I'll be honest, up until Halloween of this year I never gave Hockey the time of day. That all changed on October 31 when I watched the Utica Comets play.

I love sports!  Since I was a little boy I've been a fan of the Dallas Cowboys.  I've stood by their side through the good, the bad and the ugly! Yes there's a reason most of my clothes are blue and grey. My Cowboy debit card makes an excellent conversation piece too. Thankfully this season I haven't been refused customer service....yet!

I'm also an avid New York Yankees fan! When I was a kid my buddy Jeff and I had a Whiffle ball diamond. We set up bicycles as a fence and we even kept stats. He was a Yankee fan too so we had to split the roster down the middle.  I always fought to get Ron Guidry and he would refuse to play unless I gave him Don Mattingly.

There are other sports I like including tennis, (I was #2 seed on my high school team!) the UFC, and adventure sports, but for one reason or another I've always been adamantly opposed to hockey and I'm not even sure why.

On Halloween one of my friends invited me to a Comets game at the Utica Aud. I reluctantly accepted and since I didn't want to be bored to tears once I got there, I decided to do a quick "rules of hockey" study beforehand.

I immediately and forever changed my mind about hockey once I stepped in the arena. I couldn't believe how crazy and passionate these Utica Comet fans were! The experience felt like one big pep rally! But what set this apart from other sporting events I've attended was the fact that everyone was rallying around the same team.  It really was a community affair and I was really glad to be there! The game was very fast paced, the crowd was totally involved, and there was energy in the air! Unfortunately the Comets lost in overtime but it didn't matter. Even if I hadn't done my pre-game "rules of hockey" study I still would have had an excellent time!

I'd like to personally encourage any hockey naysayers to check out a Comets game if they get the opportunity.  You can also get inspired about hockey by watching this video!

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