"Standing" at the Saddledome

Rather than spend another lazy, quiet weekend watching my television in sunny Southern California, I packed my suitcase, left work early and boarded an Air Canada flight to Calgary, Alberta where the temperature was 38 degrees. (Yes, that's 38 degrees Fahrenheit. In Celsius it would be -- oh, I don't know. It was cold no matter how you say it.)

Just what does one do in Calgary on a cold fall day? DUH! It's Canada, you go to a hockey game.

I went to see the surprising Calgary Flames, who are leading the Northwest Division of the NHL Western Conference. Their opponents were their cross country rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Calgary is cowboy country and the Pengrowth Saddledome is smack dab in the middle of the Calgary Stampede and Exhibition grounds. (The Calgary Stampede is, in case you didn't know, the Rodeo to end all Rodeos, and it's held every July.)

The Pengrowth Saddledome used to be called the Canadian Airlines Saddledome until Canadian Airlines merged with Air Canada.

If you've ever seen a Calgary Flames game or have seen pictures of Calgary on television, The Saddledome actually does look like a saddle. (I'd like to meet the designer of the Saddledome just to ask where did he or she get their inspiration from.)

As the game was sold out and only standing room was available, I paid $17.50CND for a standing position to see the game. What was I thinking? $17.50 to stand for four hours just to see a hockey game? Am I that much of a devoted hockey fan or have I completely gone off the deep end?

I was beginning to wish I had worn a more comfortable pair of sneakers as I started the long climb up the stairs to get a good view of the action.

Imagine my surprise when I showed the smiling usherette my ticket that read, "General Admission Section 305A" and her reply was," "See where those people are sitting? Take a seat anywhere in that section."

Wow! In the Saddledome, "standing room" isn't standing. You've got an actual seat. Okay, it's in the nosebleed section, but the seat that I chose to sit in was an aisle seat and I could see the big orange letter "C" surrounded by an even more orange flame at center ice.

I couldn't have done any better if I had been fortunate enough to get one of the seats that were sold for $103CND, which were behind the players benches.

As soon as the game began, I noticed a difference between Canadian and American fans.

Canadian fans aren't as loud or boisterous. Don't get me wrong, they were passionate about the Flames as I can remember a lot of huge Calgary Flames flags being waved every time the Flames scored, but it's not with the same feeling as we Americans have.

Or maybe it's because we Americans are passionate about everything. We like to scream and yell -- period -- at our sporting events from the first moment that the National Anthem comes on until the end of the game, no matter what the sport is.

I was expecting to see an entertaining and exciting game. I was entertained all right, but all the excitement was in the Toronto end of the ice.

Toronto goaltender Curtis Joseph earned his money and then some, while Flames goaltender Roman Turek hardly worked up a sweat.

Like most sports arenas now, you hear music, music, and more music. The Saddledome was no exception.

One song that was played over and over, and will always stick in my mind, was that old disco hit, "Disco Inferno."

What's the connection to the Flames? Some of the lyrics go like this: "Burn baby, burning -- Disco Inferno."

The song was played four times that night, as the Flames burnt the Leafs to a crisp 4-1. (Sorry, I couldn't resist saying that.)

Would I "stand" at the Saddledome again for a game? Of course I would, in a heartbeat. Now if only I could stop humming "Disco Inferno."