Musings at Altitude

Avs win!  AVS win!!  AVS WIN!!!  My 13 year old daughter is on top of the world today as her Colorado Avalanche won game 6 last night, winning the series and moving on to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.  I just smile as I see her joy, because now her thoughts immediately turn to who we’ll play next – no rest and no mental relief for those that are true fans!  I got lucky though – she ended up screaming all night and not talking to me all night like she threatened.  But she did break away from the action and the screaming during the intermissions just to pop over and talk, taking a break from the high decibel squealing that she does, trying to recover for that brief down time. 

I must admit though…I have never heard it that loud in the Pepsi Center.  Near the end of the game after Minnesota had pulled its goalie, the referees held up play while they looked closely at the clock to make sure they had the exact time left for when the whistle blew.  The entire 18,000 or so Pepsi Center crowd was on it’s feet, screaming at the tops of their lungs in celebration of that coming victory.  The screaming was so loud, my ears were throbbing from the volume.  After a couple of minutes of waiting and screaming, the screams of joy turned to boos as the officials took so long to determine that another 1.5 seconds should be put on the clock.  So with 21 seconds left, the face off occurred, the fans screamed, and the Avalanche rewarded their faithful with an incredible 2-1 victory winning the series 4-2. 

I have season tickets for only one reason really – to experience this kind of joy with my fanatical 13 year old daughter, her 22 year old sister, and my wife.  The 3 of them find great joy (win or lose) in these games.  For me, I enjoy watching them have joy.  For my 20 year old son, he could care less unless it’s Anaheim beating the Avs – then he has great joy. 

The really good news?  More joy to come as the Avs now move forward to that next round!  My daughter’s passion stays in the now for at least a few more games this season!