Full Circle
I remember going to Rangers games with my dad as a kid. We’d take the “long” drive from our house (near Moore and Union — that’s almost Waterloo!) over to the Aud and it felt like one of the greatest adventures a young hockey fan could ask for. My first games would have featured the likes of Don Maloney, Doug Sulliman, Gaston Gingras and Paul Reinhart. My dad was a teacher and, because Paul was a student in one of his classes, he came over for a barbecue one day. So did Waterloo native Don Beaupre, even though he played for the Sudbury Wolves. I was the envy of my neighbourhood.
It wasn’t long before we moved to a new place, one that was within walking distance of the Aud. I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. No more driving! The games were that close. I’ll never forget sitting at ice level one night and, because I’m vertically challenged, literally sitting on the edge of my seat. I wouldn’t let it fold down, I just rested on that little edge because it made it easier to see over the glass. I guess the usher down by the penalty box didn’t like it because he bribed me to sit on my seat properly. The payoff? An entire bag of real hockey pucks! I may not have seen all of the action for the rest of that game but, again, I was the coolest kid on the ice at Victoria Park the following morning.
It was easy to follow the Rangers when I was a kid. They were champions! After Maloney and Sulliman and Gingras and Reinhart came Stevens and Bellows and Larmer and Young, not to mention the team’s first Memorial Cup. I’d continue to follow the team throughout my life, even during the time I spent in BC and in Thunder Bay. After all, when you couldn’t be at the game, you could always listen to Don Cameron on the radio.
Today, I get to go to every Rangers game without a ticket. And this year, I’m going to be working right beside that legendary voice in the broadcast booth. Don’t try to tell me, even for one second, that my life isn’t working out just fine.
It may have just gotten better, though. The Rangers have asked me to write the occasional blog and this will be the first of many. I hope you’ll come back here often for Rangers news, information, and a lot of plain ol’ fun. After all, that’s what we’re all here for, right? Since I’ll be covering the road games this year, too, we’ve got 68 games to continue the conversation. And we’re going to be interactive, too! Share your comments below…good, bad or ugly. I’m a big boy (well, I’m an adult) and I can take it.
I’ll see you around the rink. Now, can we drop the puck?
Mike
