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I've always known I was a hockey freak as I share this story all the time:
My Dad took me to my first Red Wings game at Olympia in 1976. We attended many games during the teasing playoff chances of the late 70's followed by a move to God-forsaken Lima, Ohio where they think hockey is what you do down at the local park on the off-chance the pond freezes (Sorry, Lima folk - I still love you.) - followed by the dead Wings era. Anyway - fast-forward to 1997. Wings win the cup and I'm on the phone with my Dad - I'm in Ohio, he's in Memphis, Tennessee. We're not saying a word - just breathing into the phone watching the Wings with the cup. Mrs. Jimmer says, "Hey, that's long distance." I said simply - "I'm watching the Red Wings win the Stanley Cup with my Dad," and he says "that's right," and we both cried like babies.
sigh* Still one of my favorite stories of all time. Miss ya' Dad.
The last time I told this story was to the Red Wing's Live Game Blog during the Stanley Cup finals last Spring. This is the great group of friends I get to watch Red Wings' games with and during the playoffs we were as tight as thieves. I'll talk more about this in my Web 2.0 piece later this week.
Since I read my friend Juice's story last May I've been certain I was strange. When Juice wrote this piece at the end of the playoffs and it made me cry like a baby, I knew I had a problem.
Still, I told myself. I can handle this. After all, hockey is just a game. Right?
I was wrong - (What? No surprised guffaws?)
Last Thursday was opening night for my beloved Red Wings and I was completely useless all day long. Oh, I got some work done and did what I had to, but my focus was on getting to my computer in my office watching my television by 7:00 p.m. SHARP! The Stanley Cup Championship banner was being raised to the rafters of Joe Louis Arena in Detroit and I was not going to miss it for anything.
I also realized there was something else I was missing - my online friends. We had all touched base a couple times during the summer, some had even made it to the D for a celebratory beer. -Sorry we missed it Gang. Still we had not really talked since June.
But there they all were when I logged on and we watched the opener together. I was so excited.
(JuiceinLAla, k bennett, winfran, Coldest, Fed0r0v, judyzerman, DtownDinah, westsidefan, HawaiinWingNut, JohnnyG83, scottlacy, WingNut1967, hockeytown101, jleWings, RWfaninSD, OctopiAlley, and LunaticNumber100 I am looking forward to watching with you. JLinkTX, shutemdown, and Hockeylvr I look forward to the discussions. I hope I didn't forget anybody.)
Then the Red Wings lost that opening game and I found myself completely drained. What had been a euphoric high had become a dismal low. I stayed online with my friends for awhile discussing the game and then I just moped around for the rest of the evening.
The next morning I had a talk with myself. To quote my Twitter feed and Facebook exactly I said, "Ah look it's the next day and the world did not end. The Wings will fight another day. Back to some normalcy today." I told myself I was going to miss Saturday night's game anyway because I'd be watching college football at a party with friends. I'll just take a break I thought.
But when I got home around midnight I couldn't get to the transcript from the live game discussion fast enough. How had the Wings done? What were my friends talking about? Holy smokes Jim - cool down. You won't be able to watch Monday anyway. The game is not on t.v.
But the game was on t.v. Justin t.v. And so I found myself not only watching the game, but also the live game blog. Don't worry - my new addiction did not lose out. Twitterfox was up and running. As much fun as I've been having with the Learn & Play program at CML I couldn't possibly turn off my Twitter friends.
Twitter feed, Facebook? Live Game Blog?
Must be some kind of technology freak - no make that technology geek as well.
Maybe - but I'm having fun!
2 comments:
I'm right there with you Jim. In 2004 after the Sox won the series my first call was to my brother. My Dad called right after I got off the phone and mentioned that he had tried me and my brother and got busy signals. I told him that's because we were talking to each other. He later said that was his proudest moment as a father, because it showed him that he had raised two boys who loved baseball and loved each other.
Jimbro! I love this story. You and your father shared a bond that every boy and dad should have. I think I have something in my eye, must be an Ice chip. Yea. An Ice chip...
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