Ice Hockey

I have come to realise staying in America is not complete without attending an American sporting event.

My dream ever since I was a young boy growing up in California was to attend a real American football match and watch the San Francisco 49ers which was the team I supported as a child. Alas, this dream has yet to be realised. The closest we could come on this trip to attend such a sporting event was to go to an ice hockey match in San Jose, even though personally I still think of ice hockey as more of a Canadian event.

Nevertheless, it was with much anticipation that we drove to San Jose and attended an enthralling match between the San Jose Sharks and the Anaheim Ducks. A real ice hockey game is not complete without a few obligatory fights and even punch-ups. As this was going to be quite a tense game between two teams close in the league, the players willingly obliged and we were not disappointed. In fact the fighting, at times quite often, drew more attention and applause than the playing and even though the Sharks lost 2-0, we did not leave feeling cheated or let down and certainly got top-dollar entertainment value.

My dear wife Diana also provided her own style of entertainment which, as always, kept us amused. She could not understand why the players had to fight and that really this was an essential part of the match. In the beginning she kept complaining why the violence was necessary, but the transformation in her was quite remarkable. By the end of the match she was on her feet with every fight practically willing the players on!

Being used to traditional football (soccer) and other more 'civilised' sports, where any form of fighting and specially punching results in immediate dismissal followed by suspensions and heavy fines, it was quite intriguing to watch a sport where violence appeared to be so routinely acceptable and usually punished only by the relevant players sitting out of the game for a few minutes before being allowed to play again!

Just imagine if other offences could be treated in the same manner. "Mr Samii, you are being charged with grevious bodily harm, please remain seated here for a few hours to cool off and then we'll let you go. Have a nice day."

What a sport, and what a country!

On a personal note, I was worried that in my current situation I might be very cold in an ice hockey match so I bundled up with quite a few layers but in the end the arena was not as cold as I was expecting so it was OK. The only problem was that I had to negotiate quite a few steps to get to our seats and the seating space was quite cramped so I was feeling quite sore and uncomfortable by the end of the match. Unfortunately the soreness continued until the next day but there was not much I could do about it.

My dream still remains to attend an American football match and hope this can happen on a future trip. After that, I would love to watch a live basketball match.

Two photos from this match are posted here. I am awaiting to be sent more photos and specially some of the fights, which will be on our Webshots page as soon as possible.