Last weekend I noticed there was a Groupon for tickets to see the Chicago Wolves play later the same week. I asked Joe to see if he could take Friday off so we could attend the Thursday evening game without worrying about lack of sleep. His boss approved so I purchased the Groupon.
The drive to Allstate Arena was a bitch due to traffic, so I’m glad Joe suggested leaving earlier than I would have, and grabbing dinner at one of the restaurants near the stadium. We ended up eating at the Culver’s down the street where many other Wolves fans, decked out in their team’s apparel, had the same idea.
We arrived about a half hour ahead of time which was perfect. Parking was $13 instead of $20 probably because it was a weeknight game. They were also lax about the whole parking situation, not requiring where you had to park like they do at concerts. We parked right along the edge so we could easily exit the lot without waiting in a long line (not that there would have been one anyway since the lot wasn’t very full).
After a nonexistent security check (really? I could have sneaked a bottle of water in if I had known… or a gun), we headed upstairs toward the nosebleed seats, which I honestly didn’t mind because I enjoy the line of sight sitting up higher to watch most sports, particularly hockey since it’s tough enough to follow the puck.
As we started to make our way around the stadium to our section, we decided why even bother. There weren’t that many people in the stadium overall, so we just chose an empty section we liked and settled there.
The opening to the game was very “explosive”, as seen here.
Wow, I could feel the heat even in the very last row!
Sitting on the end of the aisle in our new section was much better than sitting in our assigned seats which were smack dab in the middle of the 30+ seat row, especially because I had to get up to use the restroom several times. We had the entire row to ourselves too, which meant not having to get up to let people pass.
You know how there’s always some people who cannot sit still in their seat for more than ten minutes? There were a few of those there, although luckily they sat elsewhere. One couple had to have eaten the equivalent of two meals during the two and a half hour event. How do people even justify that? “Yea, I know we just ate dinner, but this $10 burger that was likely microwaved a half hour ago is too delicious to pass up”. Another bonus to sitting away from everyone else – we could say whatever we wanted without the fear of being overheard. Needless to say, I started making fun of the couple who couldn’t stop packing it in. I turned to Joe and said, “here’s what I think he’s saying to her right now” –
First let me get a $12.50 beer and $8 pretzel, and then we can discuss where to go to dinner afterwards.
We burst into giggles because we’re mature like that, haha. The irony is that while we didn’t eat or drink anything at the game because the food is disgusting and outrageously overpriced, we did stop at a taco joint we used to frequent back when we first got together afterwards. Pot calling the kettle black much?
Random Observations:
» The Wolves aren’t nearly as interesting to watch as the Blackhawks. Plus they lost the game without even scoring once.
» There are loose birds in the stadium, one of which was in the bathroom. I felt bad for him because I’m guessing if they don’t do anything to get him out of the building he will eventually die. You can’t expect him to live on nasty stale pretzel pieces.
» The arena is severely outdated and rather small.
» The seats in particular are tiny. We felt crammed and we are not overweight or particularly tall. It brought back memories of when we went to see Dane Cook and the girl next to me violated my personal space.
» The sound system blows. Nothing was loud enough, but even the music volume was way better than the announcer. I have excellent hearing but I couldn’t understand much of what he was saying because it was quiet and muffled.
We probably won’t be visiting this arena again anytime soon unless The Cure decides to tour during the winter and forces me to come back.
