Awesome `Stadium Series Wintry Spectacle

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman considered postponing the Stadium Series between the Blackhawks and Penguins, last Saturday evening, March 1st 2014, due to frigid, snowy weather in the forecast.  But I had hoped he wouldn't, and thankfully he didn't.  Nearly 63,000 fans shuffled like penguins (no pun intended) into the Snow Bowl of Soldier Field, and everyone was in great spirits.  What's a little bit of snow and a little bit of cold to any Chicagoan and diehard Blackhawks fan?

I am thankful to my sister Marinela for inviting me along and arranging our whole journey and entry into Soldier Field.  It was an awesome experience for an event that quizzically is too rare for the NHL.  Yes, our toes got cold, and, yes, we had to take our gloves off to eat hot dogs and pretzels and thereby risk frostbite.  But it was all worth it.

A number of reporters at the game talked about how awesome of a spectacle it was.  Indeed we could vouch for that.  So picture this: It was snowing heavily in the first period, but it eased up early in the second period.  Then it picked up again, until the white stuff became heavy snowflakes.  I looked up in the Chicago night sky, and noticed that these snowflakes seemed mostly to be floating in the air and swirling gently above us all.  There wasn't that much wind to speak of.  Stiff winds usually come off of Lake Michigan.  But there you had it.  Against the backdrop of the bright lights, all the snow was positively magical.  It was a sight to behold.  

How did I dress in particular?  Layers was the operative word.  An undershirt, a turtleneck, a light long sleeve shirt, then a spring jacket.  Marinela bought us Stadium Series jerseys, so I wore that over the jacket.  Finally, a winter ski jacket.  That's for the upper body.  For the lower body, I wore light pajama pants, under my jeans.  The walking boots I wanted to wear were fit only for one pair of socks, so two pairs would've made it too tight for my feet.  So I decided to wear my heavy work boots, with one pair of new gym socks.  Heavy work gloves, not the dress gloves I normally wore.  A Blackhawks ski hat, and I was all good to go.  Aside from my toes getting cold in the second period, I was perfectly fine in those elements.

Thank you for reading, and let me know what you think!

Ron Villejo, PhD