http://blogs.newsobserver.com/canes/monday-debate-what-made-you-a-fan#comment-7336
Similar to the blog entry I had a while back, this one is geared to the Raleigh, North Carolina area.
Some are classic, and some brought tears to my eyes.
It's worth reading the whole thing, because I'm just highlighting some of the posts and all are just excerpts.
Anything in bold is my emphasis.
Jeff Williams:
I can honestly say (with apologies to my father, who still lives in Texas), that hockey is now my favorite sport.
Anonymous:
I was hooked for life!
FLA Caniac:
Later ....
Hockey is life ...
scomil:
I'll watch the Canes rather than a local college basketball game, and I watch a lot more hockey in general than any other winter sport.
Later ...
Hockey is a great game and maybe the only team sport left where honor and loyalty among teammates and throughout the team organization is still very important. The Canes exemplify that as well as or better than any other NHL team - that's why their fan base is expanding so well around here.
scomil grew up in Indiana and chooses hockey over basketball!
ctill:
I became a hockey fan in Atlanta, when the Flames played their inaugural season (72-73). It was great fun to watch then, and still is... an appeaing blend of power, speed, and skill with layer upon layer of subtlety and nuance in strategy and tactics. Not too physical like football, not to cerebral like baseball. Also I like the fact that 98% of the players live a reasonably clean life off the ice (hello, NBA). Incorporation of Europeans into the NHL was a great advance too.
SubwayScoundrel:
The minute I walked in, I was hooked.
Anonymous:
I played all the other sports. I always came back to hockey. Nothing required the speed, grace, physicality, and skill quite like the game of hockey. The others were always just easier because you weren't doing things on skates. The ebb and flow of the game, the thrill of rushing down the wing and streaking in on the goalie, deking him out of his jock and having him frantically flailing at the puck as it went past him/her, the feeling of absolutely laying a guy out with a great check.... nothing matches that....
When you see the game played the right way... and see the flow of that much speed and skill... it's hard not to get hooked...
caniacinclemson:
Despite being relatively new to the ranks of hockey fan-dom I can see why people all over the country (and world for that matter) have devoted their lives to both playing and cheering on those who do. I moved to Raleigh from Houston in 2005 which was the same year that I fell in love with hockey. I grew up loving football (especially high school) and college basketball but when I saw my very first hockey game during those amazing playoffs, everything else took a back seat. I was immediately hooked and have been ever since.
Later ...
The speed of the game, the amazing display of skill and the interesting back stories of everyone involved just add to why I am known among my friends as the hockey fanatic.
Later ...
I was awed by the effort given on the ice and the fans' reactions in the stands and seeing such a fast paced game in person made me count down the days until I could go back. To this day I still get goosebumps when the lights go down and the team makes its entrance to the roar of the loudest fans in the NHL.
Anonymous:
I was a casual fan till the 2002 run to the Finals. After that I've been "all the way in".
The players are also great. I've never experienced any ill will towards the fans. Most stop and will interact with the fans in a very friendly manner. Its awesome to shake hands,grab an autograph and ask a question of an on ice hero.
Finally - the atmosphere at the RBC is simply amazing ....I've been to sporting venues all over the country and the RBC has a unique atmosphere. Its not the biggest or most plush arena but overall - its hands down unmatched.
Anonymous:
The following fall, the NBA had their work stoppage, so I started watching whatever hockey I could get on t.v. - it was a time when there were games on both ESPN and ESPN2 and we had Fox Rocky Mountain Sports available. The more I watched, the more I loved the game. I've never gone back to the NBA! My first live hockey game was at the ESA (2nd game the 'Canes played there) while I was in town for job interviews. (The 'Canes got hammered by the Leafs, but what the heck, it was live hockey and I had a ball!)
Later ...
I'm hopelessly hooked on the game and a Caniac forever!
Carolina_Whaler:
Now I go through withdrawls during the off season, unless I'm playing NHL 08 on my X-box360 or talking with friends and family that are Caniacs like myself. I can't wait for the hockey season to start, as September gets closer i'm starting to feel like a kid right before christmas.
Anonymous:
I remember it clearly. I was watching the evening news one spring evening in 2002 and heard 'the Carolina Hurricanes are going to the Stanley Cup finals against the Detroit Red Wings.' I'd never watched an NHL game start to finish in my life at that point. But even I knew how important those words were--"Carolina Hurricanes," Stanley Cup finals," and "Detroit Red Wings." I started watching the games on TV, got completely hooked by the skill/speed/strength/grace of the game. Now, I'm a STH.
To say my knowledge of and love for hockey has exploded in these 6 short years is a gross understatement.
ClaytonCaniac4life:
However, a few years later my son and I had the opportunity to go to a Carolina Hurricanes playoff game against the NJ Devils in 2002 and we have been hooked ever since.
Later ...
Right then and there I knew I was HOOKED! I have been a fan ever since. It is ADDICTIVE, once you go to your 1st. game. The players are the BEST (so down to earth and friendly). I find myself looking online all the time now for any hockey news I can find. I order Center Ice every year and watch NHL Network faithfully.
Anonymous:
I had never been to a hockey game, nor did i know anything about hockey, when a guy asked me out and said he was a season ticket holder.... he asked if i'd like to go to a game. The reason i had never gone was because i just couldn't justify the cost of the ticket, seemed like a lot of money for a game! So i went..... that was the first playoff game of the Stanley cup run in 2006. And needless to say, I kept going with him until the very end. Although we're not together any more, I made some sacrifices and scraped up the money and have become a full season ticket holder, sitting third row. I haven't missed a game......and don't plan on ever missing one. I think if i were in a coma, they'd have to have the game playing in the background!! LOL. 41 days until the first game...........not that i'm counting.
wjcamp:
Born and raised in Chatham county, I grew up a huge fan of Tarheel basketball, major league baseball and the Washington Redskins. My first real exposure to hockey was the amazing run to the gold by the US in the 1980 Olympics, but that interest soon faded.
Later ...
When the Canes had their big ticket drive leading into the 2001-02 season I decided to buy two season tickets for my wife and me to use, as well as to share with our employees as a perk. After the first month of the season my wife, a total non sports person, fell in love with the game and the players as quickly as I did. There's just nothing like watching hockey in person to get you hooked.
Later ...
The thrill of being in the RBC to watch our boys raise the cup on the night of our 24th wedding anniversary is one of my life's greatest moments (no disrespect to my wife), and certainly the greatest sports moment I can remember. I can say with certainty that we'll be fans for life. I can't wait for this season to start so I can get my fix in after this much too long summer.
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