Debbie, Brenda, and a hockey game

Once upon a time there were these two women who had never been to a hockey game before. Then by the grace of God, or more likely from a third party that couldn't attend, they lucked-up and fell into a pair of tickets for the Red Wings' Game 6 at Joe Louis Arena, Tuesday night. As indoctrinations go, this was bound to be impressive. I suppose I could mention something about losing a "cherry", and of course that would be in reference to tuning out Don Cherry, that loveable Canadian hockey guru/announcer, but perhaps I shouldn't go there. Ahem.

Deb and Brenda hooked up on game day at the Gridiron, a bar on Montcalm, in Pontiac. It's a pretty cool place. Good food, great people, and it's owned by one Tom Jones. No, not the Welsh singer of old that had all the ladies drooling over him. Quite the opposite. While there's indeed some drooling that goes on, it's my understanding that Tom has upgraded his meds, and things are getting better. Just kidding -- I think. And beware of any bartender named Lynn, Mary, or Chris. You think you're slick? Good luck with those 3. Any of them could tear up Don Rickles and Robin Williams at the same time, while cooking food, serving drinks, handling all the Keno tickets, and never miss a beat. And of course, there's Dawn. Life got you down? Go in there on most any afternoon, and ask for her. She doesn't even drink, but she'll give you a hug to make you feel better, if only for a little while. Nobody hugs like Dawn. But I digress.

Then it was off to the Greektown Casino for D & B. After feeding the slots a few bucks, they jumped on the people mover and headed to Joe Louis Arena. Their tickets were in section 227, which means upper bowl, last row. Nosebleed country. Brenda later commented that it felt like climbing the steps to a Mayan temple.

LETS GO RED WINGS

Arriving early, perhaps they didn't understand why there were so many empty seats for such an important game. Then all of a sudden, maybe a half hour before game time, it filled up in a hurry. Wall to wall sardines, and red and white pom-poms on every seat. A nice touch, courtesy of Mike Ilitch. It surely beat trying to wave pepperonis or anchovies.

Along the way, they were treated to Bob Seger, Kid Rock, and Eminem's Chrysler video on the big screen. Goose-bumpy type stuff while the crowd worked itself into a fever pitch.

LETS GO RED WINGS

Somewhere during all this, the game was actually played. While it was highly exciting for the first 2 periods, the score was still 0-0. I called Debbie on her cell and left a message. It should be noted that Debbie is, ahem, rather well-endowed in a certain part of her anatomy. The message was this --- "Show em the girls. That ought to get em going".

Sure enough, a few minutes later, goals started happening. Did she really do it? Beats me. All I know is it didn't show up on TV. A while later I got a return phone call, but the only thing I could hear was deafening crowd noise.

LETS GO RED WINGS

When it was over, and everybody except the San Jose Sharks were happy, it was time for them to go. Considering their seats, and with the exception of Charlie Brown's kite, what goes up pretty much has to come down eventually. Somehow they navigated their way out of there, pom-poms in hand, hopped back on the people mover, and headed back to Greektown.

LETS GO RED WINGS

Some time later they wound up back at the Gridiron, where I presume they had a night-cap, and headed home. Both are still active GM shop rats on day shift, and 5 or 6 AM comes pretty quick after a night like that. Did they make it to work the next day? That seems to be classified information for some reason. Go figure.

Sounds like Deb and Brenda had a great time, enjoyed an experience they'll never forget, and it was a win-win all the way around, right? Not exactly.

Brenda said she really got into it, and she's a "cuz" of mine, so I'll always root for her.

Debbie? She borrowed a Red Wings jersey from some guy to attend the game. Turns out she's a Chicago Black Hawks fan, and was only going through the motions.

Girls or not -- that's a boo, hiss.

It's not my fault a certain web-site crashed yesterday and made this article a day late. If you scroll back up to the top, you'll notice it was finally posted on Friday, the 13th. Something was bound to go wrong. It did. The Wings have already lost game 7 and been eliminated.

Which means there's only one thing to do. Go see Dawn. I need one.