We (and when I say “we” I mean “mostly Empty Maybe”) have been doing the knee-jerks for a year now. They focus on the play of the team, the effort of individuals and the overall game as viewed mostly from the couch with the wide screen with the occasional game from the stands and the press box thrown in.
After many years as a partial plan ticket holder, this year is my first with the full season and OrderedChaos has had his season tickets for years. I thought we might try to supplement the traditional OFB knee-jerks with a similar bullet-point list from the perspective from in the stands. Both OrderedChaos and I will be missing some games due to getting hitched and the birth of a second child, respectively, but we should have a good portion of the home games covered. Or, this may be the last Jerks from the Stands.
- I’m amazed at the number of fans wearing the new threads, both in red and white. Many who didn’t have the new sweater were sporting t-shirts with the new colors. Impressive.
- The opening video, although well done, was a little underwhelming. Perhaps I was expecting more of a “Mission: Impossible” style open like a few years ago. Although, given a few more viewings I’m sure I’ll grow to like it as much as I now like the new/old logo.
- During the introduction of the team, it was great to hear cheers almost as loud for Nylander and Backstrom as they were for Ovechkin and Kolzig.
- The “lightning sticks” (a.k.a “thunder sticks with embedded lights”) were very cool. Coupled with the wearing of red and a well attended crowd, the view from section 426 was great.
- Mrs. Gustafsson pointed out to me that the Verizon Center is no longer casino-like after she spotted the time of day clock on the upper ribbon board at the end of the ice. Although, some will have that view blocked by the high-def scoreboard which continues to wow me.
- Speaking of the scoreboard, there is a ribbon board above and below the main viewing area. It looks nice, however, they consistently scroll text around the ring in a counter-clockwise rotation causing the viewer to read the sentence backwards. For example, instead of reading one of Verizon’s slogans as “We never stop working for you”… we get … “you for working stop never We”.
- Still on the scoreboard topic, I am still having trouble locating the out of town scores.
- The massive improvement in puck possession was even more noticeable when seeing the team live.† I’ve also forgot how much fun it is to watch Nylander with the puck.
- Concession lines…. woah… maybe it was just the stand near me, but the line was very long and very slow. Those standing in line are very thankful for the high number of new HD monitors that ring the concourse.
- Having seen both the new sweaters in both white and red from the upper deck… the numbers are VERY EASY to see. A great and welcomed improvement. Now can we switch back to white at home so that every game is not the red team versus the white team?
- I don’t know how it came across on TV, but that was one of the loudest crowds at Verizon/MCI Center in years. The “summer of change” continues to show itself in unexpected ways. Let’s hope that continues.
- You can neither question Ovechkin’s dedication or the love and respect players have for Kolzig when you see AO drop to the ice with 10 seconds remaining to block a shot that helps preserve the shutout for Kolzig.
- This is going to be a fun year.
10 Comments
I agree it was the loudest I’ve heard in years. And if you didn’t sit behind the goal, you’d be able to see the clock! I also did not see any out of town scores anywhere.
As this was the first game with the Caps wearing red at home, I also noticed immediately how much easier it is to see the numbers with white on red than it was gold on black. (It’s also easier than red on white, but that’s another story.)
However, you have to start up again on getting people not to yell the stupid “O” during the national anthem. Let alone not yelling anything else (including, but not limited to, “Let’s go Caps”, “[Team X] sucks”, and “I love you [insert player here]“), all of which I heard on Friday.
YES! Respect the anthem. (That was the most beautiful anthem I’ve heard in years, BTW.) I heard a section trying to start a “RED” shout during also.
Those at the game might also have noticed that Laich should have been one of the stars of the game for his Selke like play.
I was hoping the line I was in wasn’t a fluke, but apparently it was. The concession line I was in was a very long line, but the workerbees had it going pretty smoothly (stalled only when fans weren’t paying attention to the waitstaff yelling that they were open farter down the counter and ready to help). My friend and I were in line for about 5min.
Now all we need to go with the crowd noise is more instruments and more yelling. We need more horns (there were at least 6 and a plastic shofar). We need drums. Kazoos. A tuba or two. Streamers. Okay, no smoke bombs since it’s indoors…
Stand uuuuuup for the Cap-I-Tals!
I think they could use the space on the ribbon board to the left of the game score for out of town scores. I was only able to get out of town scores from the Carolina BC on the monitors in section 414. the monitors for the press are now 40″ LCD’s, very nice.
Capsaholic, I’m pretty sure that the yelling of “RED” is a Carolina thing. Although I could be wrong.
“Jerks from the Stands” – I like the title
The cheer for Brashear was pretty darn loud, too.
You’re right, norske, the cheer for Brash was nice and loud, too. Thanks for the reminder.
Crowd was great, really loud, which I loved. As was the RED everywhere. Less fun was the hand stamping station – the line was long and the natives restless, guess nicotine withdrawls were high. Anyone else dislike the power play music? By the time the intro is over and the song really gets going, the puck has dropped.
One point of contention – thunder sticks are from hell. Please do not be an advocate. (Unless you are using them to smack those Maryland Hillbillies screaming “OH!” during the anthem.
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