An OFB reader and friend, TWH79, spent his Tuesday in Atlanta. He took in the Caps’ performance versus the Thrashers that night; here are his observations of the Atlanta hockey experience along with a few photos by him (and by fellow readers Sean & Kayna).
—————
–A little background: I’ve been a full-season ticket holder for 6
seasons now, and I had the good fortune of having a business trip to
Atlanta this week. As a Caps fan, my Tuesday night entertainment was a
no-brainer.
–I bought a ticket from a scalper outside for $25
below face value and ended up 15 rows behind the Caps’ bench. Based on
attendance, I got ripped off.
–My first sight inside the arena:
a Guinness beer stand, large beers for $7.50. The bartender pours a
half-and-half for no extra charge. This is a good start.
–As I
walk into the seating bowl, two things immediately catch my attention:
1) it’s frigid in the arena. True, it’s unseasonably cold for Atlanta in
April when there are snow flurries, but Ted, please note
- it’s colder than it’s ever been at VC and I have lower bowl tickets.
2) one side of the arena is nothing but luxury boxes.
–After
the pre-game skate, I wandered back for some food and beer. Beer
is $0.50 cheaper than VC, and feed is cheaper with a wider selction,
though all concentrated in one area since half the arena is luxury
boxes. Considering that everything in Atlanta has been cheaper, I
consider arena prices about as inflated here as DC compared to the region’s general prices. The concourse reminds me of Nats Park
a bit, where everything is focused on taking money from your pocket regardless
of the game being played.
–I’m lucky to have two Caps fans
beside me. They are locals with roots in the DC area. Interestingly enough I saw a
number of Capitals beach towels — the ones handed out at Sunday’s home game — which means one of
two things: either Caps fans travel very well, or that eBay has a substantial market
in Caps’ merchandise and people are paying for overnight shipping. I
know where I’d place my bets – Bravo Caps fans.
–As Caps’ fans,
we don’t always notice our terrific announcer Wes. When you’re on the road and you hear
announcers speaking through their nose, you certainly miss him.
–There
are many empty seats, but the home fans that are here know their hockey. I
don’t like that the Caps are in the Southeast Division, but if Atlanta can put a .500 product on the ice for a few years, there’s
hope; otherwise, they’ll be the Atlanta Flames again and move north.
–The “Blueland” marketing idea needs work, particularly when the home team is wearing maroon.
–The “Ice Girls” or whatever they are called in Atlanta wear less clothing, but also skate and clean up the ice.
–The
most absurd thing about Phillips Arena: the Thrasher heads that hang
down from the ceiling and breath fire when Atlanta scores. I feel like
I’m watching a hair band from the 80s.
–Wait, I’m wrong.
There’s a Thrashers’ fan walking around with a life-size Stanley Cup
made of foil as the Caps start cutting a rut to the penalty box, though
I didn’t act fast enough to get a picture.
–Final note: the in-game entertainment has a similar vibe to the Phone Booth, as
they show similar “motivational” videos (Thrash fans tell me they
still “Unleash the Fury” occasionally). Tonight they debuted a video making
fun of Ovechkin’s Eastern Motors commercial. When Atlanta scored its
2nd goal, they overlayed Ovechkin dancing with the typical home team
scores video clip.
[OFB note: Coach Boudreau was clearly unhappy with the video in his post-game interview, saying it "crossed the line."]
Update: Here is the video in question.
7 Comments
Boudreau did what he had to do in ripping the Thrashers for the video, but had the Caps done it to Crosby or Malkin, we would all think it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread.
They do this kind of thing in the NBA all the time. The Wizards last year showed a video of LeBron James as a crybaby. Utah (I think) had one of Shaq as the Jolly Green Giant. And no one takes it personally. (Or at least they don’t appear to.)
I thought the video was pretty funny actually. And is it really that different from when the Caps’ DJ would play “Looks like a Lady” when Jagr was put on the big screen back in his mullet days?
I laugh because it’s funny. I laugh because it’s true.
Overlaying it during a goal-scoring clip? Not quite to my taste. But the bad commercial thing is pretty accurate. And entertaining.
Glad TWH79 had fun.
My knee-jerk:
This was one of the few games where it looked like Fedorov is showing his age a bit.
But it was definitely an entertaining game to watch.
(I agree about announcers. I was actually at a game a short time ago that made me really appreciate Michelle, the in-game announcergirl, too.)
The funny thing is that if you are from around here (DC area), you know those Eastern Motors commercials are just hilarious no matter who is in them or what they are doing. I’m not sure you can effectively make fun of someone who is in a commercial making fun of itself.
Come on:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpDbQnsXovo&feature=channel_page
Everyone looks dumb. And that’s why everyone has heard of Eastern Motors. That’s the POINT!
Anyway, I thought the game was interesting. Happy with Varlamov but the rest of the defense seemed off to me–didn’t seem aggressive at all. Although the penalty kill lines did a good job and of course Pothier. Semin’s goal was lovely.
I don’t know…just didn’t look like a #2 playoff seed to me.
But, I’m new around here.
I laughed. I’m not offended or anything. Kovalchuk shaking his head was funny. But mainly the funniest thing is that they don’t “get” the whole Eastern Motors thing.
This video makes the Thrashers out to be the guy who watches Army of Darkness and then says, “It sucked! The acting was over-the-top and the plot was completely unbelievable!!!”
I agree regarding the video — it was actually pretty funny, particularly Kovy asking Ovi to call him next time.
And I liked that they showed the uber-embarrassing Colby Armstrong ad when he was in Pittsburgh. All in good fun, just like the original Easterns ad.
Imagine a Verizon Center video of Sidney Crosby’s various dives & complaints at Benny Hill speed, along with the music of course. Seeing that punch-to-the-groin/butt sped up and looped as Sid sat on the bench… priceless.
As for the team last night, the defense once again looked shaky, leaving Varly to fend for himself (and he did pretty well). The reason I see the Caps as a #2 seed is that the Devils deserve it even less.
I thought the use of the horrible Sassoon commercial with the tucked in Rangers Jersey was great.
And Kovalchuk telling just shaking his head…it was funny.
Hey, if you can’t have a good team, at least you can have a good in-house production staff.
Now…and chance we can get a high-quality feed like that of our Unleash The Fury montage???
first, everywhere i go the video no longer works (“can’t be embedded on this page”). thanks to my trusty youtube i was able to watch it and i thought it was hilarious. if you can’t laugh at yourself who can you laugh at? i know i’ve seen a list some where recently that included gabby’s “cup holder” spot. now that is one i will not have ridiculed!
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