Yesterday was SO much fun; I went to the season-opening Washington Capitals hockey game with a group of friends! There were major Metro delays, of course, which messed with our plans, but we did make it to our seats on time. We won the game, by a decent margin and without overtime, but the real fun was sharing it with people I love.

The same group took me to a pre-season game a few years ago, and it was certainly enjoyable; it was what made hockey the only mainstream pro sport I'd consider watching with sincere interest. But I never really paid much attention to it, until this past year, when the Caps made it into the playoffs. I was invited to go out to dinner with friends, to watch one of the playoff games (and partly because the location was close to my apartment), and we won that game, so I was declared to be the "good luck charm". Didn't really have much choice after that!

Pro sports seldom hold my interest for very long, and while hockey is better than others at that, I still only paid fleeting attention to the game, preferring instead to socialize. That said, enthusiasm is contagious for me, and it was easy to get swept up in the excitement of victories because of those around me. The Caps didn't win the Stanley Cup that year, but I found myself a LOT more emotionally invested in the lead-up than I expected.

As the start of the season neared this year, I found myself genuinely excited for more hockey, with little input/secondhand-enthusiasm from others. So, I joined for the opening game in-person.

It was also my first time watching a hockey game since starting Adderall, and that helped considerably; I still wasn't 100% focused on it, and I was glad to be next to someone else in the group who doesn't mind talking and such during the action, but I kept track of what was happening far better than before. So that was pretty cool.

So, I'm arguably a hockey fan now, and I'm optimistic about this season! I don't really do the rivalry thing, though, so I hope everyone else's favorite teams do well this year, too!