Re: GET IN THE VAN! Michigan Tech 2009-10 Season Thread, Part Deux
Truth.
It's going to see friends or people with the common love of hockey. It's seeing other cities. It's sampling "local" culture. 5 years ago if you asked me if I'd ever would go to Bemidji, Houghton, Denver, CO Springs, etc, I would have thought you were nuts. But now I keep wanting to go back. At the least (and it's more than that), I have hockey as an "excuse" to travel about the country.
I rip Houghton (rightfully
) until no tomorrow, but I can't wait until the MN-MTU trip. Why? The DT, the MN's that are there, the Foopers that are actually good people, the bonding amongst the carload on the way out there, the excitement of the hockey games themselves, in a non-home arena no less.
Btw, I apologize for the hockey talk. Getting tired of the other crap. However, I will admit that the road trip reminiscing at the end of the last thread put a smile on my face. I hope that the Misfit youngins who went on the UMD road trip are now road trippers for life... because hockey road tripping is more than just hockey. It's the road tripping! It's about picking up skanks in your motel stairwells. It's about getting kissed on TV in front of the tens of people that watch ESPNU. It's about throwing your hat on the ice at the Mariucci and having the entire student section doing their A**HOLE chant at you. It's about ditching an exam that's 25% of your grade when you're already getting like a C or D in the class to do more fun things in Colorado Springs. It's about sunshining your rookie goaltender after he STOLE a game from the other team who should have won. It's about taking Bunger's pickle and eating it. It's about being made Fan in the Stands by Ciskie. It's about seeing glaciers and driving alongside moose on the highway. It's about the Red Pepper, Italian Moon, Golden Bee, Coot's, Val's, MC's Dugout, Blue Brick's, Sally's, Metler's, Grandma's, Spanky's, Peanut Gallery, etc., etc., etc.! It's about going out after the game with opposing fans and talking about anything but hockey. It's about giving the Kohl Center staff hell EVERY TIME you visit. It's about the cop walking away after scolding you muttering under her breath, "****ing *****." It's about forming a group of makeshift Providence fans together and cheering for PC against stupid MSUcks. It's about getting arrested in St. Cloud and waking up in jail having no idea what happened the night before. It's about buying pink drinks at KK's for UW hockey players. It's about all the people you meet, the places you visit and the things you experience. Hockey is only a minuscule fraction of a "hockey road trip."
If a good road trip is based solely on hockey, let's face it... I would probably not like hockey road trips as much as I do. So to all the new road trippers out there... fun and adventure lurks around every corner of a hockey road trip... not just in the hockey rink. I hope you all are able to add to my list of stories and examples why hockey road trips are so great.
Truth.
It's going to see friends or people with the common love of hockey. It's seeing other cities. It's sampling "local" culture. 5 years ago if you asked me if I'd ever would go to Bemidji, Houghton, Denver, CO Springs, etc, I would have thought you were nuts. But now I keep wanting to go back. At the least (and it's more than that), I have hockey as an "excuse" to travel about the country.
I rip Houghton (rightfully
) until no tomorrow, but I can't wait until the MN-MTU trip. Why? The DT, the MN's that are there, the Foopers that are actually good people, the bonding amongst the carload on the way out there, the excitement of the hockey games themselves, in a non-home arena no less. 
