*lol*

I like baseball, too. It's funny after going to so many hockey games over winter, to go to a baseball game in summer is "weird". We have to get used to the slowness of the game all over again.

I have to say, some of the fighting is getting a little ridiculous. There's a "time" for it in games, but not as much as some players are going at it. And I do feel the NHL needs to come down on the players who are nothing but violent. It's a sport. It should be played with respect, not with the intent to go out there and purposely harm someone.

But – it's still THE BEST sport on earth!!!

*cheers*, Sympathy!

Are my number one team that I've been following since I was 6 (1973) and since moving to the left coast, I've sort of adopted the sharkies of the western conference. It's really cool coming home from work at 4:30 and the game is just starting on the east coast…MOST excellent. That having been said I think the HD revolution will only HELP hockey viewership as it's not the best TV sport. For those of us who know the rules and are familiar w/the game, I agree, it's the BEST sport on earth.

IMHO making helmets mandatory made the players alot more careless w/their sticks, hence more high sticking, cross checking, blind side boarding. But I think better nutrition, strength & conditioning has made bigger, faster & tougher players, so the game was bound to get more violent. I agree w/the fighting for no reason really sort of drags the game down. Which isn't to say i'm opposed to someone smacking the snot out of some wisenheimer who's cheap shotting the skill players.

I'm determined to take my father in law to a game, he's never been but I turned him into a fan pretty quickly. The problem is, I can't decide what would be the best kind of seats to get a live game newbie? Higher up to see the whole ice surface to appreciate the plays and lend some clarity to what they're doing, so you can see the lanes etc or closer to the ice surface to appreciate how fast these guys are moving the full impact of the hits, pucks clanking off the boards/glass.

I actually pray before games, I'm not being silly, I do.

I hope this is not wrong.

If it works, stick w/it. In the Phils case this year it couldn't hurt.

There is a HUGE chance that all of Philly will be crying tonight.

Me? I'll be cursing! /angry.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':P' />

We had season tickets back at the Spectrum in the day. I loved center ice, and we were down low.

The Spectrum is on it's way out. Pearl jam played the final concert.

What great concert and Flyers memories I have. /biggrin.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D' />

Hope your father in law enjoys the game. /smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

It' s soo exciting seeing live Hockey!

So what's going to happen w/the phantoms? Will they be playing in the big house or have they moved elsewhere?

I had a buddy who worked at United Engineers and had a coworker who had a pair of corner seats 3 rows off the ice in the end the Flyers shot in twice. Used to get them for $75 each (this was about 12 years ago) and it was so cold you had to bring an extra sweater. The guy had season tickets since '67. This was during the Lindros era. Some friends and I used to get partial game plans for the old building…it was like 10 games for $200. When they switched to the big house, it wasn't the same. We were priced out of the park so to speak. I went to two games at Watchovia or whatever they're calling it this week and it just wasn't the same. Nice venue, but not for the blue collar fan. There was a time when I'd just gotten out of college that I worked at the Gallery in downtown philly and I'd get employees from the ARA towers selling the corporate seats dirt cheap and usually wound up making 20 new friends before the game was over. I used to lie and tell them I was from the mail room….hahahaha. Saw alot of great concerts there as well and it just seems so wrong that they're tearing it down. It had great ambience for games and there really weren't too many bad seats to be had!

And the Phills are UP!!

Woot!