I realize that the Jan. 1 Winter Classic was the first NHL game played outside in the United States. But the outpouring of accolades from all corners makes me think that some folks thought it was going to be a bust.
Of course it was popular! Of course record numbers of people watched it on TV! Of course it was a sell out! Hockey, as most of us who aren't pros play it, is an outdoor winter sport. We play on ponds and flooded backyards and sometimes even the street. It's cold and fun and we all have to deal with the bad spots in the ice and the spot where the tree root bumps up and makes everything uneven.
Watching Crosby and Miller deal with the snow and the sleet was cool and reminded me (and the hundreds thousands of other people watching I'm betting) that we all have something in common. I'll never be able to juggle a puck on a stick blade like Crosby, but I have skated in snow and wiped out because of it. For a few minutes, Crosby was a little more like me than a superstar.
And it's no surprise that people came to the stadium and stayed through the weather. It's the exhilaration of watching something special. Of being outside. Of being with 70,000 other folks who think hockey is as great as you do.
The outdoor game in 2003 between the Oilers and Canadians was great, as was the game in Spartan Stadium between Michigan State and the University of Michigan (broke my heart to miss that one). If I were Gary Bettman, I'd schedule two of these a year -- one in Canada and one in the United States and rotate the teams that played. (Being biased, I'd also push for Original Six teams, but I'm trying to get over that.) Can we schedule the 2009 game(s) now? And can the Red Wings be one of the teams?
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