Is D’Eirinn Mé: 04-07-07: penguins vs. new york rangers

check this out: my husband, his best friend, and i went to the last penguins home game of the regular season on 04-07-07. IT WAS UNBELIEVABLE. our seats were amazing!!! you see, we bought tickets in advance that were decent, but the owner of the company i work for (who's a half season ticket holder) had extra tickets and asked me if i could sell them. we got some friends to buy them and we realized these were better seats at the same price we paid, so we kept these ones and gave our original ones to our friends.

holy crap, the seats were awesome!!! (i was so close i could see sidney grimace as he braced for a big hit!!!) now, when we go with the eat'n park crew, we get to view the game from high atop the igloo in the luxury box. it's nice, it's comfortable, and it's free since my husband works there, but i had to squint to see sidney crosby score possibly the best goal of the 2006-2007 season on 01-07-07 against tampa bay.

this time, we sat behind the goal that the pens shoot at twice, just to the right of the area where the players enter the ice. i got some fantastic videos and photos. i got to stand directly above the players coming out for the warm up - practically right on top of their heads!!! i got this video:

after the game, the players gave away the shirts off their backs (i didn't win one, of course), so i went back to stand over that magical area where the players enter and exit the ice to try to get more pics of the team. after they gave away their jerseys, the players were throwing t-shirts to the fans around the entire arena. now, i was kind of out in the aisle by myself because i was trying to get unobstructed views of the pens for good pictures. the protective mesh behind the goal area was kind of in the way where i was standing, so most people were standing way over to my left trying to score a free shirt, so i thought it would be a great place for some good pics.

before i go on, a detail about me that is extremely important later in this story is that i have had severe problems with my right foot. i've had several treatments, therapies, and surgeries. i consider myself extremely fortunate that i am now able to walk, as there was a time when i couldn't. this fact will help you see why the incident i'm going to tell you about happened...

as the players were skating around tossing shirts at us, it looked like colby armstrong spotted me and looked at me for a few seconds - i think it was because i was rocking my crosby rimouski oceanic jersey - but then he threw the shirt into the big gathering of people to my left. a few seconds later, it happened again. i was sure he was looking at me, but i've been wrong before, and besides - i was just happy to be able to be close enough to see the players' faces. finally, army looked at me a third time and launched the last t-shirt he had right at me. i couldn't believe it! i was so excited because it was obvious this one was specifically meant for ME because i was out by myself and the shirt was coming right at me.

so i went to catch the shirt and that's when this happened: some old man appeared from my right, pushed me out of the way, caught the shirt, and disappeared. i was incredulous. thank GOD i regained my balance; those stairs are concrete and i would have been seriously injured! i couldn't believe that had just happened. i couldn't believe i had been jobbed by a 50 - 60 year old man. at that moment, i was too shocked to do anything. he came from behind me off from the right, i think. by the time i regained my balance and my composure, he was gone. i don't know if he was just that fast or if i was just that stunned. i was so upset. i hope that prick is proud of himself for pushing a girl - on my gimp-foot side, no less - and that it was worth it. i hope the old scrote enjoys my shirt...

NO I DON'T. actually, what i really hope is that when he left the arena, his car was stolen, and when he finally got home, his house was burglarized, and the burglars were still there, waiting for him, and then used MY SHIRT to gag him before repeatedly violating him - federal prison style.

anyhoo, other than the aforementioned mishap and the fact that the drive home sucked because of the snow (i'm wanted to kill that damn groundhog), it was an amazing experience: we sat one section back from the boards, the view of the game was incredible, at more than one point i was less than 3 feet away from sidney crosby, colby armstrong threw a t-shirt at me, the pens won, and we would be at the stanley cup playoff game the following week!!!

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. here are just a few of the pics i got: