An Introduction; Staples Center & Honda Center

BURBANK, CA -- My stomach is in my throat. I am not sick, but this is definitely not normal. I open my eyes as I wake up. Bang! What was that? I look for my watch. It is 3:01am - not the best time to wake up, and especially having only gone to bed a few hours earlier. Bang! I sit up to face the direction of the noise. At this latitude, despite the hour it is light out, and I am able to see one of my international electrical converters is breaking into pieces. Bang! It just smashed into a wall. I try to get out of bed to make my way over to it. In an instant, I am thrown back into my bed. Well, I guess that settles it - the converter is toast, and I am not going anywhere for awhile.

As I lay back down, my entire body filled with rushing blood alternating from my head to my toes, I started thinking to myself. What have I gotten myself into? Nine hours earlier I was on dry land in the southernmost city in the world. But now? I was just south of Cape Horn, in the heart of the Drake Passage, home to the strongest seas on our planet. There was no turning back. One hundred and twenty people, myself included, were headed to the White Continent: Antarctica. Each swell and each wave brought us closer to our destination. I drifted back to sleep.

...

A few days ago I was thinking of something along the lines of the above as an intro for the book I am writing. Just thought it would be neat to put in here and get people's reactions. Did I manage to get your attention? Thoughts? :)


In other news, it has been a busy week and even busier weekend. In between People to People meetings and Long Beach hashing, I managed to add the Staples Center and Honda Center to my collection of NHL arenas I have visited. Saturday I watched my Chicago Blackhawks take on the L.A. Kings at the former venue, and Sunday they visited the Anaheim Ducks at the latter. Suffice it to say that neither went well for the road team (we lost two of two), but despite that I am glad I went to both of the games. Having been to hundreds (not hyperbole) of Blackhawks games, I have always found it interesting to see how other teams and venues compare.

February 25, 2012 - Just before the start of the Hawks vs. Kings at the Staples Center.

 The Staples Center is what a modern, state-of-the-art arena should be like. It is large but accessible. There are premium options and semi-affordable tickets ($50 gets you in the building) for the casual fan. There are tons of dining choices. It is large (18,000+ for hockey) but has good sight lines. The scoreboard is massive and sleek. The in-game experience is constant - there are promotions and contests during every break in the action. Finally, perhaps the biggest plus side is the setting. The Staples Center is one part of a huge downtown area known as L.A. Live. It is almost entirely pedestrianized and has access to dozens of restaurants and bars, a couple of high-end hotels, the Nokia Theater (home of the Grammy's, the American Idol finale, and many other performances and awards ceremonies), and ESPN L.A., where the late version of SportsCenter is shot. When you contrast the setting with the location of the United Center and Honda Center (surrounded by parking lots and not much else), it is quite impressive. In fact, this was maybe my 10th trip to L.A. Live for one thing or another (Wisconsin pep rallies before the Rose Bowl last year and this year, for example), but my first time inside the Staples Center. Interestingly, L.A. Live was developed nearly a decade after the Staples Center was built. There is no reason Chicago couldn't do something similar, although weather would be a potential constraint for the immediate area. As for the downsides to the Staples Center, there were a few. First, the place wasn't full. It was technically a sellout, but hundreds of season ticket holders didn't show up. Second, the music selection was rather awful. It was very "L.A." and not in a good way. Too much modern soft pop and rap, not enough hard hockey rock. Third, there was no intro before the game started - nothing at all like the insanity at Hawks home games before the start. Overall though, I give the Staples Center a solid B for the experience. Mostly positive, and I had a good time. I would definitely go to a game again.

February 26, 2012 - Pregame skate of the Hawks vs. Ducks, Honda Center

Honda Center, by contrast, is an entirely different feel. It is small by hockey standards (17,000+ capacity), and has a very empty feel to it. Don't get me wrong - it is not empty in an Allstate Arena way. This is very much an individual venue. Heck, the concourse is made up entirely of marble and granite. This makes sense, considering it is in Orange County and all. Plus, the Ducks won the Stanley Cup back in 2007, bringing an infusion of money and homegrown support. As a result, the fans were much more passionate, which is a good thing for the sport (though obviously not as much fun as a fan of the opposing team). Tickets are significantly cheaper ($31 gets you into the building) and the worst seats are better than the worst seats at the Staples Center, given that the building is smaller. The dining selection wasn't anything special, however. The scoreboard was a complete joke, and is something they need to fix during the offseason. The in-game fan experience was also really weak, and a total contrast from the Staples Center. The game was also technically a sellout, and more than that, it was the largest regular season attendance in Ducks franchise history. Despite that, there were still small pockets of empty seats. As far as location, it has tons of parking, which is a plus, and accessible freeways, which is also a plus, but beyond that the only thing nearby is Angel Stadium, where the Anaheim Angels play baseball. There was a short but rather weak introduction to the game. Lastly, one positive note was that their music selection was top-notch. Plenty of Foo Fighters, which is exactly what I want at an NHL arena. Overall I give Honda Center a C+ grade, but only really because of value. If ticket prices are tossed out, this would be somewhere in the C- range. That said, I did have a good experience, and I would consider going again, but in contrast to Staples Center, I don't think I would go if my Hawks weren't involved.

Tomorrow I am headed back to Chicago and I am pretty psyched. I haven't been home since Thanksgiving, and as all of you readers know, I have managed to cover a pretty significant chunk of ground since the last time I was home. Wednesday night I will be at the Hawks home game against Toronto, and in my next post I will give a comparison to the above two for the United Center. Have a good week everybody!