Okay, if you were able to stay awake for the first part of this post, let me see what I can do in the second part to remedy that. So, by now, you can see that watching the Penguins had become a big part of our lives and the lives of our children from 1980 through the time we could swing our first set of season tickets, A-28, seats 1-4, Row F, right next to the visitors' tunnel. From that season on, it became even more of an obsession, especially for me. I won't dwell a lot on the first season in those seats, other than to say that we loved the thought that we knew we could go every game as opposed to going to many games, but not always knowing for sure until that day. As we got acclimated to our seats, the section became a small community, including Dan Kroll and Troy Ussack of the Penguins, who stood in the tunnel area. The season was a blast, and for the first time in many years, the team made the playoffs. Despite an early exit, you could see that there was an exciting future for this team! The 2007-08 season marked the turn from rabid fan to fanatic for me. My daughters became big fans of the team, and like all young girls, were especially into Sidney Crosby. They also had a fascination with the gentle giant Georges Laraque. I in turn, got even more into the game, as it had become a very regular time for us to enjoy together as a family. My wife and I made the decision to build an addition on the home, with the lower level meant to be a shrine for the memorabilia I had collected over the years. The kids were both interested in meeting some players and getting autographs, and I was interested as well, so that what I could hang in the new gameroom could be signed and personalized to either me or the girls. The kids were off school on Martin Luther King Day, in early 2008, and I took them after practice for their first autographs, not knowing what to expect. The players could not have been nicer. I watched my girls' faces as they got their jerseys and hats signed by all of the main players from that team, including Crosby, Malkin, Staal, Fleury, Scuderi, Orpik, Sykora, and Laraque. What a great day for us, and the beginning of an obsession for me to fill my new space with signed helmets, sticks, jerseys, pucks and photos. I also realized how this time could be related to my work. We do a lot of entertaining in my business, and I quickly realized that I could fill up my gameroom, AND score points with my clients by getting memorabilia signed and personalized. Of course, Crosby was the most popular request, but Big Georges Laraque was up there as well. Both players were always willing to sign and personalize items, and after getting many happy clients as a result, I gave them each a card thanking them, with a treat for themselves. The next time down Laraque asked for my phone number, saying that they refused to use my gift card for dinner, unless my family joined them. I never expected to hear from him. Days later, to my surprise, Laraque called, invited my family and I to dinner at Mitchell's in Homestead, and we spent a few hours feeling like we were kings as we ate dinner in a private room with Georges Laraque and his girlfriend Erin. He fought me for the check after allowing us to just talk hockey, and ask questions. How many pro athletes would take the time to do this? It was an unbelievable experience for us all, and only further fueled my fanaticism for a team full of players like this. I upped the ante about a week later getting the aggressive Penguin logo tattooed on my forearm. During dinner with Laraque, we spoke about my immature need to harass the other team since they were so close to us. Instead of agreeing that I was immature, Laraque said the right amount of heckling could occasionally get under the skin of the opposing team. That was all I needed to hear. That season, I turned my hatred for Scott Hartnell into my Fartsmell jersey, and spent a lot of time heckling him at close range, and man did he like to give it back. I also converted a Rangers jersey into a Rump Rangers jersey, and name Queenhenry on the back. I had a blast taunting the opposition, and was treated to an unexpected, and magical run through the playoffs and all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals. On the way, revenge was taken on Ottawa, the team who had sent us home the season prior, with Gary Roberts setting the tone in Game One, wanting to fight the whole Ottawa team. There was something special about this team, we knew it. There was also something special brewing at the Mellon Arena for us. In our second full season as STH, the section had become like family to us, and we embarked on a magical run together through the Rangers, and the hated Sean Avery and Jaromir Jagr, then the Flyers and the hated Carter and Richards, and ending with a loss in the Finals to the Red Wings. The building was LOUD, there electricity in the air, super fans like Cy Clark and Steel Man were running rampant and my family was there for every minute of it. Although we did not get the big prize, I had never felt more a part of any sports team and its fan base than I did these Pittsburgh Penguins. We knew we were going to win the Stanley Cup in 2008-09. Then, as expected the Penguins lost heart and soul winger Ryan Malone to Tampa via free agency, and Marian Hossa jilted Shero and bolted for hated Detroit saying that he felt he had a better chance of winning the Cup there. That spawned my Hosebag jersey with the front stating "Here is Your Cup" and having an athletic cup hanging from the front. We also added Scruuruutuu for ex fan favorite Jarkko Ruutuu who had gone to Ottawa, and Smeliass for Patrick Elias of the Devils. As much fun as I had bothering Hartnell, Lundqvist, Hossa, Ruutuu, and Elias, the season was not looking promising. The Penguins were in 10th place in mid February, and the season was getting away from us. Then came Bylsma, and the Penguins got red hot, finished the season in 4th place and made the playoffs. Some highlights for us during the season included Hartnell despite all the nastiness back and forth asking to sign the jersey after the last regular season game and giving me his stick to Andreas Lilja of the Wings trading his helmet, stick and a puck for the Hosebag jersey, claiming it bothered Maid Marian, and they wanted to put it in his locker. Then came the post season, and the Flyers again. The team had an Unfinished Business attitude and made quick work of the Flyers in round one. Then came the epic Ovechkin v Crosby series with Washington, the Pens fell behind 2-0 in the series and were in OT in game three at home. Kris Letang got the game winner, and the building erupted! The Pens dispatched the Caps in 7 games, then Malkin went CRAZY and single handedly dismantled the Hurricanes in a sweep in the conference Finals. Again, the atmosphere for these playoffs at Old Lady Mellon was ELECTRIC! Our basement had been finished, we added a 12 foot screen outside, and got to watch many of the away games in our gameroom or out by the pool with our friends and neighbors at the Mellon on our own big screen. Between those parties and the home games, it was an early spring I will never forget! Then came the Wings, again. After falling behind 2-0 again in the series, the Penguins tied it up at home, lost game 5 BADLY in Detroit before winning Game 6 at home to set up the epic seventh game victory. Trailing the series 2 games to 1, and the game 2-1 in Game Four, the Penguins took a penalty, putting Detroit on the power play, and a feeling a deja vu came over our section and the arena. It felt a little like the 2008 series with Detroit, and they had a chance to take over the series. As long as I live, I will never forget the feeling of pure joy when Jordan Staal scored a shorthanded goal to tie it up! The Kennedy tic tac toe goal to make it 4-2 brought the roof down, and we had another forever memory to take with us. After a disappointing loss in Detroit, the Penguins came back needing to win Game 6 to avoid back to back losses to the Wings in the Finals. After a hard fought game, led by Pittsburgh 2-1, Rob Scuderi stopped three Johan Franzen shots point blank to preserve the win for Pittsburgh and force Game 7! He earned the nickname, the Piece for doing so. For my part, I got to run an ignorant Detroit reporter out of our section pregame by unplugging the electrical cord during every attempt to get an ice level feed back home, and by getting our section to drown out her sound with Lets Go Pens! We had a huge party at Dave and Buster's for Game 7 and stayed up all night celebrating our third Stanley Cup Championship! Our antics and Penguins room had begun to draw the attention of local media, culminating in a nice piece done by Mondesis House on our gameroom, and Empty Netters doing a piece on the Fartsmell experience. In the offseason, I celebrated the championship by turning my Penguins tattoo on the forearm into a full sleeve including the championship ring, the Stanley Cup, a view of the City skyline, the Lombardi Trophy, all set in a fiery cauldron of molten steel complete with crucibles pouring the steel through a Steelers logo into the Cup. I was ready for a repeat during the Final season at Old Lady Mellon! This post has gotten quite long, so I will keep the 2009-2010 season brief. Just like in 1993, the expected repeat performance did not happen. After beating Ottawa in Round One, the Penguins lost in ugly fashion in seven games to Montreal. I was at the decisive Game 7 on Mellon Arena ice, in what would be the final game played there. I sat with my friend Jon amongst the throngs of Habs fans who rushed our section to celebrate the win until long after the game trying to soak every moment of time from that night in complete disbelief that we would never again sit in those seats in Section A -28, or high five our crew after every Penguins goal. It was a bitter moment, both ending a season and an era at the same time. The next time I would see a game, it would be at the brand new Consol Energy Center.
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