Rocking The House

"I can't believe Colby is really making us wait in the will call line to pick up our tickets." Jack whined as we stood at the end of the line.
"It must be punishment for almost losing his kid last night." I teased as I pulled my ball cap down, trying to keep a low profile. The line moved quickly and Jack and I were easily entertained but all the fans filing into the building. Toronto had some of the most loyal fans in the league. Too bad I wasn't one of them.
"Dude! Look at the guys in the blue spandex suit! That's awesome!" Jack laughed as he pointed a crutch at the fan, who was also carrying a blue Leafs flag and a fog horn. "Fans don't dress up like that in L.A."
"They don't really dress up like that in Pittsburgh either." I chuckled.

When we got to the ticket counter Jack gave the attendant his name.
"Johnson, first name Jack." He said

"I'm sorry sir, I don't have anything under that name." The attendant stated back to him.

"Okay, what about first name John?" He asked her again.

"Sorry sir, I have nothing under the Johnson at all."

Jack looked over at me with worried eyes. "Maybe it's under you name Sid?" He asked. I cleared my throat the stepped up to the window.

"Could you please look under Crosby, first name Sidney?" The attendant looked at me, and then through her list.

"I'm sorry sir, you could repeat the last name please?"

"Crosby."

"Hmm, I don't seem to have that here either. Could you spell it please?"

I looked at her and raised my eyebrows. Seriously? Okay. "C-R-O-S-B-Y" I whispered to her in the window. Not wanting the whole world to know I was here.

"I'm sorry sir, I couldn't hear you, could you spell it again for me again? A little louder this time."

Christ, I was going to have to yell it at this rate. I looked at Jack and he just shrugged and shook his head. I'm sure he was laughing at me on the inside. I looked back at the attendant. I said louder than I wanted to, "C-R-O-S-B-Y" She shuffled around her papers and looked again.
"Sorry, nothing."
I poked my head farther into the the window and flagged down the lady who was sitting at a desk behind her.
"Excuse me Ma'am." I said waving her over. "Hi, um, I was wondering, did Colby Armstrong leave any tickets here for Crosby or Johnson?" I asked.
"Oh yes! I was just putting them together, it was kind of last minute. Hold on." She replied as she walked back to her desk. Jeez, why couldn't the other lady have just asked instead of making a fool of myself and letting all of Toronto that I was here. A second later she was back. She handed me and envelope and two gift bags. "Sorry for the wait Mr. Crosby, here you go."
"Thank you." I said as I took the bags from her.

I walked towards Jack and handed him his bag. Looking inside we saw that there was a Leaf Jersey for each of us, both with Colby's name and number on them. I laughed when I realized what he had done. "He doesn't really expect us to wear these does he?" I asked Jack. "This is sac relig for any Habs fan and he knows it! Not to mention what would happen if Mario or Pat found out about me wearing this." I looked at Jack who was already pulling his jersey over his head.
"Come on Sid, lighten up a bit. It's only one game and it will make Army so happy."

"No way. I'm not being tainted blue for anyone. I'll go to the giftshop and buy a Habs jersey instead. I chuckled as we gave our tickets to the door attendant. I did just as I said and I stopped at the Fanattic to grab a Kaberle jersey. Just to show it off to the Leafs fans that he now played for Montreal instead. When I came out of the store Jack laughed at me. He couldn't believe I would really do that.

"Did you seriously just get a Kaberle jersey?" He asked as we got into the lineup to get beer.

"Yes I seriously just did that." I mocked him. " I love Army, but I can't turn my back on my childhood team. And tonight I'm here purely as a fan of the game, not as anything or anyone else. Just a fan." I said as we approached the vendor who was selling the beer.
"One Canadian and one Budweiser please." I said to the short bald man behind the cart.
"Seventeen dollars please." He said as he poured them perfectly into the cups.
"Excuse me?" Jack asked as I handed the man a twenty. "Two beers cost you seventeen dollars? Are you fucking kidding me?"
"Afraid not my friend. It's not like it is in the states where you can get tickets, a beer, and a hot dog for twenty five dollars."
"Yeah no kidding." He laughed.

We found our seats, located conveniently behind the Leafs bench. I knew Colby had done that on purpose. He wanted to make sure he could see us in our jerseys. Well he was in for a bit of a surprise. We took our seats and pulled my Habs jersey over my head, making sure to keep my hat pulled down low. The last thing I wanted was for the cameras to pan onto me and blow my cover.

Warmups had just ended and the Zamboni was cleaning the ice. I was having fun, it had been years since I had gone to a game just to watch. Not having to sit in the press box and take notes on plays, or be on the ice playing. This was fun. I reminded me why I loved the game so much.

The Air Canada Centre started to fill up and although the Leaf's hadn't made the playoffs in years, the arena was full. We stood up to sing Oh Canada and as I removed my hat I realized that I was now fully exposed, wearing a Habs jersey at a Leaf's game. If I made it out of here alive it would be a miracle.

The first period was full of hard hitting and fast plays, the Leaf's put a lot of pressure on the Canadiens but Price was playing like a rockstar and nothing was getting past him. With thirty seconds left, Phaneuf high sticked Gionta in the face and was given a five minute major for busting open his lip. Power Play! The Canadiens wound down the period cautiously, knowing they would open the second with a four minute man advantage.

I waited in line for beer during the first intermission and I when I returned the ice and was clean and the second period was about to start. Gionta won the face off and the Canadiens cycled the puck beautifully into the Leaf's zone. They set up the perfect triangle and Cammalleri blasted the puck past Reimer. I stood up in my seat and screamed like a bat out of hell as all the Hab's fan burst into a chorus of ♪Oh Lay, Oh Lay Oh Lay Oh Lay♪ I downed the rest of my beer and joined the chorus. I was already getting dirty looks from the fans around me. I figured I better sit down before someone threw something at me.
"That was quite the performance Mr. Crosby. You better watch out, people might start to recognize you." Jack teased as I took my seat.
"At this point, I'm having so much fun that I don't care." I chuckled.

The rest of the period was scoreless and as the buzzer rang to end the period I jumped up to go take a leak. "I'll be right back, I'm going to the can." I told Jack as I took the stairs to the concorse two at a time. I waited my turn in line at the bathroom and grabbed us two more beer as I went back to our seats. Jack and I were joking around when we looked up and started laughing at the couples on the dreaded Kiss Cam. I always felt so bad for the people who got singled out to kiss on that thing. We continued to laugh at them until we both stopped dead in our tracks. The camera had panned onto us. "Colby!" I cursed him as I knew he had arranged for this. Jack and I looked at each other and laughed.

"Come on Sid, don't you want to make out with me?" Jack laughed as he pulled out his chapstick from his pocket and smothered it all over his lips."
Oh Lord, help me know. I thought as I rolled the sleeves up on my jersey and stood up. Jack came in and planted the grossest wettest kiss on my cheek while trying to dip me. I know, sounds gay but it was actually pretty funny. We both were laughing so hard and we sat back down and waved at the camera.

"Cat's out of the bag now." Jack said. "Everyone knows you are here now and everyone thinks your gay!" I shoved him back in his seat and pulled my hat back down, praying that no one would bother us for the rest of the game.