I worked with the team the whole spring break because I had turned out a retroactive offer to fly to Orlando with my dad and his gf and her kids and my siblings.... I just didn't want to, especially after they only asked me along when they found out I was mad I hadn't been invited in the first place. Seriously.
Anyway I watched the semifinals game on tv in the Rathskeller at the Union. NBC15 was there... they apparently based their news story on me, because I was sitting there and between breaks and shit I was furiously staring at my physiology notes, studying for the exam I was destined to fail later that evening. They showed me on the news and were talking about students gathering and studying at intermissions - or so people told me who saw the live newscast..
Anyway I was flying off the WALL when that game became decisive in the second period. I was just ballistic. and that's when I knew I was going to Detroit. It was also when I knew I was going to fail my physiology exam. And I did, I got a solid D. I'm so fucked in that class, it doesn't even matter anymore.
But I secured tickets to the game and all that, and asked Mike off from football practice that Saturday, and we left at about 8:30 in the morning. Drove straight to Detroit. I had never been there before, and that was the closest I have ever been to Canada. It was only my second time in Michigan ever, anyways! Lol. But we got there just as the Detroit Tigers baseball game was ending, wandered and somehow found Chely's Chili Bar... which we hadn't had any idea where it was other than that it was close to Ford Field.
As we approached we noticed a gigantic tent sent up in what must have normally been a parking lot for the restaurant. And it was packed full of Wisco people and it was packed full of brats and beer and everything good in the world. Maybe not the latter, but it felt like we had just dragged Wisconsin 7.5 hours along with us. And I was pumped because it seemed that there were many alumni hockey guys around, I believe I saw Burish. Then the drinking commenced and the band arrived around 5Eastern and we were flipping OUT.
We also ran into a pack of hockey people we know, from LaFollette/ my brother's team. It was insane, and completely unexpected.
Anyway, the band arrived and played a song, then Rob Andringa spoke, followed by Barry Alvarez, who said a great deal about winning and mentioned how great Mike Leckrone is, which there is no argument about. THEN CHRIS CHELIOS APPEARED ONSTAGE and I nearly lost my mind. You have no idea. Yes he is like 50, and whatever, but He's always been one of my favorite hockey players, ever since he played on the Blackhawks. Seriously.
So I was like, through the roof. Hadn't eaten much all day and was downing beers like none other. Mostly because after the band performed all of the usual repertoire, we found the Dunses at their table, building a giant U and W out of empty cans. This was quite the task and I was determined to help the cause, because obviously, the completion of this project before game time was vital.
Then we headed to the rink and I was mad at myself for getting so intoxicated because I wasn't going to be able to watch the game the way I wanted to - I.e... actually know what was going on. Our ticket guy was pretty nice considering how I must have actually been, although I felt like I kept myself under pretty good control.
I bought a shirt, somehow, and helped out a REALLY drunk guy who didn't even understand that there were individual shirts for Wisconsin.. he only saw the ones for BC and Miami and was like "That would be cool if there was one like that for Wisconsin" and I just remember being like "there are... right there..." haha...
We found our seats. Row 16. Would have been awesome if it was the real row 16, but there were additional setup bleachers below the real stands. Either way we were right by the lockerroom tunnel, and we were in the section with, I think, a lot of people close to the team. I saw Arty a few rows back (the Kohl Center Zamboni guy) and I was in the same row as Coach Patrick's kids. Apparently Phil, the Wisconsin Hockey superfan, is close to the AD now because he had seats four rows closer to the ice than me.
It was unreal. I had thought seeing an ice rink in Camp Randall was wicked, but seeing it in a gigantic domed football stadium was even more obscene. There were sooo many seats, and so many people - it broke the world record for indoor collegiate hockey game attendance. The venue was so damn nice, and to think - it's wasted on the LIONS.
As I have said many times since, when asked, "How was Detroit?" : "It was fun until the game started.
I flipped out when the boys came out and the lineup was announced. I was just beside myself. It was hard to see down the far end, maybe because of my own impairment but mostly because of the angle we were at in the stands and the placement of the ice sheet.
I just, I can't believe we got shut out. It was the most sobering experience (literally) and it was capped in the Third period when Steps got hauled into the boards and didn't get up right away. I was so upset with how things were going that I actually teared up. Which is stupid. But whatever. It was harder when he got up and off of the ice, walked up towards the tunnel and just stopped and bent over like he couldn't even believe what was happening.
I was surprisingly able to pay attention, and as I said, sobered very quickly as the game progressed. BC was jumping out and everywhere - they just had guys in every place they needed to be, and whether it was that fact or maybe they our passes WERE just sloppy, and our play just wasn't clean - but you could tell, painfully so, that we didn't stand much of a chance unless we somehow got the first goal. Which didn't happen, because Mitchy was put in the box for contact to the head. and the series of contact-to-the-head penalties were ironic and numerous. For the number that were drawn against us all season, and the lack of that sort of failure on our part throughout the season, the irony was just too blatant. There were three of that same penalty called against us. BC took it all in stride and we stuttered and faltered, and the score was 1-0. Our defense seemed to be stuck in sludge, but I think it was just because BC was, as I said, everywhere they needed to be, and seemingly knew where we were thinking about going before it ever culminated.
It was the most profoundly disappointing game I've ever watched in my life. I was so disappointed and upset I could barely watch the post-game handshakes. I felt so terrible for the guys, and mostly because they had gotten shut OUT in the national game, and the fact that this was IT. This was the chance that comes around every few years when the team is mature enough and cohesive enough to get to that level of hockey. And next year, we'll be without 7 super/seniors, and two guys are still on the fence about leaving early. This was IT, and it was done. And I had driven 7.5 hours for this, only to leave with nothing, and drive 7.5 hours back.
My mom wanted to drive a bit then stop at a hotel or something. I didn't want to have anything to do with it. I wanted to be home and done with it now, I didn't want to wake up and think about it and still have to drive 5 more hours or something.
So we drove back and I had two exams Monday but I just didn't even.. I don't know I needed to care but, whatever. I didn't do well on them. This semester is just awful.
Anyway track season has just felt like stagnation as well. I'm not doing bad, I just don't feel like I'm getting anywhere and I really don't like it. I have some goals but I have no motivation. I have no one to train with.. I've been doing every workout alone because no one does the mid distance workouts... most of them are training for half marathons or things, and so no one wants to do true speed, and no one wants to race.. so I have no one to push through workouts with except myself. Which blows, because I can run to a certain extent by myself, but it takes a concerted effort to convince myself to drop a whole pace faster or something.
On monday I did a workout which we've done in prior seasons, involving 200s, an 800 then a 300. The second set of this I tagged on just in front of the guys who were also doing 800s, and let them get around me of course but tried to tail them as much as possible... because I NEEDED to. I have no one to push me to the next level, and I need that in order to reach my goals. So I tagged the boys and I ended up with a 2:37, the fastest 800 I have ever run in practice. I've run in the 2:40s which is decent but to run a 2:37, nearly race pace, in practice... goodness that was obscene.
So, we'll see what happens. Ridiculous fact: I just signed up last night for the Madison Half Marathon. I can't even believe I did that. I can't even afford it, for one thing, and for another, I don't think I can possibly do it. I've heard so many horror stories about half/marathons andd... I haven't ever run 13 miles straight in my life. (yeah, I don't count as a distance runner lol).
So, we'll see. I am about to have the worst GPA drop in the history of mankind. Ugh. Can it please just be summer already?
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