Peace on Ice.

This past Sunday, as ESPN reminded us over and over and over again, Yankee stadium hosted its last Major League Baseball game. Sometimes ESPN and the sports media makes a bigger deal out of things than they really are, but I admit, this is a big deal. Yankee stadium has hosted an unbelievable amount of historical events. Players upon players, teams upon teams have graced that field. Generations of fans have taken their seat and experienced the myriad of emotions that go along with loving a sports team.

What I would like to point out is that whether we live in New York or not, whether we are fans of baseball or not, we ALL have a Yankee Stadium. We all have a place, that sometimes feels more like home than the place we lay our head every night. The players on a team may be traded or grow old and retire. Coaches and GM's get fired. The uniforms may get a new, fresh look. Even the rules of the game may change over the year. But the building that houses all of this--that is a sacred place for sports fans and it doesn't have to be an infamous stadium in the most famous city in the world. It just has to be home. Mine is the Shark Tank.

Once when I was going through a rough period in my life, I was seeing a therapist. During one session, she asked me to close my eyes and think of a place where I was completely at peace. Instantly, my instincts took me 525 West Santa Clara Street. My reaction was how odd it was that when I was asked to go to the most peaceful place I knew, my mind immediately went to a building with a blaring sound system, fog horns, flashing lights and thousands of screaming fans. But that was it. That is peace to me. 14 years old, me and my dad, sitting in our season ticket seats in the upper level, with the guys with the smelly sandwiches sitting next to us. Watching Jeff Odgers get in front of the net. My dad screaming "Minus-9 Wayne!" to the Great One when the Kings were in town. Enter Sandman. The Sharks Head with steaming red eyes. The Chomp on Power Plays. The "Hey" song when we scored. That is my peace.

I've been lots of other hockey games in lots of other arenas and I enjoy them all. I've even been on the staff at the San Jose Arena and had the opportunity to see the game from every plausible angle in the Arena. I've even been so fortunate enough to cover a playoff game from the press box. None of it compares to being 14 years old, being there for every game with my pops with me, teaching me about the greatest sport on earth. For me, Yankee Stadium will never hold a candle to the Tank.