Dave's The Man!

Dave’s the Man!

Did I ever tell you that the only people Dave thinks don’t like him are the ones that haven’t had the pleasure of meeting him yet? Well, the fine people we’ve met on this trip continue to validate his belief!  There were a boatload of Bruins fans at our hotel, at the game last night and most importantly at the Backyard Bistro, which served as our home base before and after the Bruins game. By the end of the night, he had high-fived, shaken hands with, and had drinks purchased by at least half of the people in the joint. Lol!!

Backyard Bistro crew earlier in the day.

Gumby and Pokey were there too!

Earlier in the day, after our breakfast odyssey and Bruins sightings, we went to the North Carolina Fairgrounds which was very close to the hotel.  Dave saw a sign for a Sports Card show and off we went.  This show was pretty cool – it had many types of collectables besides sports stuff, including comic books, dolls of all kinds, lunch boxes … you name it.  I saw a Dawn doll that I wanted so much when I was a little girl and finally was able to get.  It was the exact doll wearing the exact dress that I loved so much.  It’s funny how something so small can bring so many sweet memories flooding back.

Dawn is the girl with the pretty blue and white dress.  

We also ran into a fellow from Connecticut who takes his sports collection on the road to different shows.  It turns out that he also remembers Dave (continuing to validate Dave’s theory!)  from previous sports memorabilia shows, most notably at the Shriners’ Auditorium in Wilmington, MA.  He has a great picture from the mid-1930’s of several people from the Bruins hockey club.  One of them was the trainer at the time and at least one was a player.  He promised us he would bring more of his hockey photos with him to the next Shriners’ show so we can look them over.  Those of you have been in our basement know that we have a cool place to hang them. :)

Bruins from the 1930's.  I want to try and ID the people in the photo.

So then we head over to the RBC Center for the main event … BRUINS! Our seats were right next to the Bruins penalty box, which ironically no Bruin inhabited last night. Four rows from the glass, which gave us a great vantage point for taking pictures, although not the best place to watch a game. I prefer our seats in the balcony at TD Garden for watching games. But for a Bruins road trip, it is crucial to be close to the glass so we can ensure our signs are very visible.

Tyler Seguin from our seats with my short lens. They wouldn't let us bring our telephoto lens :(

I thought the Gecko was a Bruins fan!

Regarding my sign, I must ask a question of you. You remember my sign – it reads, “Better Than A Cruise – Road Trip 2012” and it has the logos from the four teams we are visiting.  So someone sitting next to me says, “It is much better, I bet all those people in Italy wish they were here.” I thought, “What the heck is he talking about?” Who knew there was a cruise ship lying on its side with fatalities? I felt like a big jerk.  Especially when Dave said to me that it may be insensitive to be waving that sign around. When was the last time that Dave was my moral conscience and Mr. Sensitivity????  Well, he saw the story on TV and I missed it. So I guess I am thinking about 86ing the sign.  We’ll see.

Oh and by the way, when the Captain and Crew abandon their passengers, I believe they should be shot.  But that’s my Coast Guard background I guess. Back in the early 90’s when I was stationed at Coast Guard Group Woods Hole as the Assistant Operations Officer, we had a little run in with a cruise ship running aground in Vineyard Sound.  Oh ya, it was the Queen Elizabeth II, and it hit a charted rock, scraped the bottom and then kept going.  When they finally called us to tell us they ran aground, they seemed a little indignant when our watchstander told them they had to STOP. Did you think it might be a good idea to send someone to see if you might be SINKING?? We had to arrange for launches and ferries from all over the area to take all the passengers off. That was my first “international” incident as a Public Affairs Officer.  The answering machine on my work phone had 30 messages on it before it stopped taking any more.  My favorite message was from a British journalist who asked me, “I’ve heard that the Queenie is a bit stuck.  Can you call me back?” Lol. 

It was funny how the Hurricanes fans turned from being nice and gracious before the game when they sensed their team would be annihilated by the Bruins to drooling and snarling carnivorous creatures after they won the game. As they were leaving the parking lot, you would have thought they won a playoff game or something.  They were honking and hanging out of their windows to tell us how much better their team was than ours … for that microsecond! Boom!

Back at the Backyard Bistro, the place was absolutely mobbed with a Patriots fan group that normally hangs out there, people watching a UFC fight, and then all the fans pouring out of the RBC Center.  I walked back to the hotel to put our signs and the camera away and Dave went to find us a spot to hang out.  When I got there, I couldn’t even move.  Where was Dave?  I started looking for his hat on the fringes of the crowd.  I really need to learn.  Dave was of course already sitting at the bar and somebody already bought us a round. If you were wondering why I offered to bring the gear to the hotel, I would still have been pinned to a potted plant in the corner as we speak!

It was glorious watching the Patriots beat the Broncos to make it to the AFC Conference Championship. I don’t take any particular joy from beating Tim Tebow, although I am hopeful some of the hype will die down a bit.  I can’t help but think that like all the Whos down in WhoVille, that Tim Tebow will wake up with the same smile and song in his heart. I wish him all the best and hope that he continues to use his circumstances to make others’ lives better.

There were a lot of military Bruins fans there as well because of the proximity of Fort Bragg, Pope Air Force Base, Seymour-Johnson AFB and Camp Lejeune.  I asked a young man where he was from and he said Goldsboro, NC and that he was in the Air Force.  So I told him that I had been there in 1988 for NCO Leadership School which helped strike up a nice conversation.  We also had an Army fellow walk up to us with his Dad and said “These are those hard-core Bruins fans I was telling you about from when I was up in Boston.” We ended up sharing a table with him and his girlfriend at our pre-game hangout by the Garden. Can you believe we ended up at the same place again?? What a nice guy too. He is stationed at Fort Bragg.

Dave wanted me to add that Bud Lights were $1.86 each because they were on special.  When they ran out, they actually apologized that they had to switch to the “more expensive” Miller Lights.  Price? $3.00.

After driving 800 miles today, we are a little punchy.  We took the Bell Cart with us with our luggage and forgot to return it when we went out to eat.  When we got back, we just took the cart, shoved it in the elevator and pressed the button.  I can't stop giggling about it.