After much deliberation, Jenn and I have decided not to get full season hockey tickets for the Winter Hawks this year. We love hockey, we love our seats, and we love the people we sit by. We just can’t make it to 36 home games over the course of a season, and we can’t justify spending the money on the tickets anymore. The Hawks have taken too long to “rebuild;” there are too many Memorial Coliseum games when they should be in the Rose Garden; and we always tell each other we’ll go on vacation when we have the time and money… but with 36 games to go to, there’s no time, and at the prices they’re charging, there’s no money.

This was actually a really hard decision that we chewed on for several weeks. We really do love our seats - right on the glass! Front row hockey action! And the people we sit by are really good friends - we couldn’t ask for better seat neighbors. Those were the two factors making us reluctant to not get the season tix - the seats and the people. Sadly, the factors against (money, time, etc.) barely outweighed and now we’re going to step down for a partial season ticket package instead.

I’ll be honest - the real push for me was the time. I do love the hockey. 36 home games, though? It’s like every single night you’re having to haul ass downtown. I’ve really been enjoying not having to run around so much during the off-season and I really just can’t see getting back into that crazy shuffle. Six or seven times in a season? Sure. Twice a week for several months? Too much. Far too much.

So we’ll lose our seats, which I’m sorry to do, and we’ll have to run down to visit our friends during intermissions. But we’ll actually plan and go on a vacation this year, which, I think, will make up for it. Cancun? Disneyland? The sky is the limit!