Photoshopaholic

So I've been playing with Photoshop... 

Tommy, where's your helmet??? 

Now I know what you're thinking.  That's impossible.  When Jajuan played for Purdue, Tommy was a tiny, tiny, little infant not a giant, basketball-dunking toddler...

Like I said, the fun is just beginning. 

Blackhawks vs. Red Wings

For Andrew's Christmas present, I got him tickets to a Blackhawks game in Chicago versus the Red Wings.  If you know nothing about the NHL, you need to know that these two teams are arch rivals.
Here's some Wiki info:

The rivalry between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings is the most intense rivalry in the Central Division.^[17] It has existed since 1926–27 and continued from the Original Six days into the present. These two clubs have faced each other in more regular season games than any other two clubs in NHL history, except for the total number of regular season and playoff matches between the Bruins and Canadiens.

I doubt that most NHL fans would get their info from Wikipedia but you have to remember who's writing this.

So the Friday after Christmas we drove up to "The Miami of Canada" (Ha! I Love Wikipedia!) to attend our first NHL game.  We were soooo excited.

 We had awesome seats for being in the upper level.  We were in the front row and right by the Don Julio bar.  Very very cool! We even arrived an hour early just so we could check everything out. 

So you can see our view from our seats but I just wanted to remind you how awesome the lens on my camera is.  That's the goalie! Now that's a ZOOM!

 Hey it's Patrick Kane!

 Now I would like to know how you get to be a Zamboni kid? Owning a jersey is obviously a requirement. 

 A special message before the game is to watch for flying pucks.  Guess who sponsored it? A dentist who does Dental Implants! Genius.

 The United Center is quite an arena.  They really know how to pump you up during the starting line up. 

 It was like watching a movie on the jumbotron.  Jeez!

 Blackhawks + Red Wings = Boat loads of red jerseys

 I said Toews was cute once and Andrew continued to refer to him the rest of the night as "That guy you find attractive".  :-)

 Star Spangled Banner Time!

This place is full of traditions.  The Blackhawks have a National Anthem tradition where the crowd cheers, screams and claps during the ENTIRE singing of the National Anthem.  The permanent singer is Jim Cornelison and I've linked his name to a great interview with him.  They also bring out members of the USO to stand with him on the ice while he sings.  It's really an intense experience.  We've seen it on TV so many times but nothing matches being there in person. 

Just like any professional sports team, there are partially dressed girls involved.  We weren't really sure what they were doing.  They had shovels.  I was wearing my winter coat INSIDE so I'm sure they had to be freezing. 

 Within the first few minutes of the game, we got to see a fight.  Awesome! Throw down those gloves and sticks! It's fightin' time!

 They were shoving each other into the glass.  It was crazy!

 The refs broke it up eventually.  Boo! :)

 GOAL!!! The first time they scored they played Chelsea Dagger by the Fratellis.  I didn't get a video of it myself but I did find someone else's.  They were sitting at the very top of the United Center.  Wow.  That's high up there. 

Don't think we didn't get out of there without buying something! I tried to convince Andrew to buy a styrofoam cowboy hat.

He went with something much more appropriate and wearable.  Excellent choice, my man!

We also picked up something for Tommy.  A slightly cushy hockey stick, puck, and his favorite, a BALL!

Awww, look at the happy couple enjoying their first NHL experience. (I didn't have any Blackhawks attire so I stole the hat I got Andrew for Christmas.) 

We ate a dinner of champions at the game.  Hot dogs and beer!

While we were eating, I noticed that they have one of the TV's above the concession stand turned to the CW network.  I guess they've got something for everyone. 

We went to the United Center bar after the game and drank more beer.  We had a super fun time just the two of us.  We know it's important to take time for ourselves now that we're parents but we did miss Tommy a lot. 

He really enjoyed the gift we brought him.  Future hockey player in the making! :-)

Oh and one last note... Guess what the mascot's name is?

Awesome!

Andrew's Final Hockey Game

On Sunday night, I took Tommy to his first hockey game which also happens to be Andrew's last (or so he thinks).

 Mommy and Tommy watching from the bleachers.

 There's Andrew in the white jersey.

 Number 4 is definitely Andrew but that is not his last name on the jersey.  The other team wore dark blue so their team had to make do with spare jerseys.

 Look at him go!! Andrew is quite the speed racer on skates these days.

 Andrew's team won 3 to 1!! YEAH!

 Tommy was very entertained even though he was completely bundled up.  He was wearing his blackhawks helmet hat that we got for him in Chicago on our babymoon.  A little boy came over and said I like his hat because I like the blackhawks.  Tommy smiled so the kid kept saying BLACKHAWKS BLACKHAWKS BLACKHAWKS trying to make him smile.  Then a hockey player came over and sat on the bleacher (from his accent you could tell he was from Canada), he got into the game and said, "Oh he likes the blackhawks does he? How about Vancouver? VANCOUVER??" (Only it sounded more like Vancoovah).  Tommy didn't smile.  He was disappointed but Tommy is a loyal sports fan.  He smiles for no other teams.  :)

 Super Sports Star Dad came over to us after the game.  Tommy was excited.

 Here's spectator Tommy chillin' in the stands with a blanket to keep him warm.

 Once we left the rink, the rest of the Ice Box is a hot muggy mess so I had to start stripping Tommy down immediately.  He kept the hat on for a little while though.

 While waiting for Andrew, we played some arcade games.  There was a great semi truck driving game that Tommy loved steering the steering wheel.  (Ew, just imagine the germs on that wheel. Probably hasn't been cleaned for 20-odd years. BLECH.)

 We also played THE CLAW!!!

Tommy really enjoyed his hockey time.  I snapped a quick pic before we headed home.  He's such a cute hockey fan in his Mastodon shirt.  Dad is so proud of his little metal lovin' kiddo... as Tommy is proud of his hockey playin' dad.

Weekend Sports Wrap-Up

The Rensselaer Bombers won sectionals and headed to Bremen to play the Lions for regional championship on Friday night. Since it was so close, we decided to go.  Talk about a killer game! Wow.  Stress.

Ok this will be fun.
Morgan's recap of the game Friday night:
So they were tied, like, the entire game.  Bombers would run down and score and then the Lions would run down and score.  Back and forth, back and forth.  Then I had to empty my bladder so I extricated myself from the crowded shrieking bleachers and made my way for what seemed like miles to the school bathroom.  These screaming mimi high school girls were in the bathroom and when I walked in they all got quiet and kinda stared at my belly like, "Whoa, I hope that doesn't happen to me anytime soon."  Then I got some food and went back to the bleachers.  The score went up but they were still tied.  Andrew said the Bombers used a fleaflicker play and scored and then the Lions successfully completed a double fleaflicker shortly after that.  Sounded pretty cool.
Then in the final seconds of the game, the Bomber punter missed which sent them in to overtime.  In high school they take turns starting you on the 10 yard line.  Bombers went first.  It took only two plays (plus a penalty) to score.  My dad's friend's son scored the touchdown (which happened to be the winning touchdown) on his 18th birthday. Talk about a birthday present.
So what happened next after that touchdown?

Fourth down, four yards to go, ball was on the four (and that last 4 was a bonus from the 4th quarter).  Lucky number 4 for the Bombers.  They stopped 'em! The crowd erupted! The kids rushed the field (pausing to be respectful on the track until told they could go out and do the Bomber Jacks with the team).

Very very cool ending, indeed.

I switched to night mode on my camera which was dumb.  My pictures were all blurry.  But you get the idea.  Very exciting for the Rensselaer Bombers.  They travel to Fort Wayne on Saturday to play the Fort Wayne Bishop Luers (Turns out, they're pretty good. That was the first link when you Googled them).  Bombers played them last year in semi-state and were beaten.  This year, the Bombers will be back and ready to fight.  Hopefully they can pull out a win and go to STATE!!! ONE CITY, ONE TEAM, ONE GOAL!

(I bet the Bombers were ticked when they found out the Bears stole their phrase.)

So yeah, that was MY version of what happened in the game.  If you want to read what sportswriters have to say, then check Renssy's paper or the Journal and Courier for their articles.  Waaay less entertaining, I say. 

Let's transition to hockey, shall we?

Andrew had a hockey game on Sunday night.  It was fairly early so I decided to go.  I haven't been to a game in awhile since all the games are at 9:30 or 10 pm.

He gets better and better every game! I didn't see him fall down once! (He might have but I missed it if he did!)

Something else exciting happened in this game....
HE SCORED HIS SECOND GOAL!! YEAH!! I did not capture this one on video though.  Bummer.  I missed it too! I looked down at my stupid phone for a second and looked up and everyone was cheering.  Dang it. He said this goal was just like his last but he didn't fall down.  He just, as the saying goes, slipped one past the goalie.  Way to go Andrew!!!
If you want to watch the clip of the old one to relive old memories, then go HERE. 

Great game, Drewfus! (No, they didn't win, but Andrew scored a third of the points!)

Congrats to the Renssy Bombers and to Andrew on your exciting sports accomplishments this weekend!

Second Hockey Game

Andrew played in his second hockey game on Sunday night. WHY must they have them on Sunday nights at 9:45 pm??

Anyway, this time I'm posting video. Andrew has improved remarkably.


This is a little more dangerous than I thought. The other guys stick hit him in the neck when he almost ran him over. I think I'm going to make the New Helmet Agenda our top priority.

Here is Andrew picking up his stick. Hey, at least he was aggressive right?
In the following video, you can see Andrew pulling a Chris Kramer in the game against Arizona...




He's still going to play even if he has to play laying down! :) Next week, Andrew is going to get the puck into the net by doing Kramer's Superman move!

Andrew is ready for action.

Watch out, Maroon and Yellow team! I don't think you know who you're dealing with!

The stands were again filled to the brim.  The girls in the top row were singing, "In the Arms of the Angel", that Sarah McLachlan song, LOUD.  Why? I don't know.  Couldn't they do that in the parking lot? I'm watching hockey ova' here!

The couple in front brought their own Budweiser Tallboys.  Now they know how to watch hockey!

They, again, shut the scoreboard off almost as soon as the final buzzer rang.  But the final score was 6-2. Andrew's team lost.  Bummer.

But it was a good game nonetheless!

Good game... good game... good game...

Andrew is getting better week by week.  Watch out Patrick Kane! Someone's coming to replace you! :)