by jgr80
The World Hockey Championships are being held in Halifax this year. I stumbled upon this gig, a few weeks ago, where I get to make announcements during the games. There was a bit of an audition and stuff, and I got the job.
During the week, I had been helping my uncle get ready for the lobster season 2.5 hours out of town. I had to correspond over email about the announcing and make trips back to Halifax when I needed to be at the arena.
Then there was the practice game. The TV guys are all there to make sure everything runs smoothly, the performers are doing mic checks, the referees are making sure the ice is up to snuff, the announcers are going through the scripts, etc.
And then I lost the job.... only really finding out when I got back to Halifax. Having been on the water that morning, it was a rushed trip back to the city, only to find out I wouldn't be working.
A crushing defeat.
And then on the second day of the tournament, I was reinstated. the 3rd stringer role. Meaning I do a lot of watching hockey from the front row at centre ice while someone else makes the announcements in the chair beside me. And I do a little announcing as well-- there's like 25 games in Halifax, I work about 4 of them.
The tournament is a two week cluster of hockey, celebrities, parties, etc. I find myself thrown into the middle of it without having done much to get there or doing a whole lot to stay. This provides tons of time to observe......
- John Ferguson Jr and Lindy Ruff would rather sit in seats with the fans at this event than the primo boxes or primo VIP seats.
- Steve Yzerman walks with his head down in what appears to be either a lack of confidence (unlikely) or he's trying not to be recognized (more likely). He was recognized, and his hand was shaken. He was not wearing any oversized championship rings.
- Pat Burns likes beers at hipster bars. Not sports bars. Not meat markets. He told me so. Over a beer. He was wearing oversized championship rings.
- Jean Beliveau is an incredible person to see. Just to see. No hand shake. No shared experience. Just a hello. I think my jaw dropped and I responded with an awed primordial grunt of some kind. He did not wear oversized championship rings. Although, I find this reasonable since I only counted 12 fingers.
From Wikipedia - "Beliveau's name appears on the Stanley Cup a record seventeen times, including seven times as an executive for the Canadiens 1973, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1986, 1993." [1]
- Drunk fans smile a lot more while on the Jumbotron than sober fans. (these links have nothing to do with hockey, btw)
- 2/5ths or more of the attendance misses the opening faceoff, even when Canada is playing.
- Pro Hockey players are much dirtier in real life than on TV, figuratively and literally.
- Int'l fans love their country's team; CDN fans dislike teams from other countries.
I got a bit of a promotion after the last game I announced. Rather than announcing a game with teams who's countries names both end with '-ia', I will be announcing Canada vs. Finland on Monday. A slight change of pace, indeed. The teams both finished first in their pools.
2 comments:
12 fingers??? (satisfied Grady?)
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