5 hours. That was the wait to get your picture with the Stanley Cup today if you are a ticket holder. I had every intention of waiting in like with Teaspoon but when I arrived and the line was reaching the Marriott I knew it wasn’t going to happen.
The problem was that it was a “suggested” time and not a hard time so anyone scheduled on Saturday could show up. I called on Friday to double check my time and was told ‘Well really you can show up whenever. Its just a suggested time to help move things along.” Know what happens when you give options like that, knuckleheads muck it up. You now how many fans you have coming based on the tickets you sent out, so give them a time to be there and if you can’t make that window, oh well. Yeah it’s harsh but so is waiting 5 freaking hours. CYS would have arrested me if I stood there with 7mo old Teaspoon that long.
This wasn’t the only problem over the last 24 hours for the celebration for me. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m 110% in support of the Pens but some things last night at the game chapped my ass.
1) No forks – Pizza Hut stand in E Balcony North informed me as they handed me a heaping serving of Monster Chicken Nachos that they no longer offer forks. I thought it was a joke at first but the workers informed me that they were no longer provided forks. People, this is a pile of acid reflux hell that gets the chips all soft from the cheese plus its piled high with chicken. YOU NEED A FORK! I thank the ladies for running to find me a fork but whomever runs that stand needs to get their heads out of someone’s ass.
2) No Banner – Probably the sweetest thing I have ever received as a giveaway came last night in the form of a mini-version of the banner that was raised last night. Right away I thought this would be a great addition to Teaspoon’s room. Midway through the 2nd period I realized that my banner was gone. I leaned it against the railing in front of me (in F balcony the railing goes to the floor) along with my program. Some magic being came down and took it. I asked the guys in front of me and they claimed they only had their banner. The woman next to me said she didn’t have it. Well someone does and it isn’t me. If you took it on purpose, you suck and I hope you headbutt a train.
3) Soggy Program – to highlight the night my program was ruined. The lady who sat next to me arrived and threw down soaking wet sweatshirts on top of my program. It wasn’t until I looked for my banner that I realized what she did. All she could say was “well they were wet.”
So in the last 24 hours I had forkless nachos, a soggy program, a banner stolen and unable to see the Stanley Cup.
Never fear the FAIL, I have the WIN coming up next. Pulling the video off my camera now!
HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY! HOCKEY!
Looks weird when its repeated over and over again eh? You know you wanna spell check it.
I wish I could properly express how freaking psyched I am for tonight. Not only is it the home opener but its the raising of the Stanley Cup Champions banner and the start of the final season at the Mellon Arena. Oh yeah, and there will be fireworks!
The home opener is the one game I get to when the gates open. I like to get in early so I can walk around without much obstruction, walk through Pens Station so I can shop without elbows to the back from a crazy yinzer rushing to get that Crosby jersey that’s been hanging since last year, and I get a chance to sit in my seat and absorb the moment… Stanley Cup Champions. Its like the calm before the storm.
I find it hard to hate the Rangers this year. Jagr isn’t gone. Straka is gone. Avery is there but that’s not even an effort anymore since he writes his own jokes. I guess Rozsival or Prospal could be whipping boys but they’ll have to stop skating into the boards like Happy Gilmore. This leaves the hack thug Brashear. Honestly I’m expecting Avery and Brashear to beat the tar out of each other. Knuckleheads do that.
Game starts at 7:30, gates open at 6. Game is sold out so if you don’t have tickets sit on the lawn and bring an umbrella or as Yinz Team would tell you, “bring a fucking towel”.
Final score: Pens 4 – Rangers 1
From pittsburghpenguins.com
Each 14 karat white and yellow gold ring contains 167 diamonds, totaling approximately 4.50 carats of diamonds and averaging approximately 100 grams of gold. The top of the ring is crowned with a custom-cut black onyx imbedded with a 1.3 carat pear-shaped diamond to create the Penguins logo. The logo is placed on an image of the Stanley Cup, which is sitting on a bed of round diamonds replicating the arena and ice surface.
The ring is further adorned with 12 princess-cut diamonds on each side of the shanks. The title “Stanley Cup Champions” is written along the ring’s left and right outer rim/bezel. The left side of the ring features the player’s name and number as well as a list of the team four playoff series victories. The right side of the ring has the year 2009 split with three Stanley Cups, adorned in diamonds. The two outer Stanley Cups are inscribed on top with 91 and 92, paying homage to the Penguins’ two previous championships.
Holy freaking ring! When Sid was on the news showing the media his new ring you’d think that it weighed more than the cup. What I think is an ironic twist is that the Steelers, who are more “yo yo yo lookit my bling yo! its the shizzle dawg!” have a smaller ring than a group of guys who are most likely to put it on a shelf in their house and be “yeah that’s cool… but I drank from the cup!”.
Ahhh hockey season is less than 72 hours away.
What a beautiful world…
Monday night I was at the Penguins DVD Release Party with Bobby, Jimmy and my new Twitter BFF Laynie. First off seeing the Stanley Cup was amazing. I always get a chill when I see the Cup in person because I know it’s not something I get to do often. I’d love to get Teaspoon in the bowl but that’s a long shot. The night was filled with fans lucky enough to win passes, local media and female heartthrobs Tyler Kennedy with his stick licking skills and Kris Letang and his sexy hair(ask @kdudders about that or any female pens fan). Red carpet treatment and 5 star seating.
The DVD was absolutely amazing. It was filled with tears, cheers and many jeers for Hossa. Plus it helped watching it on a screen the size of a house. I heard the DVD is almost impossible to keep in stock so do yourself a favor and pick yours up now.
I only took a few pics but you can see them on Flickr.
Lushie and teaspoon gave me an early Father’s Day Present today…
When Teaspoon was born the Pens were on the outside looking in on the playoffs. Local media left the team for dead and refocused on the Super Bowl Champion Steelers offseason.
No team can come back after losing the cup finals the year before and make it past the 1st round… The Pens did
The Pens won’t beat Philadelphia, Washington or Carolina… they did.
Detroit won games 1 and 2 and the media said it was over… Pens came back to win games 3 and 4
Detroit won game 5 and the media said it was over… Pens won Game 6
No one outside of Penguin nation thought the Pens could win game 7. NHL.com’s store already had Back To Back shirts printed and Detroit planned their parade… at the end of 60 minutes the Pittsburgh Penguins were Stanley Cup Champions.
Pittsburgh is once again the CITY OF CHAMPIONS
