Raising Cain: Manatees derail Trax | ||
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By TidalsharkIt was a wet, nasty, rainy day in the City of Magic. The overpasses on the Rainbow Interchange were holding up the clouds in Broward, and I was looking forward to driving through the same clouds on the HOV once I hit Golden Glades. By Golden Glades though, the worst of the rain had dissipated and I just had to worry about the tourists who like to slow down at the top of the HOV to look out over the city.Parking has gone up and is now $6.00 in the city lots. Picking up the season tickets proved to be less then a hassle. I got them, pulled out the tickets for tonight�s game, and dropped the rest in the car. Getting into Miami Arena proved to be the problem. I had asked Mark Fischel prior to the game if I could get my camera into the Arena. He knows the kind of camera I have, he knows what my lenses are like, and he�s watched me work before. First the security guy had to find a manager, then the manager had to take me over to security and go find Mark Fischel to let me in. Happily, Mark took me up the elevator and instructed me to go to the North entrance from now on and take the Elevator up. He�s a sweetheart, he knows I can�t get up those steps well anymore. I got a beer, talked to Eric who told me there WERE sweaters available for BIG fans (he lied), and did my counter-clockwise lap around the Miami Arena to secure a Manatees victory. About half the concession stands were open on both sides and while the only beer you could by at the concession stands were Molson Ice, there were girls on the North side of the arena selling Bud, Bud Light, and Heineken. There were also beer guys going through the stands selling Bud and Bud Light. The concession lines were fine, the big hold up was the ONE merchandise booth (and they didn�t have what I was looking for anyway). There was a big blow up Manatee tunnel that the guys came out through to get introduced. The Trax were also introduced, but then one of the linesmen had to go find the team. Perhaps they were afraid to come out of the locker room? There was a brief ceremony in which a moment of silence was held in respect for our troops overseas, and a small banner was unrolled with the numbers 9 and 11 on it in team colors. That was the extent of the retirement ceremony. Score by Period: Macon 3 1 2 -- 6 Miami 3 4 3 -- 10 (Unofficial Boxscore)
First Period � Scoring: Penalties:
Macon, Antonovich (Hooking) 3:18, Faulkner started in goal for the Trax. I LIKE the Trax sweaters, especially with the track trim. There were two mid game promotion breaks, both sponsored by the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. The first one was a dance contest, which was held during the first period. �Humberto� (sp?) won that one hands � or was that pants � down. Manny the Manatee does not skate. Mandy the Manatee was not in attendance. Neither was the Dance Squad who I understand will be doing something at the next homegame. I am going to have to bring a cane to use on the Miami Arena steps. Five years ago they didn�t bother me that much. However, that�s been five more years of progressive arthritis that I�ve had to deal with and those steps are a killer. I can get away without one at TECO Arena and Hammond Stadium because they have handrails. The Miami Arena does not. R.J. Roy was walking through the concourse during the break. I told him how much I had enjoyed watching him at the scrimmage and the exhibition game. I believe he�s hanging out until someone get injured. Shawn gave me an armband for the VIP party afterward. This was also announced during the second and third periods.
Second Period � Scoring:
Penalties: All the scoring was nice, but the bloodthirsty fans behind me kept screaming �Hit someone� and �Where are the fights?� I agree, it was looking a bit more like Euro hockey, then bush league hockey, except that even Euro Hockey doesn�t score as much. The fight satisfied them. I called it a draw. Eric, the Manatees first season ticket holder, won the second �in game� promotion for a gift certificate to Bubba Gump Shrimp. He told me later that the gift certificate was not in the bag that they�d given him and that three people came by to apologize to him for it. Cain�s hat trick chased Faulkner from the Macon net. At the time the SOG were 26-19 Miami. I was hoping they�d hold the chuck a puck until after the Zamboni had cleaned the ice, but no...they did it while I was in the restroom. Oh well.... I believe there was a scoring change on 13:43 goal for the assists. I THINK I got the change down right, but I�m not 100% sure.
Third Period � Scoring:
Penalties: I think the Antonovich goal was unassisted, although I didn�t note that on my boxscore sheet. Holding the stick has got to be the most common penalty in hockey that is not called. Shots on Goal: Macon 13 7 15 -- 35 Miami 16 15 17 �- 48
Goalies:
Power-Play Conversions: A: 2,680 (Unofficial)
Referee: Boyd The VIP party afterward was nice. There was a cash bar and appetizers, including the really good stuffed Jalipinos. I got to meet (briefly) Todd Nowicki, Liam McCarthy, and Sean Weaver aside from the players I already knew. I believe the truth is, all this team has to do is win and the people will come. Much like any big cities, the fans in Miami are fickle and with the Heat, Panthers and Dolphins losing, they will be happy to show up for a Manatees game as long as the team wins. The �Go Manatees Go� soundtrack is kind of cool but it fell by the wayside after about the fifth goal. I�m wondering if we can get the official goal song changed to �Bodies�. I�m also wondering if someone can do a heavy metal version of the Chicken Dance. I have yet to listen to the Metal Blades Record sampler, but I can guarantee much of what we were listening to (Bush, Offspring) is not on it. The Jason Jersey Award (yes, it�s back) goes to Les and John for the WHA Cincinnati Stingers sweaters. Very nice!
Web posted on Nov. 9, 2003
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