to afford a ticket thirteen rows behind the then great legace. The only problem was when I cheer or jeer I was usually looked at as if I were a humicorn with a dick popping out of my forehead. But a couple of overpriced beers later I pretended not to mind the Blues’ wives and girfriends’ prattle behind me. Though it was interesting to hear the discussion about boob-jobs(their words not mine). And the great discussion by Jamal Mayers’ wife concerning the ill timing of a vaction planned before the season when it suddenly looked like there was a chance they’d lose their deposit on it because the Blues might make the play offs.
I also had center ice and I watched, shit, ate breathed and played hockey that year as the rest of you Americans did nothing but frankly piss me off then.

Then I went to the head shrinker and the PTSD went away. Then I went back to work and no longer had time to make all of the games. Now I will miss this season as I travel back to the beach that stretches miles before you get to the water.

Hopefully there’ll be more Blues games broadcast overthere than last time. If irony wasn’t such a fuck sometimes, the only five minutes of a game I caught last time featured mostly the site of Ryan Johnson and Tkachuk.

 “Probably the best thing about watching at home (other than the pause function on your DVR if you have to go to the restroom) is the fact that you can drink a six pack of beer for the price of one at the game.”

That’s like almost two 6 packs of glorious Stag. If you haven’t tired it I strongly recommend it.

We were going to get the season tickets about 5 years ago…then we bought a house, and we started a family, and my wife did the stay at home thing for about a year and a half. Good times, I tell you with no regrets. New house with the love of my life and watching the little fella grow. Wouldn’t change it for anything. It was also the lockout season. One day when I get off of 2nd shift at the railroad, I think that season tickets might be in our future. No matter how hard you try, nothing can replace that feeling of going to a game in person. Nothing…even putting up with bandwagon fans and knuckle heads that yell “shoot the puck”.

Hildy, this is a good post to start with. Keep up the good work and good luck.

My wife and I are looking forward to being able to invest in season tickets after we graduate and move. We are both poor grad students in Tallahassee, FL and rely on the NHL Network for updates on our favorite teams (Blues for me, Penguins for her as she’s from Pittsburgh). It’s actually quite amazing to me that Comcast in Tallahassee makes the NHL Network available, but that is another story. We’ve been able to make a few Lightning games over the past couple of years. I believe that actually going to hockey games is what gets people hooked. The atmosphere and the speed of the game do not translate as well on television.

However, I do enjoy having my Budweiser at home without having to take out extra student loans to pay for it, like I would at a game.

I never go to blues games because I live so far away. One time I was actually in St. Louis but since I was a few years younger I did not know how to get my own tickets unless my parents bought them. If I were to be there at my current age I would so score my own ticket.

GAGGAAAHHH I want to hang with you guys SOO bad! I guess game threads are the next best thing, which I take full advantage of.

As for NHL center ice, I think I do a good job providing myself with ways to watch a game, mostly by asking “does anyone have a live link??” And as for losing a social life, I never had one to begin with so it isn’t of any concern to me.

To me, it is more fun to watch the game shirtless with my Crew in the Answer Basement. We can also lift weights during the intermissions. I don’t drink so I’m not foolish enough to spend $7.50 on anything unless she is wearing red lipstick and I wind up with a red ring on my junk.

I go to maybe 5 games a year. That is plenty for me. I like the replays and insights. Just wish it was Kerber and Chase on the broadcasts.

Obviously,when it comes to Blues games, I never get to see any live (except early october this year). A little to far, you see. but just in general, I definitely prefer going to the games in person. The atmosphere alone is worth it, the cheers, all of it. Have to say that I very much enjoy hanging here on GameTime during the games, though. Absolutely the next best thing. Plus, this year I’m actually planning on investing in the Center Ice package, just to get away from those horrible free live feeds. I’ll actually be able to see the puck! Incredible!

A cherished tradition is for my mom and I to buy 10-game plans for Blues games. She was really worried when I got engaged a few weeks ago that I would go with my fiance instead of her. Not bloody likely. Although he loves hockey (a requirement I made clear to every potential suitor since high school), nothing beats watching the game in person with my mom. She has no qualms about yelling at the refs, lobbing a couple of curses at the opposition, and ruthlessly mocking the “shoot the puck” fans around us, not to mention the random lascivious comments about certain players. She is proof-positive of the benefits of having a strong female hockey fan role model. Now, for the other 72 games each season, watching it in 62 inches of HD glory at the fiance’s house is a decent alternative.

So I go whenever I can. I’m in STL a few times a year but it’s tough to get to a game there. Same when on the road. I love checking out new rinks.

- I go to as many games as I can.
- I will sit anywhere, but the wife prefers lower bowl, which means we have to hoof it upstairs for the GT drum circle during intermission.
- I have an HD tv. Watching hockey in standard definition on it is like watching through a fish tank. It sucks. I’ll go into the kitchen and watch. Die Channel 11. Die.
- It is a known fact that upper bowl has the majority of the readers of the paper. So I will never say anything bad about the upper bowl. But it is fun to stand in the concourse and watch some of the freaks walk by.

but I always have the best times at a live sporting event when I’m at a hockey game. The nature of the sport forces me to pay attention to the ice at virtually all times.

So while it isn’t terrible to watch it on TV (even though I think the camera angles ALL of them use are antiquated, but not much can be done with that right now), I have to say I prefer to see it in the flesh.

And I can see just fine from the upper tank, sometimes it’s better to sit there than in the 100’s just from a point-of-view perspective. That’s just from my own experiences though.

Alas, if I didn’t still live at home, I’d probably be hovering somewhere around the poverty line. So there’s not always the extra scratch available to pay for the ticket(s). So more often than not . . . home (or bar) viewing it is.

I have like 300 bucks a year to spend as I want, and center ice is the first thing on the list, the rest gets split between a couple Blues games, a couple Cards games (plus extras that the parental units buy) and a few symphony concerts. And yes I can make that work for 300 dollars or so.