Right Hat, Wrong Team

Friends in France often ask me what I miss most about Canada.  Friends and family, wide open spaces, a house with a garden, having my very own car and the ease of communicating in english are my usual responses.  Truth be told though the one thing that makes me almost cry is that my beloved Canucks are in the Stanley Cup final and I have tickets to every game but alas I am in southern France, waking up at 3 in the morning to watch my team battle for the cup instead of being at Roger's Arena.  I readily admit that my passion for the Canucks has reached the point of being more than a little pathetic.  For example, when we were in London, I watched a game at two in the morning sitting on the bathroom floor of our hotel room so as to not wake the rest of the family.  Another game found me in Antibes on the French Riviera for game 7 of the first round versus the Chicago Blackhawks and our apartment was without internet.  I woke up at 4 and even though I had no recourse for finding out the score, I lay in bed contemplating various scenarios.  At 9am, I wandered aimlessly around Antibes looking for my fix.  When I finally found an internet cafe, I nervously typed in tsn.ca and breathed a sigh of relief as I read the headline "Canucks exorcise their Demons".

Since the first round victory I have been able to sleep better as I have decided that watching the games on tape delay is a much healthier option.  Certainly the chance of me running into someone on the street and having them ruin the score for me is nil.

On Saturday I found an outlet for my pent up need to stand up and cheer.  Virginia, two friends and I went to Marseille to watch the semi-final rugby match at the Stade Velodrome.  This is the same stadium that the Marseille Football Club plays in.  It was easy for me to choose who to cheer for as the Montpellier Rugby Club has the same colours as my beloved Canucks so onto the bandwagon I climbed.  The choice was also made easier as of the 57,000 people in attendance around 56 thousand were supporting Montpellier.

The atmosphere inside the stadium was electric.  One thing they definitely do better in Europe than in North America is supporting their club as all the singing and flag waving provided an amazing atmosphere.

For me the game was extremely enjoyable.  I used to coach rugby and though there are some nuances that I don't understand, it is a sport that I appreciate.  Montpellier was up 23-6 in the second half before they had a collapse of collasal proportions to fall behind 25-23 (think Canucks up 3-0 on Chicago before Chicago won three straight games) but they came through in the final minute with a penalty kick to win the game 26-25.

For me it was a cathartic experience to be able to cheer on a team.  Being emotionally invested in a sporting event is certainly an experience that I have sorely missed.  I enjoyed my ride on the Montpellier bandwagon but here I am showing my true allegiance.  This is the first time in their 114 year history that Montpellier has reached the league final so if that isn't a good sign for the Canucks to win their first Stanley Cup I don't know what would be.

When we picked up the girls from the babysitters the husband was just sitting down with a friend to watch Barcelona versus Manchester United in the Club Champions League Final.  I asked him who he was cheering for and he replied that he was a big fan of Manchester United.  I decided that if he can be happy cheering on Man United from southern France, I can certainly be happy cheering on my boys in blue from afar.  GO CANUCKS GO!