And you thought "Checking" was a bank account.....

Apparently not!

As I learned on Saturday night, checking is

"any contact initiated by a defending player against an opponent to get the puck (little black thing) away from him or slow him down;

there are two main types of checks:

(no, not "plain" and "customized")

stick check and body check;

( I know what you are thinking, but much to my surprise "body check" doesn't have anything to do with admiring one's self in the mirror or sitting on the beach during Spring Break).

These are only allowed against a player in control of the puck (little black thing)

or against the last player to control it immediately after he gives it up.

Checking after too many steps or strides becomes charging. (also having nothing at all to do with American Express)."

You are impressed with my hockey knowlege, aren't you??

Ok, so I'll admit. This was not my first hockey game.

I've been to see the Lizard Kings three times in Jacksonville, Fl and the Ice Pilots once in Pensacola, Fl.. But seeing the Bruins play on Saturday night in Providence was my first hockey game where I was not nursing someone, keeping someone from climbing over a banister and plunging to their death or happily chatting with an equally hockey ignorant girlfriend about the cute haircut we spotted on the girl four rows down or the fabulous shoes the girl who just walked by had on.

You know, deep, interesting things like that.

So, without a baby or restless small male child with a death wish and sadly lacking a chatty girlfriend, I had no excuse this time but to pay attention.

But, I did have my secret weapon with me for when there wasn't a fight to stand up and gawk at, or for when they weren't playing "We will, we will, ROCK you" for me to show off my synchronized clapping and foot stomping skills from my years as a varsity cheerleader.

Secret weapon for boring down time of hockey game?

My camera

(duh!)

(lovingly referred to as "my precious" around here and almost as closely guarded as the other obsessive object of the same name in Lord Of The Rings)!

David brought a fellow LDO from school. Both guys had bronchitis and were coughing up a storm and heavily medicated, but what's a little swelling of the airways when there are sports involved?

Now it WAS David's friend's first hockey game, but he knew more than I did. I could tell by the way he was all up on the details like which goal we were shooting at.

He made sure to get some photos of the fights that broke out on the ice too.

Eh...nothing new for me. I could take a photo of two testosterone afflicted boys rolling around on the floor like lion cubs, throwing arms and legs out everywhere on any given day at my house!

Yup, just another day at the Cleary's.

Madison obviously has the right idea about how to best enjoy a hockey game.

1. Find a group of friends to walk around with.

2. Visit the bathroom 102 times with said group.

3. Visit the concession stand 12 times and purchase nothing with your own money. Instead, beg mom and dad for money 56 times.

And #4....

Dance to the loud music and celebrate each score as if you have been paying attention for the entire game!

Brendell's way to enjoy a hockey game is to benefit from a few of Madison's trips to the concession stand.

Nothing beats a good soft pretzel with a sprite chaser while you are kicking back at the hockey rink, huh?

The boys spend most of their time moving around the stadium filling in empty seats that are right up against the glass until the ticket holder moves them on to the next unfilled seat.

Clearly, my camera has worn out it's welcome.



At least Bren still tolerates me!



I'm not sure who won the game...wait, yes, I remember now...we did.

I know this because they played, "We will, we will Rock you!" at least 6 times and the Pirates ( From Portland, OR) only scored one goal causing memorable booing.

Who cares though....check out the great photos I got of Bren!