Before the playoffs started, I made an offhand joke to a buddy of mine in Florida about going to Tampa for a game if both our teams reached the final. That joke cost me $1600. And for as much as people slag the attendance in Tampa, I was on ticketmaster literally ten minutes after the Lightning eliminated Philly. Games one and two were gone. I bought game seven tix, not expecting to need them. Oops again. The trip to Florida is largely a blur. Our plane was supposed to go Phoenix then Tampa, but had mechanical problems. America West Airlines knew they had a real problem with 100 anxious Flames fans. They put us on any flight they could get. I ended up with a group that took a redeye to Toronto, then flew to Orlando. Landing in Toronto was fun. We were all decked out in our jerseys. Half the people in YYZ were cheering and chanting 'Go Flames Go'. The other half just shook their heads in disbelief that we made it before their Leafs did.
Waiting for our flight out of Calgary was fun too. It was near midnight, and we happened to be sitting near some elderly ladies who were returning to the American south from a meeting of the female equivalent of the Freemasons. They were bewildered by our red uniforms. We tried to explain to them what we were doing, but they couldn't wrap their minds around the idea of fans flying across the continent to watch a hockey game. I think they decided we were the players because it made more sense to them.
AWA also offered to pay for a rental car for each passenger to drive from Orlando to Tampa. Eight of us convinced AWA to let us rent a limo. We all had those car flags that had just become popular and decked it out like it was a presidential vehicle. People on the interstate were bloody confused, and I am quite sure that more than one was wondering what country our flag represented. One guy though, his car decked out in Lightning paraphanalia, knew and followed us for a while, shaking his head. There was a bar beside the SPTF called Newks. Flames fans completely overran it. The owner took some heat from the locals for allowing that to happen, and unfortunately, it closed because of the lockout.
I barely remember game seven. Both because we lost, and because I had been up nearly 48-hours straight at that point (I can't sleep on planes). I do remember telling my buddy that if it wasn't game 7 of the finals, it would have been a terrible game. Both teams were exhausted. The end of the game was surreal.There were 23,000 people in that building. 21,000 in white Lightning jersey or t-shirts (giveaways), and a couple thousand of us dotting the place in our red jerseys. We were all frozen like statues as the Tampa fans around us went wild. Easily the worst single moment I've experienced as a sports fan. Had a ton of Tampa fans come up, shake hands and talk about how amazing we were as fans though. Losing sucked, but I've always found it hard to be bitter towards the Lightning. I am still pissed at myself for not getting a couple copies of the St. Pete Times the next morning, but I was too tired to think straight for about a day. They accidentally printed their "Lightning gave good effort, but Flames won the Cup" story.
Ended up going to their Stanley Cup parade. IIRC, about 30,000 people on the route and another 20k in the arena. Small, but still a decent showing of support. Funny aside to that game 7: When I went to get a pop, they wouldn't give me a lid for my cup. When I asked why, I was told in complete seriousness: "Because a terrorist could use it to slit your throat." This was three years after 9/11, and Americans were still that scared. Went to a Devil Rays game as well, and likewise didn't get a lid. I did get to heckle and boo Barry Bonds though.
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