Go Wranglers!

For those of you who've been following this blog for the past few months, you know that I like sports. You know that I am an ever-disappointed fan of the Cleveland Browns, who disappointed yet again last weekend, not only losing their 8th game of the season but also losing their 2nd quarterback of the season. Sigh. You know that I am a huge fan of Brett Favre, who lost his 4th game of the season last weekend but still won my heart. Oh, Brett. You know that I am quasi-married to a professional sports bettor, so sports are a big part of my Vegas life. Except, there are no professional teams in Vegas. This is due to the many concerns about games being thrown by players/coaches/owners/towelboys, in order to win big at the sports books. This is the first city I've lived in that I haven't had a game to go to.
Until last night. Last night, I found my hometown team: The Las Vegas Wranglers.
The Wranglers are a minor league hockey team, now in their 6th season. The last couple of years we lived in Seattle, Alex and I discovered the Seattle Thunderbirds, another minor league team. The T-Birds games were the best sporting events I'd ever been to! First off, tickets were cheap ($20 on the glass!!). The fans were devoted. And the players were playing for their lives. These were kids, 18--22 years old, all looking to go pro. There were often scouts in the stands, so the games were played full-out. I'd been to some NHL games before, in Boston and Philly, and the T-Birds games were as competitive as any pro game I'd seen. So, when I discovered that Vegas had a team, I was psyched! I was told that this particular league was nowhere near the caliber of the T-Birds league, but it's live hockey, so who cares? A friend of Alex's got us tickets to last night's game, and all day I kept saying, "Hey baby, you wanna go see some HOCKEY?" HELLS YEAH!! I told Van my mailman that I was going, and he was jealous. You never know where you might find a hockey fan.
We walked into the arena just as the national anthem was being sung (by an elementary school chorus, which made me think, How can I get a chance to sing the national anthem at a game?), and then the lights came back up and it was time to play some hockey. Right away, I was in fan-mode. When I'm at a game, I'm on the edge of my seat, taking in all the action. I didn't even know which team I was rooting for until a minute had gone by and I could tell from the crowd response which jerseys were Wrangler jerseys. Last night's foe was the Fresno Falcons, and according to Alex's buddy, the night before was a bloody battle between these teams. The Wranglers won, but not without a fight. At one point, one of the Falcons actually threw a punch into the Wranglers bench. The gloves got dropped numerous times, it was a hard-hitting battle, but our team was victorious. At least, that was the report from Monday night. What we saw last night was a whole different scene. Maybe it was because of all the elementary school kids (after the first period, at least 100 kids got on the ice to sing Christmas carols), maybe the guys were just worn out from the night before. There was one Wrangler, #37, Watt, who was doing a lot of hitting, but the other Wranglers were putting on the brakes most of the time, and there were only 2 occasions where a fight could have broken out, but didn't. (For those of you who don't follow hockey, it's important to understand that fights are a part of the game. I don't get it, and it bothers me to hear a stadium full of people screaming, "Rip his f*%^ing head off!" But it's all part of the event.) The game ended with Fresno winning, 1-0. And as a sporting event, it wasn't the most exciting display of athleticism. But it was a live game, and I loved being a part of the crowd. I loved listening to the belligerent screams from the guys 2 rows behind me (though I kept hoping they'd lose their voices), I loved singing along with the pipe organ tunes (why is "Havah Nagilah" played at hockey games??), I loved the collective inhales when it looked like a scoring shot was with us and the collective moans when a bad pass lost an opportunity. I just loved being a part of the crowd, having a team to cheer for. Even if this particular minor league division is less-than spectacular, it's still exciting. And I'm looking forward to my next game! The team is on the road until the 15th, when they've got a midnight game. Don't know if I can make that one, as we'll be flying back to New York early the next morning. Perhaps we'll pull a hockey-fueled all-nighter...