SIREN 1363 ~ Never A Sure Thing (SCF Game 4)

Blog — By A-Snow on June 28, 2012 3:48 PM

If I have learned anything in my years on earth so far, it is that nothing is ever a sure thing. I find this truth of life to be very unnerving and I often am left feeling uneasy and stressed out when I’m not sure how something is going to play out. I get edgy and irritable and it is no secret that I am not going to calm down until I have hard proof telling me something is for sure going to happen or until it’s come and gone. I could blame the tumultuous nature of my “day” job in the military for this, or I could just call a spade a spade and tell you the truth; I just really freaking hate it when I make plans , want something to happen, am told something will happen, think something will happen…and then it doesn’t. Talk about really disappointing, yuck.

So what does that have to do with this little piece of internet web space I am taking up? Let me take you back a few weeks, just days before Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals. I am sitting at my desk at work, typing away about some random work policy or another, when I receive a text inviting me to LA for a concert at Staples Center. My first thought is to blow it off, it’s a Tuesday night concert and like I really have time to jet off in the middle of my work week; so I turn back to my work and forget the text for a little while. At some point during my day I realize that Game 4 of the Stanley Cup will be the day after the aforementioned concert in the same venue and start wondering if I could swing a few days off of work after all.

I start putting out a few texts and calls, just to see the likelihood of getting tickets to game 4 that wouldn’t cost me my entire year’s salary plus my immortal soul (seriously LA, you have to be kidding me for how much those tickets were reselling for), and immediately started getting responses. After much back and forth, I decided to just take the risk and go down to LA without tickets set in stone for the game. Why not take a chance and see what shook out? At the very least I was going to get to see LMFAO, Far East Movement, and Eva Simons from a suite at Staples so it was a winning situation no matter how I looked at it.

So I took the time off work, jumped on a plane and headed down South to just see what would happen. On Tuesday night I walked up to Staples Center ready to see a concert, but was preoccupied with what was going to happen in very same building the next night. I knew that instead of people in zebra pants and neon tops (it was an LMFAO concert), I would see people in Black and Silver, there to hopefully witness history. I stood for a moment at the statue of The Great One outside of Staples, and wondered if anybody surrounding me even knew who the statue was of. I walked inside, and my friends all thought I was nuts as I stopped at every hockey photo instead of the concert ones on suite level. I was spouting off hockey facts like it was my job….ok, it kind of is my job…regardless; they couldn’t get over how in awe I was of the building.  I didn’t have words to explain to them how I was feeling, which was only made worse by the fact that they are not “hockey people” per se, but good sports nonetheless.

I walked into our Suite and looked down at the protective covering that was carefully positioned over the ice. I was convinced that the next night we would be watching Dustin Brown and the Kings hoist the Cup over their heads on that very ice surface the next night and I was almost reverent as I looked around at the Stanley Cup banners hanging high in the rafters. I should have known then that they wouldn’t win the Cup the next night simply because of how sure I was! Throughout the concert I kept commenting on how terrible the ice conditions would be the next night and when I was proven right less than 24 hours later I decided I am not a fan of super multi-purpose arenas. Enough about Tuesday (the concert was great though), let’s move on to Wednesday.

So there I am at my friend’s house, pacing the floor back and forth because after all of these meetings and phone calls and texts, I still don’t have my tickets locked in for the game which was only hours away. I had multiple sources willing to hand them over, but just couldn’t commit to them. I also just really wanted to sit with two very dear friends of mine who had never been to a game before! We should all be so lucky to have a Stanley Cup game as our first hockey experience eh?! Anyway, so a mere three hours to go before the game I jump in the shower and by the time I am out there are tickets waiting with my name on them. The entire day I had been beyond edgy which continued on our way to the game as President Obama decided that he was going to visit LA on the same day and back traffic up on one of the biggest days of my hockey viewing life ever! I walked into Staples and was seated a mere five minutes before the show went down and was so happy I did! It had been a day of unsure moments, but I was positive I was going to see Lord Stanley’s Cup…I knew I would…

Three periods, multiple beers, a Kings LOSS and a whole lot of band wagon fans later, I realized that I should’ve walked into Game 4 with no expectations of a win. In my desire for something to be sure I had bet on the one thing I couldn’t control…the outcome of the game. I won’t break down the play by play of the game for you guys, you all know how it ended. What I will say is this; there is a lost generation of hockey fans in LA that could really use some education on the sport. I was not only saddened by the Kings loss…I almost lost my mind wen a kid wearing a Gretzy sweater used a light up stick from inside the game to give the statue of The Great One himself, a giant lit up…………yeah, you know where I’m going with that. I actually said “Show some respect kid.” And he back away from the statue…

I have to give some credit to the fans at Staples who kept telling me they were happy that “The Gongshow Girl” was on their side and also to all of the amazing Gongers there who kept giving me the nod! More than once I was complimented on my outfit of Gongshow Gear and black heels haha! (I wore pants, not a mini by the way haha!)

I’m sure Gretzy pissed excellence, I just really didn’t need a visual of it from some jerk kid who obviously had no idea who, or what, the name on the back of his sweater represented. Don’t get me wrong though, I had an absolute blast at the game and the opportunity to even be there was absolutely amazing! The atmosphere was overall awesome and I can’t even describe how loud it was in Staples Center! I was humbled to be in the presence of such amazing hockey players and even some amazing fans! For every hundred band wagon fans, there was a true fan. One who had even kept confetti from a win in 1981 that he was going to throw if the Kings won the cup!

I try to always keep my postings light hearted and fun, and I want to do the same here. What I really want to get across in this post, is that even when we can’t control or predict the outcome of things, we need to learn to have fun with it while its happening. Had I been more chill leading up to the game I probably could’ve unwound a bit more while I was in LA; but I was so stuck on the game the game and nothing but going to the game, that I found it difficult to have fun elsewhere. I loved every second of being at game 4, and feel very lucky to have been there even with the loss that night. I was slightly annoyed when the Kings won it in game 6, but hey, it’s still a story to tell, and I am very happy for them so it’s ok in the end.

The point is Gongers, just try to always concentrate on the here and now in front of you, don’t look so far ahead that you forget to see what’s right there before your eyes, and even if things don’t work out like you thought they would, have fun anyway and don’t let a little adversity drag you down. The Kings didn’t, I ultimately didn’t, and you shouldn’t either.

W.S.P. darling Gongers #BecauseItsTheCup haha

 

~A-Snow

Sauce me a follow Gongers! @AmySnow17