2007.09.17

Ah, the annual Sharks-Season-Ticket-Holder Teal & White Game reared its ugly head this time, and surprisingly, there were a whole lot more people than last year. I'm guessing this is a side-effect of SVSE's marketing strategy to unveil the "new" Reebok Edge-inspired Sharks jerseys at this intra-squad scrimmage or something like that.

But the thing that most annoyed me: no one was checking for Season-Ticket-Holder ID Cards at the North entrance, which probably resulted in a substantial number of non-season-ticket holders sneaking in, and so they ran out of the free hats before I got there. Bummer.

So we settled on seats in the third row behind the glass, since (a) it was free, and (b) it would provide a nice contrast to our usual seats in the last row of the upper deck. After spending one scrimmage in these seats, I've decided they're not worth the $125 per seat per game they charge (or whatever it is). Seems like the only reason you'd sit down there is to socialize (similar to the Penthouse suite, eh?), and not to, say, watch the hockey game.

Here's what the ice looks like from up near the glass. Sure, you can see in front of you just fine, but how about trying to follow action down at the other end? Almost makes me wish for seamless glass. Almost.

After a five-minute warmup period, here's Joe Thornton shagging pucks out of the goal. What you can't really see in this shrunken image taken from my cameraphone is the hideousness of the orange accent stripes on the jerseys.

Both teams (teal and white) line up at the bluelines for introductions. Here you get a better look at all the white jerseys and the new numbering font, and the more "form-fitting" nature of the jersey. Gross!

The other new thing they unveield was the high-def jumbotron. Above are close-up shots of players during the introductions. I say, it's a whole lot better than the grainy pixelated screen that was there last year.

And here are the new jerseys in action. Well, kind of. Bernier lines up against Davison on this faceoff right in front of me.

And in this shot, Patrick Marleau coasted enough for me to get a clear shot of him. You can see how short the new jerseys are (they look like they're designed to be tucked in. Please tell me that's not what's coming next!).

Final score of the game: Teal 0, White 0. In a shootout of ten skaters aside, team Teal wins 1-0. What a yawner. And the jerseys were hideous. I hope people boycott them!