Hockey Road Trip, Fall 2004

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Hockey Road Trip, Fall 2004

Week One - Southwest - Sat, 10/16 - Fri, 10/22
Week Two - Texas - Sat.,10/23 - Fri, 10/29
Week Three - Southeast - Sat, 10/30 - Fri, 11/5
Week Four - Southeast - Sat, 11/6 - Fri, 11/12
Week Five - Mid Atlantic - Sat, 11/13 - Fri, 11/19
Week Six - Long Island - Sat, 11/20 - Fri, 11/26
Week Seven - Midwest - Sat, 11/27 - Fri, 12/3
Week Eight - Midwest - Sat, 12/4 - Fri, 12/10
Week Nine - Las Vegas - Sat, 12/11 - Fri, 12/17
Week Ten - California - Sat, 12/18 - Fri, 12/24
About Me

Saturday, 10/30

Had lunch downtown Greenville, SC today at an excellent Caribbean restaurant. Then walked around downtown and visited the Reedy River Falls and park. Stopped at Port City Java and had some coffee.

Here's me on the bridge overlooking the Reedy River Falls.

Later in the afternoon, Jason met us and we drove to Charlotte, NC to watch the Charlotte Checkers in their home opener. They played the Columbia Inferno.

I had been to Cricket Arena many times when I lived in this area of the country. It was called the 'Big I' (Independence Arena) then. Here are some notes on the game on Saturday:

Home opener, they had a tailgate party before the game.

The seat I had was THE MOST uncomfortable seat I've ever been in. Absolutely no leg room. You couldn't turn around standing up at the seat.

Most seats were wooden.

Firefighters were lowered down from the ceiling on ropes prior to the singing of the National Anthem. One remained hanging, holding an American Flag for the singing of the Anthem.

This is the last season the Checkers will play in Cricket Arena. A new one is being built downtown Charlotte for the new NBA team. The Checkers will play at that one.

Here's Jason and John before the game. We happened to have a few of the cushioned seats in the arena. The arena is a circular style arena. Sections are clearly marked.

Cricket Arena.

Cathy - your namesake. I remember this player skating very fast.

Cricket Arena.

And, the final score was Checkers 5 Guest 4.

Game Eight - Cricket Arena
Checkers vs. Inferno
Score: Checkers 5 - Inferno 4

Sunday, 10/31/04

Today, a group of Grrrowl fans headed to Gwinnett, GA to watch their Grrrowl vs. the Gwinnett Gladiators. As the saying goes, "what happens on a road trip, stays on the road trip." However, here are a few notes about the trip and game at the Gwinnett Center:

Gwinnett Center is a new (two or three year old) arena. It has a nice, wide, carpeted concourse.
There was no center scoreboard but goals, penalties, and SOG were posted on boards on the side of the arena.
Fans were hospitable and friendly.
Couldn't see seating section numbers when sitting in the seats. The reason I say this, is they made announcements about a person or section 109 (per se), but one didn't know where that was.
The Canadian Anthem was not sung.
During one check, a pane of the plexiglass got loose and fell off. Maintenance had to be called to put it back in.

Gwinnett Center

Here's the crew I went with: Michael, Rick, John, Larry, Jason. A great bunch of guys but I sure wish Deb and/or Kerry had been there too.

Here's the inside of the arena. Note the 'ribbon' banner scrolling between the two levels (in red here). Team benches and penalty boxes were the traditional ones: benches on one side of ice, penalty boxes on the other. Note - no center scoreboard.

A 5 - 3 loss for the Grrrowl.

The video board on this scoreboard had the clearest display I've seen in a minor league hockey arena. They played instant replays of goals.

Also note the proud display of both the US and the Canadian flag.

Cool.

Game Nine - Gwinnett Center
Gladiators vs. Grrrowl
Score: Gladiators 5 - Grrrowl 3

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