The Winter Classic

I began my 2018 with a visit to Citi Field for the Winter Classic.  I've been waiting for the Winter Classic to come to New York pretty much for the entire 10 years that the event has existed, and this year it finally did!  Although, this was actually my second time seeing the Rangers in an outdoor game.  I saw them play the Islanders at Yankee Stadium a few years ago.  But this was different.  This was the Winter Classic!

Despite the cold (which definitely put a damper on things), it was definitely worth it.  The game actually ended up being pretty competitive, too, which was a worry considering the Sabres' record coming in.  It went to overtime before the Rangers won, improving to 4-0 all-time in baseball stadiums.

They also continued the tradition of announcing the U.S. Olympic team at the Winter Classic.  Although, since the NHL isn't sending its players to PyeongChang, it wasn't quite the same.  Instead of announcing the team at the conclusion of the game, with the players on the participating teams skating out in their U.S. Olympic jerseys (in this case Ryan McDonagh and Jack Eichel), they did it at the second intermission with only a handful of members from each team there (it was nice that the women's and sled hockey teams were also included, though).  More about the Olympic thing tomorrow, but there was definitely something missing with that announcement.  Which isn't the fault of the players, obviously.

My seat was actually pretty good, too.  I was in left field, behind the Sabres bench.  Four of the five goals (all but the game-winner) were scored on that end, so I got pretty lucky in that regard.  I was also in the last row, right by the food and bathroom, which made it a somewhat shorter wait in those lines.

It also gave me a pretty good angle for photos.  And, it actually worked out better that I was planning on using my camera to take pictures anyway.  Because I didn't have to take my gloves off (either pair) to use my camera.  The people at Citi Field were good, too.  I was able to move around afterwards and get photos from different angles with no problems.

As usual, you can find more on Facebook, but here's a selection from the day...

They had an eagle flyover after the national anthem.

The opening faceoff

Members of the men's & women's Olympic and Paralympic
sled hockey teams.

We're going to overtime!

Rangers win!

Great use of the Mets' home run apple