Postcards from Prague: Hockej (not a typo)

Jaksemas

Another week has gone by and the spring like weather has disappeared. I woke up this morning and was greeted by a blizzard. Whether or not this current snow storm can actually be classified as a blizzard is debatable, but to this Texan it is definitely a blizzard. My classes are all going wonderfully and I am thoroughly enjoying each and everyone of them. I am currently eating lunch at a restaurant and working on a presentation for this Thursday and I am just watching the snow accumulate on the cars and on the streets.

Wednesday night after class I went with AIFS to a Sparta Praha game. We met at the main building of Charles University and took a tram over to the stadium. Being a huge sports fan I was already excited to be going to a live sporting event, but what made the event more exciting was the fact that former Dallas Star Roman Turek was the goalie for the visiting team. I am no hockey expert, just a casual fan, but I am going to go ahead and say that Roman has seen better days. Turek gave up four goals in a crushing loss. Now I feel I should compare a Czech hockey game to an American one.
1. Ticket Prices, my ticket was one of the worst in the stadium, it wasn’t really that high up, however there was definitely a support column smack in the middle of my section. That being said the seat really wasn’t bad and I didn’t miss anything. Had I needed to buy the ticket it would have cost me a total of $7.50, not bad for “professional hockey”.
2. More important than the ticket prices are the beer prices. Head over to Cowboy’s Stadium, the AAC or the Ballpark and be prepared to spend about $8 on a glass of Miller or Coors. Not in the Czech Republic baby. A beer at the game was actually expensive by Czech standards, it cost right around $2. Now add my two beers with the price of a ticket and I just saw a hockey game with refreshment for more than $11. Not too shabby. Maybe the NHL should take note.
3. The fans were definitely different than the ones at home. Fans here had drums, flags, and other noisemaking devices which they used to their hearts content. The two sections directly behind the goals were reserved for the rowdiest of rowdies, the Czech 12th Man™ if you will. These people stood the whole game and were extremely loud and entertaining.
4. The talent on the ice was not anywhere near that of the NHL. This was one of the sloppier hockey games I have ever seen.
5. The gimmicks: Much to my surprise their were some strange gimmicks. Just like at home their were dancers behind the goal dancing to We Will Rock You and the Final Countdown. There were also scantily glad women in charge of cleaning the ice at stoppages, just like at home. I missed hearing Pantera’s Dallas Star song and the thing I missed the most about hockey games in Dallas was the voice of Stars P.A. man Bill Ollerman.
6. Intermissions: At a Stars game or any other professional sporting event at home, the clock strikes 0:00 and people head to the concourses for refreshment and “relief“. After the first period ended the stadium emptied out, this was much to my chagrin as I needed to use the restroom. So I left my seat wandered over to the bathroom and was shocked when there was no line and it was basically empty. I looked over at the concession stands and there were lines, but by no stretch of the imagination were they ridiculously long. So, where did everybody go? Now my eyes wander over to the smoking area. The smoking area is packed with people grabbing an intermission cigarette. Welcome to Prague.

Thursday I was beginning to feel ill and didn’t go out that night. I spent all day yesterday trying to recuperate so I could go see my suitemate Ry take part in the Mr. Erasmus competition. (Erasmus is this huge EU exchange program where students from all over Europe can enroll in other universities for a semester). I was very disappointed when the time to go out last night came and I was unable to join the big group heading to Roxy. I was even more disappointed when I found out that Ry had gotten second place. However this story is a good segway into my introduction of THE Ry Yennie and THE John Goepel. John and Ry are best friends from school. They go to Babson University and have a bromance so strong it is scary. They play rugby at Babson and have joined a club here in Prague. They come home from rugby every night sore and banged up but that doesn’t stop them from enjoying Prague. You will often hear Toto’s Africa blaring out of their room. Ry and John love the Czech beers and the Czech women. I would like to say I am honored to call them my roommates and they are often a source of pride for me. Not many people can claim to have the two craziest, yet nicest suitemates in Prague.