The way I see it...

Hockey

We headed to Mankato last weekend for our nephew's first birthday. Ahhh....I love Minnesota in the fall with all the colors on the trees, it's just so pretty.

A good friend of ours from high school works in the sports information department at Minnesota State University and asked us if we wanted to go to the MSU hockey game on Saturday night. We thought it would be fun and said yes.

I should explain by saying that when my husband and I lived in Sioux City we got addicted to Sioux City Musketeers games (same league as the Des Moines Buccaneers). If they had a home stand on a weekend, it wasn't unusual for us to go both Friday and Saturday nights. We loved it!

Well, it's been about six years since we've been to a game. At our house we watch Minnesota Gopher hockey on t.v. (the one time we actually cheer for the Gophers). Anyone who watches the sport knows hockey on t.v. and hockey in person are two totally different things. You don't get the full effect of the hits and the skill of the players when you watch it on television and it's also harder to follow the puck.

I know hockey is not a sport for everybody. For me, I might compare it to soccer or wrestling, a sports many people don't understand and therefore don't really care for. I think once you understand something, you tend to enjoy it more.

Anyway, last Saturday night I sat in awe of the skills of these players. The fact that they have to try to get this tiny puck into the net, deal with the physical aspect of the game while doing it all on ice skates is nothing short of amazing to me! That is a lot of athletic ability wrapped up in those players.

Needless to say, the Mavericks lost, but my kids got to experience their first hockey game. I think they enjoyed themselves and I'm glad they got to be exposed to something different. It's crazy to think just one state away is a culture completely foreign to us Iowans. The sport of hockey. Minnesotans know it and love it. If you ever get the chance to go to a game, I encourage you to do so, you might just like it, but that's just the way I see it.