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It’s Just A Game
by Mike Chen on 04/17/09 at 11:45 AM ET
Comments (17)
(Apologies for the Public Service Announcement tone of this but I had to get it off my chest.)
Have you seen those commercials for USA Hockey/Hockey Canada reminding psycho parents to “relax, it’s just a game”?
Sometimes, I feel like certain fans need to watch that friendly reminder during the fervor of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Look, I love the game. I invest a significant portion of my time, energy, and money, both personally and professionally into it. I break down replays, talk about trade rumors, cheer goals and groan losses, just like all of you. It’s my game, it’s our game, it’s the best damn game on the planet.
But really, it’s just a game.
I make no secret about my San Jose Sharks fandom despite writing about all things NHL. So like any good Sharks fan, I was in my season seat for the disappointing Game 1 loss against Anaheim. Two things off the ice made me shake my head and roll my eyes in disappointment/amusement.
The first took place in the third period. After the first Anaheim goal, a woman in my section—a regular who’s very vocal about her support—pushed her way out of the row, telling people that she just couldn’t take it anymore, that the Sharks were going to go scoreless in four straight, and that she just couldn’t stand being in there. She disappeared into the night, leaving her bewhildered companion to sit there next to an empty seat (I hope they weren’t driving home together).
Whoa. Easy there, friend. First off, despite the Sharks being shutout, they did outshoot the Ducks 2-to-1, and that’s not counting the few posts they hit, along with the near-miss crease scrambles. Yeah, they didn’t play that great, but had a few bounces gone their way, they would have won 3-2. Ok?
Second off, it’s just a game, you know? Of course people are going to leave when they feel the game is out of reach, and of course people are going to be frustrated or disappointed, but isn’t that the nature of sport? No game is predictable, no score is predetermined, and no outcome is guaranteed. To storm off in a tantrum when you’re down by one, that’s just immature and, quite frankly, short-sighted and stupid.
The other thing that made me shake my head was the screaming match I encountered on my way to the side exit of HP Pavilion. A guy in a Ducks jersey was screaming bloody nonsense at a woman in a Sharks jersey, who reciprocated with an ear-piercing “Get out! Get out of our house right now!”. Behind her, another guy in a Sharks jersey was yelling obscenities (complete with teeth gnashing, death looks, and huge veins popping out of his forehead) while his friend was holding him back. If you’d changed their outfits a little bit, it’d be a perfect scene out of WWE RAW—or an episode of Cops. I walked past them, so I’m not sure if it actually came to blows or not but it looked pretty close.
To think, these people are probably at work this morning telling their friends over a cup of coffee that they were at the game last night. Do you think they include this little bit of aggro-lunacy in their anecdotes?
Like all sports fans, I’ll talk about how I “hate” the Ducks or the Red Wings or their fans. Does that mean that I want Chris Pronger to get hit by a truck? Of course not, though him twisting his ankle in practice is totally acceptable.
Now I normally share my seats with my dad. He’s missing Game 1 and Game 2 because his uncle died and he had to fly to Taiwan for the funeral. I’m not going to turn this into a sob story (my dad’s 64 and it was his uncle that passed, so it’s not totally unexpected), but I remember asking him while he was packing if he was going to have internet access to check on the scores. He shrugged his shoulders and said, “I hope so, but it’s just a game.”
That kind of puts things in proper perspective. Look, I yell at the refs about a blown call. I’ll send taunts against the opposing superstar, and I’ll boo a frustratingly bad power play. I’ll cheer a great save, hug the stranger next to me on an OT-winning goal, and I’ll dedicate a good portion of my life to watching, analyzing, talking about, writing about, and thinking about the game. But it’s just a game.
For game 1, I took a casual hockey fan with me. This is a good friend who’s more of a baseball guy but he watches the Sharks because they’re local. In other words, he understands offsides but doesn’t recognize a puck cycle; he knows Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau but doesn’t care who Jonas Hiller or Ryan Getzlaf are.
Before the game, I asked if he’d ever been to a playoff game. He said no and I replied by telling him that if they win, you’ll feel like you have 17,000 best friends in the world—but if they lose, watch how quickly the angry and drunk ones turn on themselves or each other.
It’s just too bad that I was proven right.
Seriously, folks—it’s just a game. Don’t hurt yourselves or others, even if they’re wearing the opposing jersey with a poop-eating grin and a snarky comment.
In other words, please don’t be an idiot. It’s really not worth it.
Filed in: NHL | Mike Chen's Hockey Blog | Permalink
Tags: Playoffs,
Comments
Heh. Throw one of those guys in between the screaming Sharks woman and the douche-bag Ducks guy and watch the wackiness ensue. I’m thinking they’d either just stare at each other confused about who to attack or it’d be a Jerry Springer-like melee.
Posted by Mike Chen on 04/17/09 at 11:27 AM ET
Does that mean that I want Chris Pronger to get hit by a truck?
I know it’s just a game. And my “hate” for another team doesn’t mean I want any of them to get hurt. But none of that stops me from wanting Chris Pronger to get hit by a truck.
Posted by Gabriel from San Diego, CA on 04/17/09 at 11:28 AM ET
But none of that stops me from wanting Chris Pronger to get hit by a truck.
That reminds me of one of my friends who asked if he was going to hell if he wished for ARod, Chris Pronger, Shaq, and Derek Jeter to all get in a plane crash where they all lost a limb but didn’t die. 
Posted by Mike Chen on 04/17/09 at 11:33 AM ET
Here Here Mike. Being one of those Wings jersey-clad fans in the Shark tank any time they come through, I’ve been on the receiving end of many an agro shark fan. I’ve had to pull the ol’ play ref and stick your body between your drunk friend and three drunk sharks fans outside of HP Pavillion before it comes to blows. I’ve cringed behind the shouting matches immediately behind my seat, being automatically associated with the jerk wearing a Wings jersey who was yelling “GET IT OUT!” every time the puck went into our zone. I’ve faced an hour of jeers from fans on the train back to San Francisco, grinding my teeth and wondering just how quickly you get thrown off a train for throwing a punch.
Though I do have to admit when my then girlfriend turned around and flipped off the entire section with both hands after Schneider scored in overtime during the pivotal game in the playoffs a couple of years ago, I knew she would someday become my wife. Wedding’s on the 9th, by the way.
I’ve tried to reward the agro stuff with kindness, and well, it just doesn’t work. I have to say that many San Jose fans are some of the most classless fans I’ve run into; at least now they know what an icing is. But I have to imagine this isn’t a problem just isolated to west-coasters; it’s a universal epidemic and I think we all need to check ourselves.
Like all sports fans, I’ll talk about how I “hate” the Ducks or the Red Wings or their fans. Does that mean that I want Chris Pronger to get hit by a truck? Of course not, though him twisting his ankle in practice is totally acceptable.
At least on that Pronger point, I think you and the entire readership of KK (minus the odd Ducks fan) are in complete agreement.
Posted by Hippy Dave from San Francisco by way of Detroit on 04/17/09 at 11:34 AM ET
Hippy Dave, the worst I’d ever seen was at a Sens/Leafs game at the Corel Center when drunk fans from
Posted by Mike Chen on 04/17/09 at 11:39 AM ET
Whoops, that didn’t post right. What I meant to say was the worst I’ve seen is a drunken escalator pushing/screaming match at a Sens/Leafs game.
And I think of the Simpsons where Groundskeeper Willy looks at Springfield trying to have a sports riot. He turns to his fellow hooligans and says, “You call this a riot? Let’s take ‘em to school.”
Posted by Mike Chen on 04/17/09 at 11:41 AM ET
At least on that Pronger point, I think you and the entire readership of KK (minus the odd Ducks fan) are in complete agreement.
I’ll confirm the odd Ducks fan position is solidly anti-truck. 
Posted by Earl Sleek from Anaheim, CA on 04/17/09 at 11:43 AM ET
A side anecdote on the Pronger thing; I remember back in the mid nineties, I think, when Pronger had injured a Wing (again) with a dirty hit; he was playing with the Blues, I believe, and it must have been a home & home. After that, we all heartily agreed over our beers that Chris Pronger Must Die.
The next game is when he got hit square in the chest with our slapshot from the blue line, skated two strides, then fell unconscious like a bag of pucks. He didn’t move for some time. They thought the puck may have stopped his heart for a short time. That really brought home the “it’s just a game” reminder in short order. I think of that any time I start to get carried away.
Posted by Hippy Dave from San Francisco by way of Detroit on 04/17/09 at 11:45 AM ET
Just to clarify, I was kidding… those of us in the A2Y 19 certainly take the Red Wings way too seriously, but we tend to self-medicate when things go wrong instead of display outward aggression.
We’re mostly happy drunks.
Posted by Nathan from Jonny Ericsson's ice cream truck on 04/17/09 at 12:11 PM ET
I live in the Bay Area now (Nah,nah,nah Oakland, but from Traverse City) and I go to many Sharks’ games. I am part of a group of guys who split season tickets. I get both the Wings’ games and a few others each year. Whenever I go I like to stir things up and cheer for the Wings and/or whomever is playing against the Sharks.
While I must admit that many Sharks’ fans don’t know hockey as well as those from colder climes, I can’t say I’ve ever had a problem or dealt with any aggressive behavior (other than the prescribed banter that opposing fans hope for (and thrive off) when invading another team’s barn.) Mostly I think the Sharks’ fans are just good fans. They scream, cheer and jeer just like the rest of us. Wearing my Red Wings sweater in the Tank is no where near as bad as wearing my Colts jersey at the Coliseum.
Although, I am 6’3 205 (ding) and the guy I go with is 6’5 250 and tattooed from neck to toe, so that might dissuade idiots from rolling out their bile on us.
@Dave, maybe its the Hippy thing. They don’t seem to take too kindly to that in San Jose. I think its the chip on the shoulder about not being the Big City or something, so they lash out at trad San Francisco stuff.
Posted by SharkBaiter from hiding from the sun on 04/17/09 at 01:02 PM ET
Stream of consciousness game recap:
I was stunned at the number of people who left the Tank after Getzlaf scored...of course they looked pretty smart when Cheechoo took a penalty twenty seconds later.
Obviously the Sharks didn’t play their best game. It was more like the third game in four nights, not the opener of the most anticipated postseason in team history. Against the weasels who brought the first Cup to California, no less. Thirty-five shots? Seemed more like twenty-three. All that being said, they probably deserved to win.
Hiller won the goalie battle, but he also had more help from the iron. Neither goalie had what I’d call an OMG save.
There was plenty of hype about both top lines, but outside of one very strong shift by Anaheim and a couple of decent ones by San Jose, they were fairly invisible. Of course Getzlaf scored (on his only SOG), but that was gift from Pickles...and his assist on the other goal was certainly nothing special. Joe and Patty, where the eff were you?
The “best second line in hockey” mustered a total of two shots (I’d like to hear Drew explain that away). In fact, aside from Setoguchi’s five (of which perhaps one was notable), the rest of the top six tallied a whopping four shots. Not that Anahiem was any better, but that still isn’t gonna cut it.
Errorhoff only scared the hell out of me three or four times, well below his playoff average. The Sharks need to find an answer to Marchant fast, he seemed to win every key faceoff. Dressing Shelley over Plihal was silly (although initially I feared something even dumber, as Lemieux took warmups but wasn’t announced as a scratch).
Three minors called on arguably the Ducks’ top PK forward, and the Sharks don’t capitalize? No Nabokov-Perry fireworks. I would never wish for that stuff, but maybe it would have woken up the Sharks. The towels they handed out before the game seemed more linty than in years past--nachos with cotton ain’t the best.
Posted by shep on 04/17/09 at 01:40 PM ET
The “best second line in hockey” mustered a total of two shots (I’d like to hear Drew explain that away). In fact, aside from Setoguchi’s five (of which perhaps one was notable), the rest of the top six tallied a whopping four shots. Not that Anahiem was any better, but that still isn’t gonna cut it.
Pretty simple answer there… the best second line in hockey is the Red Wings third line! 
Posted by Nathan from Jonny Ericsson's ice cream truck on 04/17/09 at 02:19 PM ET
Yea Mike, I saw that little tete-a-tete as well and while I certainly agree with you that it’s just a game, this is my opinion and I recognize it’s not shared by all other fans (some of whom are drunk, angry and full of testosterone).
The woman shrieking about the sanctity of “her house” was pretty funny, but had I been said Ducks fan, I probably wouldn’t have been loudly mocking 99+% of the people around me. For myself, it was one of those “no, I’m not going to ‘do’ anything about you being a fool, but I think that guy over there looks like he might” type of things.
Back to your point about it being just a game… completely agree and I’ve realized that it’s all about enjoying it and taking value out of it… when there’s not enjoyment or value, time to take a step back.
Reminds me a conversation I had a few years back with a Cleveland Indians fan… I was with him and his impassioned fandom for a while until he started talking about how important sports is and how the Buckeyes winning the National Title in football (what is that Maurice Clarett up to now, anyways?) “revitalized small towns in Ohio and made things livable"… and this made sense to him.
Again, I love sports as much as the next sports guy, but… c’mon, a bit much.
Posted by Dave Stark from San Jose, CA on 04/17/09 at 03:22 PM ET
I’ll confirm the odd Ducks fan position is solidly anti-truck. smile
Posted by Earl Sleek from Anaheim, CA on 04/17/09 at 12:43 PM ET
Good. So we can put you down as pro-bulldozer then, right?
Posted by YzermanZetterberg on 04/17/09 at 03:38 PM ET
SharkBaiter hey! I went to high school in Traverse City. We probably passed in the hall and exchanged blank stares, how bout that!
Woo!
Too bad TC wasn’t such a wings training ground when I WAS in school there..
I bet the build you’re sporting does have something to do with not being messed with; however I’ve since found club level is full of kinder folks. Oh, and the bus trip…
Actually if anyone (Mike, SharkBaiter, and friends) is interested, the Kezar Pub in SF hosts a great bus trip down to San Jose and gets the box on, the visitors side I think, every time the Sharks and Wings play. The bus lately has about a 50/50 split of fans who are believe it or not unified in their desires to have fun. Big buffet, free drinks, we should all buy in for the first Wings/Sharks game that should happen next ($90) and say hello.
Posted by Hippy Dave from San Francisco by way of Detroit on 04/18/09 at 02:47 AM ET
Mike, do you happen to exit somewhere around the section 206 area? If so, I think I know exactly the skirmish you’re talking about.
That guy was sitting several rows below me (with a buddy in a red Ovechkin shirt) and after Niedermayer scored, he took gloating to new heights. He was really pushing all the wrong buttons in a sea of sharks fans. You could almost taste the retaliation to come. It just got worse after Getzlaf got goal #2…
This guy was riding a wave of adrenaline and booze, for sure. It was silly. Does it surprise you that he had a Corey Perry sweater?
The best part was the aforementioned guy in the Ovie shirt frantically trying to locate his crazed friend through the crowd. He knew that his buddy was at risk, because he was really talking a bushel of S.
I can understand getting emotionally involved and talking smack back and forth, but this was too much. You’re right, it is just a game.
I hope he found his way back safely to the O.C. (and stays there).
Posted by squid from San Jose on 04/18/09 at 07:56 PM ET
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Mike Chen prides himself in being the only hockey writer integrating puck discussion with both Morrissey quotes and Star Wars references. Since 2004, he’s blogged about all things hockey and currently contributes to FoxSports.com, the Battle of California, and RotoRob.
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Mike, these sound like fightin’ words. There are 19 Red Wings fans over at A2Y that would probably do all of the things you just mentioned in that post.
Posted by Nathan from Jonny Ericsson's ice cream truck on 04/17/09 at 11:15 AM ET