just in: joe six-pack boos palin

I love to go to the Flyers first home game of the season because there is nothing like looking forward to a winter full of hockey.  Though the Flyers came up short, 3-4, they rallied from a 0-4 deficit and played an exciting game.  Though most of the night felt familiar (the bad stadium food, the boisterous fans who raged at Rangers fans and–in the case a few seats away from us–one another, the passionate fans who cheered even the smallest victories, the addicting “Let’s go Flyers” chant, the affable “Dancing Guy”), there was one thing I hadn’t expected.

At the start of the game, a black carpet had been laid for what looked like a special guest.  Proudly, a woman wearing a jersey that read “Hockey Mom” walked out onto the ice. Only moments later, I heard booing. I turned to Mike right away to see what was happening, and he leaned over and said “Sarah Palin.”  Then it registered. I heard that Palin was judging an “Ultimate Hockey Mom” contest, and I knew the winning Mom was set to drop the puck at tonight’s game, but I didn’t realize that Palin would be at the game, too. 

The announcer introduced Palin seconds later, and the crowd errupted into angry boos.  Some fans around me were on their feet, cupping their hands around their mouths to be sure their boos were heard above all the others.  It lasted for minutes (throughout the puck drop), these deafening jeers that ordered Palin off the ice.  I wondered aloud to Mike if they would broadcast this incident on the news, and when I got home, I immediately turned on the news and Googled “Palin booed at Flyers game” to get the story.  Of course, most places got it wrong. On NBC10, Sports Reporter Via Sikahema mentioned Palin’s appearence at the game, but not the boos.  There are some other reports that say Palin was booed at first, but then welcomed with polite applause. I am here to tell you this didn’t happen. She was booed feverishly by Flyers fans, and it was all loud and clear. In the clips that appear on YouTube and elsewhere, it seems that the music was turned up in the arena to drown out the fan reaction.  Hmpf.  We didn’t hear that in the Wachovia Center. What we did hear was a unified expression of disapproval for the VP candidate, gosh darn it (insert wink here). 

With the election so close, and with so many votes being swayed by sound bites and slights of hand, it would be nice to hear the truth now and again–it would be nice for more people to realize that maybe not every “Joe Six-Pack” rests in Palin’s back pocket afterall.   

Let’s go Flyers!

~ by gmgennari on October 12, 2008.