Только СКА! Только победа!

This week I went to my first Russian hockey game (and second hockey game at all).  CKA, St. Petersburg’s professional hockey team, were in the semi-finals of the playoffs against Атлант, Moscow's professional team.  To be honest I really had no idea what to expect.  My night began with the most crowded metro ride I have experienced thus far.  The stadium is located at the end of the metro line, so at every single stop the train became more and more full.  In Russia, people don't see a full car and say, «Oh, I'll just wait for the next one».  No, they use the power of numbers to ram their way into the car.  Just when I thought we couldn't add one more person, we would add at least ten more.  Public transportation really is a joyous thing.  I got crammed in the middle of three tall men and a young couple around seventeen who spent the ride talking about me and trying to decide which Scandanavian  country I was from based on my eyes, hair color, etc.  It's really annoying when people do this.  I wanted to snidely turn to them and say, «Hey, I understand Russian.  If you want to know where I'm from, just ask», but I figured that we had to ride in very close quarters for at least three more stops so it probably wasn't worth it.  

Once we arrived to our final stop the crowds poured from the train station, decked out in their red, white and blue CKA attire.  I met up with my friends, and we were swept up into the crowd of rowdy (and some already drunk) fans on their way to the stadium.  Immediately we were suprised by how «American» everything felt inside the stadium (Western-style architecture, clean bathrooms with TP (a rarity in Russia), American music blasting in the background, etc).  We grabbed our snacks from the overpriced concession stand and began to make our way to our seats so that we could enjoy the very American pasttime of eating a hot dog while spectating a sporting event.  But on our way to our section we realized that everyone else was hurriedly eating their food and chugging their beers right outside of the doors to the seats.  Oops.  We realized that we were a little to quick to assume that this was just like America (This is never something wise to assume when you're not in America!).  We quickly joined in the scarfing of the hotdogs and rushed to our seats, not wanting to miss a thing.  When we stepped into the rink, we were immediately blown away by the energy and excitement of the crowd.  Not a seat was left unoccupied and all were yelling cheers for our team.   I was immediately overstimulated, not knowing what I should take in first: the scantily-clad Russian cheerleaders? the organized cheers/flag waving of the regular spectators? the team mascot who was repeatedly running into a wall? the kiss cam on the big screen? or hey, the actual game?  As much as I was distracted, I did my best to focus on the game.  CKA scored an early goal and the crowd went wild (until Атлант came back to tie the game).  They remained tied for the majority of the game, but in the last five minutes Атлант came back and scored for the win knocking CKA out of the playoffs.  Sad.  I was really hoping for a win, of course, but to be honest I wasn’t too disappointed because the entire experience was a victory in itself.  I learned lots of new Russian cheers (Питер! Шайбу! Армецей с Невы! Только СКА, Только победа!), I experienced the most epic crowd wave, which went on for at least five minutes straight and included coordinated signs, and I watched the five year-old girl in front of me try to imitate the suggestive dances of the cheerleaders as her papa beamed with pride (typical).  Overall, it was a win of a night. 

It’s cool to see how sports really are universal.  The energy and sentiment of the game can be felt and understood by all.  Language is not necessary to share in the celebration of a scored goal or a successful block.  No words are necessary.  So often I am aware of the limitations of my Russian, and it can be very frustrating and discouraging when I can't express the nuances of my ideas and feelings.  For that reason I love to get lost in these moments of real connection without language.  It's true that we say so much with language, but we say so much more without it.  And that is a beautiful thing.     

Lara and Styopa speed-eating their hotdogs.

Kiss cam.

Hey, they're actually playing HOCKEY!

We ♥ CKA!

Cheerleader wanna-be and proud papa.

Cheerleaders and mascot.

A few seconds of the most epic wave ever.

Excited fans.  Love, love, love those hooligani.  

And to Rachel Stowe, I tried really hard to find you a husband at the game but no luck.  I think you just need to come over here and look for yourself...yeah, I like that plan better:)