Match of the Day
Never again will I a)insult, b)put down, or c)make fun of Czech hockey, players or fans, in any way, ever again.
Last night I went to Pardubice play Sparta Prague. Tomas´ brother, Pavel, had an extra ticket that he got through his company, so he took me to go see the game. Pavel speaks only limited English by the way, so it was pretty quiet most of the time. I learned some new words though.
Anyways, as soon as we got there, long before the teams were on the ice -- infact, long before the zamboni driver had finished clearing the ice -- the crowd was electric. So much noise, so much excitement....they really get built up for their hockey over here.....unlike the polite society you might see at a Canadian hockey game. One end of the rink is filled ENTIRELY of hardcore Pardubice supporters, and they were dressed up, decked out, and many of them had big bass drums (the deep-sounding ones), and they were just pounding and pounding--it sounded like a medieval war march might have, or like something out of the Lord of the Rings (Khazzad-dum).
Then the game started. Tic-tac-toe passing all the way. So fast, fans getting into every little play. Czech players often get criticized for lacksidaisical play in the NHL, but I mean, after seeing the support of the fans here, I can´t blame them for not getting pumped up for a game with fans who, relatively speaking, stick to quiet-but-polite golf claps. I have seen some exciting NHL games, and the fans were tremendous, but it was usually for a very important game in the playoffs, or something like that. This was just a regular season game, maybe the 6th or 7th of the season or so....and this was just outstanding.
Anyways, Pardubice won 5-2. Scored some beauty goals too. One guy scored while he was on a partial break and being hauled down from behind...both feet horizontal in the hair and he flung ´er top shelf....what a beauty!!
Last year, while the NHL was on strike, many players came back and played for Pardubice: Milan Hejduk, Martin Straka, Jan Bulis, to name a few. Obviously, they weren´t playing last night, but it was still pretty awesome.
Don´t get me wrong, I love Canadian hockey, and Canadian hockey fans, and I´m definitely still cheering for Canada at this winter´s Olympics--but I do think that North America can learn a thing or two from Europe about how to properly support your home-team.....I wish I´d taken my camera so I could´ve gotten video evidence.
Teaching is going fine still. Nailed quite a few of my students on plagiarism, but I found out that it´s not really treated with the same intensity as in North America, so I didn´t go too hard on them. Apparantly most people here just cut and paste their assignments from the Internet and hand it in. Oh the wonders of this modern computerized world, where nobody has to think for themselves anymore.
Hope everyone is doing well in Canada, or wherever you may be reading from.
P.S. the Czech is coming along well for me; now I know how to use the verb "to be" and negation of "to be" (plus a bit more vocabulary).
Till next post...
Last night I went to Pardubice play Sparta Prague. Tomas´ brother, Pavel, had an extra ticket that he got through his company, so he took me to go see the game. Pavel speaks only limited English by the way, so it was pretty quiet most of the time. I learned some new words though.
Anyways, as soon as we got there, long before the teams were on the ice -- infact, long before the zamboni driver had finished clearing the ice -- the crowd was electric. So much noise, so much excitement....they really get built up for their hockey over here.....unlike the polite society you might see at a Canadian hockey game. One end of the rink is filled ENTIRELY of hardcore Pardubice supporters, and they were dressed up, decked out, and many of them had big bass drums (the deep-sounding ones), and they were just pounding and pounding--it sounded like a medieval war march might have, or like something out of the Lord of the Rings (Khazzad-dum).
Then the game started. Tic-tac-toe passing all the way. So fast, fans getting into every little play. Czech players often get criticized for lacksidaisical play in the NHL, but I mean, after seeing the support of the fans here, I can´t blame them for not getting pumped up for a game with fans who, relatively speaking, stick to quiet-but-polite golf claps. I have seen some exciting NHL games, and the fans were tremendous, but it was usually for a very important game in the playoffs, or something like that. This was just a regular season game, maybe the 6th or 7th of the season or so....and this was just outstanding.
Anyways, Pardubice won 5-2. Scored some beauty goals too. One guy scored while he was on a partial break and being hauled down from behind...both feet horizontal in the hair and he flung ´er top shelf....what a beauty!!
Last year, while the NHL was on strike, many players came back and played for Pardubice: Milan Hejduk, Martin Straka, Jan Bulis, to name a few. Obviously, they weren´t playing last night, but it was still pretty awesome.
Don´t get me wrong, I love Canadian hockey, and Canadian hockey fans, and I´m definitely still cheering for Canada at this winter´s Olympics--but I do think that North America can learn a thing or two from Europe about how to properly support your home-team.....I wish I´d taken my camera so I could´ve gotten video evidence.
Teaching is going fine still. Nailed quite a few of my students on plagiarism, but I found out that it´s not really treated with the same intensity as in North America, so I didn´t go too hard on them. Apparantly most people here just cut and paste their assignments from the Internet and hand it in. Oh the wonders of this modern computerized world, where nobody has to think for themselves anymore.
Hope everyone is doing well in Canada, or wherever you may be reading from.
P.S. the Czech is coming along well for me; now I know how to use the verb "to be" and negation of "to be" (plus a bit more vocabulary).
Till next post...
posted by gulldogg at 7:05 a.m.
2 Comments:
While you were sitting in the hockey rink, we were on the golf course! We golfed at North Granite Ridge just outside of Huntsville on Saturday....absolutely beautiful with temps in the mid 70's! Up to the T's last night for dinner - Kristen's birthday this week! Trash said you had sent her an e-mail but she had yet to respond.Everybody fine at home. Grandma B has had the shingles but on the road to recovery - very painful! Iris was tcikled pink that you sent her letter by the way! Lindsay was home last weekend for a golf weekend with the boys and saw his mom and dad. They most enjoyed having you stay with them....Iris has told Mags they are coming for month next year! Gotta run....take care....luv u
Ahhh, Mom, are you reading my blogs on work time?? That´s okay, that´s when I find time to write them!
I think John and Iris enjoyed my stay, but maybe not my being absolutely hungover the day I got there...nice first impression eh?
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