Thursday, March 28, 2013

A CLOSE BATTLE LOST BUT A WIN FOR FANS


Life is filled with battles. It’s up to us to choose what in our lives is worth standing up for and what is not. The Bulls battled through three scoreless periods, not giving the Idaho Steelheads any quarter. Unfortunately, San Francisco lost in Overtime 1-0, but it’s not something the team should feel badly about; they kept up the fight all the way through.

This was Travis Fullerton’s debut as Goaltender. He did a stellar job. He stopped 25 of 26 shots and helped us Bulls fans breath a bit easier knowing that the team has a good backup goalie now.

Scott Langdon & Travis Fullerton

Kris Belan is also back with the team. I’ve missed him!!! He got a roughing penalty within the first few minutes of the game, just because that’s how he rolls, so we all knew things were getting back to normal. I talked to him after the game and he told me how strange it is to be back in San Francisco and not know hardly any of the players anymore. He was very happy to be here with the San Francisco fans and weather, however and looked extremely happy to see us familiar fans’ faces. He is well loved by Bulls fans.

Kris Belan (Dan Parks)

Also back on the ice was Ian Schultz. He had his energy and speed as well. He’s so fun to watch skate; he never stops with the aggression either. If he can stir it up, he will. He did so in the Third Period, taunting the Steelheads, throwing the bull horns on the way to the box. Since he played at Utah before the Bulls, I have to think that there’s a lot of history and bad blood between him and Idaho.

Ian Schultz

One of the “firsts” by the Bulls is having an Ice Bar at one end of the rink. It’s been a huge success, so the team wanted to enlarge it. There’s also a big area behind the home and visitor’s benches where no one sits because the site line to the game is blocked. The Ice Bar was moved to this area and just opened last night. There is also a row of glass seats that need to be kept separate from the bar area by a fire lane.

There was one problem, though. There was no access to watching the Bulls players warm ups at that side of the ice. The only way one could now get close to the players warming up was to go all the way to the other side of the Barn to a small area. No one was letting us into the glass seat area like we had in the past. That was fine for a weekday night when there aren’t a whole lot of people, but what about a weekend game, or the playoffs when the crowds will be much larger?

New Ice Bar Area

When, in my dismay, I pointed out the access problem for fans, the top rate Bulls staff brainstormed and by the end of the night they decided to open up the entire area to everyone until game time when the Ice Bar becomes Over 21 and the glass seats are closed off for everyone except ticketholders. Which is as it should be.  Even at the top NHL arenas fans are allowed to take pictures of their favorite players warming up, and then when the warm-ups are over, they go back to their seats.

I don’t say this flippantly or lightly. In a world where it seems that no one cares about us, when it seems that we don’t mean much to anyone, this team, the San Francisco Bulls, goes out of their way to make sure us fans get the very best experience they can. THEY DO CARE.

So, thank you, Angela, Marlena, Stephanie, Andrea and everyone else I talked to last night for working with me and making the Bulls Fan Experience an even better time!

The last regular season home game of the year is tomorrow night, Friday! We play the Steelheads again. There will be plenty of raffles for fans, awards for players and fun stuff! You should BE THERE!

We play an away game in Bakersfield Saturday night and then it’s off to the Playoffs!  I’ll write a review of the Playoffs in a couple days, be on the lookout for that!

GO BULLS!