kevin_standlee | Stealthy Affairs

It was a double-header of sorts at the Shark Tank today, with the San Jose Stealth playing lacrosse at 12:30 and the Sharks playing hockey at 7:30 tonight. My ticket, of course, was only for the first game. The lacrosse field is an artificial-turf carpet laid on top of the ice surface. Maybe the cold was why my hands were cold the whole time I was there. (I went and bought a cup of coffee and threw away the cardboard heat shield just to get some heat into my fingers.)

I needn't have worried about getting there early or crowding. I had a row to myself, and it was pretty good seats, too: section 104 (lower deck), row 11, with a good view of one goal. Audience turnout, however, was anemic at best. Even with the upper deck curtained off, the place felt empty. I guest that's why they play loud music during the game, not just during stoppages of play.

I know relatively little about lacrosse, but the game program had a brief introduction to "hockey with balls," and indeed, the game has a lot of similarities to ice hockey, but it has a lot more scoring. And San Jose clearly outmatched Edmonton today, winning by 16 goals to 6. Despite the fast action, I found my attention wandering at times to the Stealth's ~~cheerleaders~~ dance team, one contingent of which spent a fair bit of the game gyrating in an open area right in my line of sight as I looked onto the field. And they were wearing somewhat more interesting outfits than the ones they have on the web page to which I linked. (What appears to be one of the individual dance team member's MySpace page has her wearing the dance team uniform.)

I enjoyed the game, but I don't think I'd pay money to watch a match. Indeed, with my finances being what they are right now, I rather begrudge the money I spent for food and drink at the game, but outside F&B aren't allowed of course, and I did need to eat something. However, I'd go again if someone gave me free tickets. :)