Last night I went to a lacrosse game, the first I'd ever been to. It is one of the few sports I have never played or seen. I had put it off for so long, because so many Vancouverites who I've talked to about wanting to go to one have viewed it negatively, as if it was a shit time. Plus, I loved the Canucks and I thought watching the Canucks was the most fun you could have at a sports event. Well... I was so wrong!
We got 4th row seats, right near the Warriors bench, for $40 per person. They were the most expensive tickets to the game, and we were right at the front! A Canucks tickets in the nose bleed seats are usually more expensive than that!? I thought it would be a laugh, and an experience to check off doing in Vancouver, and that would be the end of it.
We got to the arena at 7pm, 30 minutes before the game. I was so confused, the crowd was so energetic, younger than the Canucks crowd. I'd say the majority of the crowd was 20-40y/o, plus quite a lot of kids, too. I barely saw any old people and everyone was double fisting their beers and coming to have an amazing party. And wow, what a party it was! We got our drinks, and were in our seats in less than I'd say 5 minutes. Things moved so much more quickly at the game and the staff seemed happier, everyone looked happy... it's just a complete contrast to the jaded people going to the Canucks. Lots of people are happy at Canucks games, but not like this. It honestly seemed like every person here was smiling and laughing and excited. It was just this whole other world that made my excitement (which was already 12/10) grow even more. I had butterflies and I was giddy.
The Warriors have cheerleaders! And not just 5 or 6 as I might have expected, but they had 15 or 20! And then when the players came onto the field, there was firework flame things going off, like giant sparklers. I'd only ever seen that stuff in movies when they have college football games or whatever. I didn't know teams actually used them for real!
The game was fast paced, and it's hard at first to follow the ball because it's white and the lacrosse stick net thingies are white, but you soon figure out what to look for as to who has it. And they switch the players off during the game, just like hockey! I thought hockey was the only sport that allowed a switch off for other players by just coming off and fresh players coming on. But here we are, a night of so many misconceptions I had that changed my mind about how forking cool lacrosse is.
AND THE MUSIC! Did you know that they play music during the entire game?? At hockey games they pause the music when the game is in play. At the Warriors, they play super lame songs when it's down our end to try to put off the away team which is absolutely hilarious, and then pump the music up when it's up at the other end to try and encourage the guys to score some goals. Because of the music, and the cheap beers (beers from $5), everyone was just living the party life. It was honestly this wild experience with everyone drinking, laughing, chatting, dancing to the music, cheering on the guys and just having a blast really.
After the game, which the Warriors won, there was a free concert. We went into another section to sit and watch while 1500 people or so flocked onto the field to watch the concert up close. It was actually fantastic, and even though it was a country night, the music was more rock than country I think.
I'm still in shock at how cheap the entire experience was. You get so much, the atmosphere is incredible and I'm in love. Every night they include something cool. I feel weird writing this all out, but it's genuinely how I felt, and how I still feel.
TL;DR - if you've not been to a Warriors lacrosse game, you need to rectify that immediately. Oh, and invite me too cause you know I'll be there. Canucks who? LET'S GO WARRIORS!