When I showed Lenny my Flyers cap, which I had acquired from Melissa at Jenna's clothing swap-o-rama/birthday party back in January, I had no idea that it would get me into front row seats two hours later. He said, "Huh, yesterday a buddy of mine was asking if anyone wanted to go to a Flyers game, giving away his tickets." A few texts later, we had the most amazing seats ever! right behind one of the nets!
Apparently, hockey fans - maybe sport's fans in general - get heify about loyalty and winning and are very territorial. Knowing full well that I am supposed to be a Washington Capital's fan, I attended a Philadelphia Flyers game. I posted it on facebook, because, well, that's what you do when you go somewhere - anywhere - these days. This is how we all stay connected, and I think for the most part people are accepting and adapting to the new way of maintaining parasocial relationships. I digress. Who knew that a simple post such as "Let's Go Fly-ers! Let's Go!" would nearly ruin friendships with four Washingtonians and even my relationship with my brother is strained (not really)! It was really a very interesting experience, aside from the sport, the response to my betrayal. Why is everyone so anti-Philly?
On a more superficial note, hockey is fantastic. There were almost a couple fights, no one took off their gloves. I sat next to a wonderful season-ticket-holder couple. Janice told me that they hadn't been to the last few games because she had just become a grandmother and her husband was recovering from surgery, but otherwise they are very faithful fans. Confession: I could hardly understand her because her accent was so heavy and the fans in that stadium are so loud. Lenny told me the history of the Flyers and how they acquired the nickname The Broad Street Bullies, there's even a documentary about it (http://www.hbo.com/sports/broad-street-bullies/index.html) which I will be watching in the near future.
That's so awesome. :)
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