Rooting on the Road: "Go Back to New York!!!!"

Ah yes, the "old reliable" of taunts. If I had a dollar for every time I've heard that, I wouldn't have to get up at 6 o'clock in the morning. I've heard it in Phoenix (it's not only their favorite taunt, it's their only taunt, most Phoenix fans can't come up with anything else.), Philly, LA, Quebec, Washington DC (actually Landover, MD, back in the USAir Arena days), and of course, South Florida. Now in South Florida, I find the "Go back to NY" thing funny for a couple of reasons:

1.  I'm actually from Jersey, born and raised, but I guess "Go back to Bayonne" just doesn't have the same bite.

2.  Everyone in Florida, especially South Florida, is from somewhere else. Midwest, Northeast, and New England. If you aren't from one of those places and live in Florida, then chances are you were born in a different country. I figure half of the people telling me to "Go back to NY" are probably from Long Island.

South Florida is not a great place to go to sporting events, and this is probably most evident at Panther games. The Panthers are so busy selling advertising, playing music, giving stuff away and pleading with their fans to make noise (I've still never seen one of those stupid "noise meters" that didn't max out), I'm surprised they find time for the annoying little chore of playing a hockey game.  I haven't even mentioned the "kiss cams", "smile cams", "nose-pick cams" (finally, a way for me to get on TV), "piggy bank races"..... please God make it stop and just play hockey!

South Florida is an "event town", many fans at games down here are there to be seen, or to eat, or to win a prize.

The Panthers do not disappoint in this area, as every stoppage in play is greeted by some sort of giveaway, everything from cruises to pizzas to seat upgrades. I'm pretty sure that on nights when the Panthers aren't playing a team that is considered a "draw", every fan that does attend the game probably walks out with a new house.

Certainly this is not to disparage all Panther fans, there are plenty of people truly dedicated to the Cats, but I think some of them need to spend more time with Donny over at Litter Box Cats learning about the team and the game.

As you can imagine, there were plenty of Ranger fans in the house, and I talked to as many of them as I could. One fan I didn't talk to but who certainly caught my eye was a girl who was wearing a shirt that was completely unbuttoned, and a red and blue bra with "NYR" painted across her cleavage. I nicknamed her "Brandon Boobinski". I'm hoping that while I was looking at her boobs, she was looking at mine, noticed my Blueshirt Banter t-shirt, and will check out our site.

Thanks to AndroSFL and Fish from Outside the Garden, who both dodged the raindrops to find me in the parking lot, it was great to meet them both.