Opening weekend…
Disaster…
Out for a bite to eat, then off to the arena for
the first home game of the season. A Challenge Cup game (shouldn’t be on the
season ticket) against the (Not Really a Grand Slam) winners, the Nothingham
Panthers. All was going fine until we got to Sheffield and within a mile of the
arena. We were already stuck in a queue of traffic and this was at 15:50 as we
came off the motorway. We crawled forward at something much less than walking
pace and eventually got to the arena car park entrance at about 16:30. An
average speed of just under 2 miles per hour. Bring back the guy with the red
flag. Closing in on the entrance, which, by the way, is the same entrance I have
used for almost 20 years, only to be told by a yellow jacket, “this entrance is
for pre-paid tickets only”.
Eh!” said I, gob-smacked. “Since when?”
“Er, since today” was the reply.
Bloody marvellous, I thought, and with the prospect
of joining another queue for at least another half hour, I decided to drop the
car off in an extremely inviting empty space I had just noticed near Burger
King in Centretainment. Obviously, I was not the only one with this thought, as
I could see loads of Steelers shirts and Panthers shirts being worn by all
these Centretainment customers. This has to be the stupidest idea to top all
stupid ideas through the ages. Once again Arena management go out of their way
to try and spoil as much as possible, any chance of having a decent hockey
night out, (or should I say, late afternoon out, as it’s a Sunday and we have
to start at stupid o’ clock).
Eventually, we arrive at the arena doors and get
our ST’s scanned and we are in, just as the noise announces there will be a 15
minute delay (which ended up being almost half an hour delay). Why am I not
surprised. The whole of Arena Square roundabout is gridlocked, and every road
leading to the arena is at a standstill. Well done arena management, -200 out
of 10 for that bright spark idea.
So, eventually the game starts, or to be more
correct, Nothinghams game starts. Ours is still on standby, and remains so for much
of the game, apart from 4 or 5 minutes after Spencer and Henley decide to have
a short battle centre ice. It wakes a few of our players up and we manage a
goal, but then, back to the Horlicks, and struggle on to the final whistle
where we find ourselves on the end of an embarrassing 4-1 defeat. Now, don’t
get me wrong, I would have liked to see us win, but I know that can’t always
be. But even if we lose, I would like to see us play. We didn’t play in this
game, and I don’t believe in all the rubbish about teams need to gel as an
excuse, because it applies to every team at the start of a season. Even if they
are not familiar as such with their line mates as yet, they are professional
sportsmen, and they know how to play the game, not gelling and not playing are two
completely different aspects. Not playing in front of a ¾ full house can cause
an enormous amount of damage for the rest of the season, TS must have been
crying. This needs sorting straight away Doug. Losing happens, we can live with
it, winning happens, it’s a bonus at the end of the game, but not playing,
destroys everything, don’t let it creep in. Nip it from the very beginning and
get them working.
So, all in all, from being out of the house 2 hours
before kick-off, and getting stuck in the traffic and turned away from the car
park, only to endure a very poor game, left me already feeling rather
frustrated.
At least there is a shining light to clutch hold
of. We need to think up a way to get more delays at the start of Sunday games,
and just maybe, we will get the face off time back to 6:00 pm. Hooray.
Back soon.
Mart.
