Forever, I'm a Spartan.: It's the best day ever.

Well, YESTERDAY, was the best day I've had in a long, long time. :]

First of all, this past week began the first round of the road to the Stanley Cup for the sixteen NHL teams at top of the league. I watched the first Red Wings game vs. Coyotes on television while simultaneously doing homework and streaming four other hockey games online. Yeah, so I kind of really like hockey.. :p

Anyway, my friend Shannon texted me after the game (which the Wings won, by the way!) and asked me how much I would be willing to pay to attend the second game of the series at Joe Louis Arena on Saturday. Now, I've been to a few regular season games, but I have ALWAYS wanted to watch a live playoff game, no matter what round of the series it is. The only reason I haven't gone to one yet is this: transportation. You're probably going to laugh at me for this, but I do not have my driver's license.

This isn't because I've gotten it revoked or put on probation, no worries about that, I've just never actually acquired a license. I know, I know, I'm nineteen years old, I should probably have one by now, but I simply don't enjoy driving. That's why I've put this off for so long. Don't fret though, it is mandatory that I get it this summer, so I will be practicing driving as soon as I get home on May 6. :]

Back to my original story, so I've never gone to a playoff game in Detroit just because I've never been able to get there. Detroit isn't far from my hometown either, nor is it from East Lansing, but I've never known any other Red Wings fan crazy enough who would want to pay the increased prices for a playoff ticket compared to a regular season one, and who also wouldn't mind taking a day trip to southeast Michigan. At least not until I came to Michigan State. :]

I told Shannon I would be willing to pay anything that isn't absolutely absurd, as long as she could get us there. She then told me that she found a set of eight $30 tickets in the upper deck.

I. Was. Ecstatic.

We filled the other six seats quickly enough. Our huge group of friends from Wilson decided, "hey, why not?" so we purchased the tickets that night. After service fees and delivery charges, the tickets only came up to about $43 each, which is less than what I've paid for a regular season game. Yeah, the tickets were cheaper because they were in the sixteenth row in the upper deck, but I tell people this all the time: there is no bad seat in the Joe. There's no obstructions, the levels are raised just enough where you're not too high up like at a football game, and the arena is small enough so it gets LOUD. We lucked out.

We left at 9am yesterday morning, arrived at 11:30am after making a few stops along the way, ate at Five Guys in Greektown, and managed to pick up the tickets and get into the arena by 1pm when the game started. Shannon and I were the biggest Red Wings fans of the group, so we were hyper and excited all morning long, but when we finally sat down in our row, it hit me that I was actually at a Red Wings playoff game. The Detroit Red Wings have made twenty consecutive post-season appearances, and I was finally there. I don't think anything could have topped yesterday. :]