The Home Stand That Was: One Goat's Opinion Home Game 9 - November 11, 2010

Even the light rig behind the goal wasn't immune to the action on this night.

Apologies for the lateness on this one. It's been kind of a crazy time since last Thursday.

On The Ice

I always seem to take a little extra pleasure out of wins against the Lightning. I'm not sure why, but there's just something about the team that kinda irks me. Add a hat trick on top of it, and it's a full evening as far as I'm concerned.

In The Stands

Southeast Division opponent… check.
Weeknight game… check.
Semi-uninterested crowd… check.

There's just something about these match-ups that brings the apathy out, at least early on. As things got heated down the stretch, and the goals kept coming, the crowd got riled up as well. There was a pretty good amount of energy in the place as the final minutes played out as well, which is always nice to see and hear.

Thanks to a few machinations on the part of my buddy Jay, my folks were in attendance for the second time in three games. They picked a heck of a game to follow up the previous Friday night's contest against the Bruins with, and had a blast. (Especially my old man, who was happy to see that all of those years we spent bellowing at the TV together when I was a kid have panned out - heh!)

Above Our Heads And Beyond

The Veteran's Day montage was a nice touch. There's always at least a few nods to vets and active troops during each home game, but this one had a cool personal touch that made it a bit more special.

Other than that, I only have two words to sum up my favorite part of tonight's game presentation: Chuck Brown & The Soul Searchers' "Bustin' Loose."

May this always be the song played when the Caps' goal total climbs high. The exuberance behind it, coupled with it being a home-grown hit, makes it one of my absolute favorites.

And So…

We got a nice win to get a firm hold on the top of the division, coupled with some fun extracurricular activities for me and my folks. Can't complain.

Two Point Nights, Coincidental Timing, And Great Gifts

In all of the run-up to the big event this past weekend, I had the chance to spend some time with my (now) wife's parents and aunt. In the time since I met Aunt Lou a few summers ago, the subject of my Capitals fandom has come up on more than a few occasions, as it is often wont to do.

Well, this past Friday, Jill and I were each given a "pre-wedding gift" that we were to open straight away. As I was unwrapping mine, I was told that it would be a sort of test to see how much of a Capitals fan I really am, and asked if the names Mary Jane and Ron Weber meant anything to me (which, of course, they do, as they should to any Caps fan of tenure worth their salt.

I opened the box, and inside I found this:

That's right, my new bonus aunt (I prefer "bonus" to "in-law" because it seems more positive) gave me a pencil that belonged to Ron Weber, with whom she has a mutual friend out in Michigan, the night before I was gonna get married, which happened to be just a couple of days before he will be honored with the Foster Hewitt Award at the HHOF. Not too shabby, eh?

Now to find a place of honor for it.