Hockey and such

I am learning many things throughout my stay here in the north.  Generally they are lessons about how to order extra meatballs with my spaghetti or a side of tarter sauce with my crab cakes.  I never imagined learning anything about what is a new sport to me, hockey.  I have a very small portion of my brain that is able to handle sports and up until last night I truly thought that part of my brain was at capacity.  Having said that, I am always a fan of a good sporting event where I can identify with my hometown or college team and in this case, the area I am currently living in.

Last night was game 7 of...shoot, is finals the right word? Either way, it was the final game standing between the Boston Bruins and The Stanley Cup (very cute name, Stanley).  What this means to the miniature portion of my sports brain is that it is a big deal.  Trust me, I am a Texan from Austin where people bleed orange, I know a thing or two about finals.  However, I can honestly say I have never seen anything like I did last night.  We got to a bar to watch the game around 6 pm, which seems like plenty of time because the game started at 8 pm.  Unfortunately, every bar was already at full capacity and we were turned away, being told "we are full for the night."  We decided to watch it at our friends apartment, which has a rooftop.

(Not the best shot but you get the point)

(I briefly considered how amazing it would be to actually be IN this picture but then I remembered the name of the blog and that I would probably fall backwards so I decided Sam Adams was okay by himself on the roof)

Somehow they got the TV upstairs on the roof working, which registers with the Home Deport part of my brain that was closed for business the first time I stepped foot at the corner of handyman and TV cord.  We began watching what was my very first hockey game.  It is pretty easy to follow, get the puck in the net thing and then you score.  It is an extremely fast paced game, which I like.  Although at one point I DEFINITELY thought that a bug on the screen was the puck and was pretty confused about why no one was going after it to hit it in the net thing, then it flew away.  Anyways, long story short, the Bruins won the Stanley Cup for the first time in a long time and you could literally hear the city going crazy.  People in my immediate location were also celebrating heavily and it was a really fun thing to be a part of.

(The one thing I would like you to take away from this picture is the clothing.  Sweatshirts and a scarf in June? I admit, it is kind of nice to not be dripping sweat at 11 pm at night)

(Grown men hugging over hockey, so American...or Canadian, or maybe it was one of these three that got the virus on Jacobi's computer)

We had been warned previously to steer clear of the "garden" (I wish y'all could hear me say that in my amazingly newfound Boston accent, sounds like, gaaahhhdeeennn).  This is wear the Bruins play and most people in the city were rushing to the area, even though the game way away, to celebrate.  The gaaahhhdeeennn is actually really close to Jacobi's apartment and so we faced some difficulty getting home.  Every bar along the way was packed and the city was LOUD.  We finally made it home and were forced to sleep in ear plugs, even at 1 am, as the city would not be slowing down anytime soon. 

The moral of the story is, keeping an open mind, even to something you never thought you'd enjoy, is imperative in life.  I cannot say I am a hockey lover, but I can say that I am an experience lover, and this was another one for the books. 

Oh and also, no matter how "northern" you consider yourself, please never use this phrase:

(Note: Awkward mom pose to take photo, probably could have gotten the same shot standing up)