Where My Ladies At? (PART II)

THESE ARE OUR STORIES

(How I Became a [Female] Hockey Fan)!

My Tumultuous Love Affair with a Man Named Hockey (PART II)

this one was a little too long to do all in one post, so this is the continuation from the June 24th post!! ; )

[FINALLY ... CONT'D FROM JUNE 24TH!]

But as much as I hate to say it, during the lockout my interest waned, the flame that was once a roaring fire, was dying out, a year without hockey showed me other sports, like fencing, soccer, and basketball (go Lakers!), I also started high school and did girl things like go out with friends and experiment with hair color. (The lockout was a break in my relationship with hockey, so technically I wasn't cheating.) One day in 2006 did a lot for me as a hockey fan, I turned on the TV and 1 I was again exposed to hockey, 2 I saw the Youth Movement in Sidney Crosby and Jordan Staal, 3 the changes made hockey seem like the sexy foreign exchange student who seemed so foreign, and 4 I saw a completely different side of the game with Alexander Ovechkin. It was like greeting an old friend you haven't seen in a while, familiar but different in a good way. It was safe to say the affair resumed. Hockey seemed so much more friendlier, but more exciting at the same time. There were players who were as old as my brother and suddenly the players didn't seem so scary (the Kariya incident as you can see scarred me somewhat). And that season it was in the cards for us to win.

The 2007-2008 season was rough, it was rough to see the Penguins lose to the Red Wings, it was rough to see the Ducks lose to the Stars, it was rough to see the Capitals (which was slowly inching its way to the top of the rankings and my group of favorite teams) lose to the Flyers. The torrid affair seemed to be coming to a close.

But last year, when Penguins won, I was at a restaurant with my family having a quiet dinner. My friend had been texting me the scores but I hadn't been reading them because I knew the anxiety would near kill me. But I knew that the game would be ending soon, so I quietly snuck off into the bathroom. When I read the text with the final score 2-1, I was jumping up and down, screaming. The team with players that were my brother's age, that seemed so approachable defeated the team that beat my team and had players that were as old as my mother. At that moment, my love affair with hockey was rekindled.

While my relationship with hockey has been on and off over the past few years, I find myself still having a hard time restraining myself when watching the Ducks, or any other team for that matter. I find myself often proving to other hockey fans, that I'm not another puck bunny lusting after Sidney Crosby, Jordan Staal, Alexander Ovechkin (How can you not love his gap tooth grin?), or Max Talbot (although on occasion I have indulged). But often, I find myself in The Pond where the affair all started.

- Brianna G.

THANKS, Brianna, for sharing such an AWESOME story (quite a story at that) ... again, I apologize for keeping everyone in suspense by not posting the second part until today!! ; )

Don't forget, if you wish to submit your story, I kindly ask that you email them directly to me so they don't end up being repetitive for some of the readers. Also, if you don't want me to include your name, please let me know that as well (what I'll normally do is put your first name and last initial if I have it OR just your screen name).

FEEL FREE TO INCLUDE A PICTURE!!

I also want to let you know I LOVE these stories (and so do alot of our readers) - I've always found it interesting no matter who the fan, so I'm enjoying ALL OF THIS IMMENSELY!! KEEP THEM COMING, but I ask that you email them please - THANKS!!!

Also, I ask that you please BE PATIENT as I'm still receiving TONS of stories (they'll be posted in the order I received them, to be fair). If you sent in a story, it will eventually be on the blog - I promise!! ; ) JUST BE SURE TO KEEP THEM COMING (the more the better!)!! AS A NOTE, I'm currently on stories I received back in December 2009 / January 2010!!!


thesteelcitysportsfan@gmail.com

If you haven't, you can READ MY STORY HERE
(how "yours truly" became a [female] hockey fan!)!!