Griffins Game

On Wednesday I went to the Grand Rapids griffins hockey game against the Toronto Marlies. It was an exciting game and the Griffins won the game in overtime. Even though the game of hockey is a sport it was still very clear that the league is a business at heart and its main purpose is to make money and they were extremely creative in how they went about trying to accomplish this.
There were all kinds of advertising techniques used some of which I had never even seen before and I have been watching professional hockey since I can remember. Before the puck (which was delivered to the referee by a pharmacist on skates) was even dropped the team’s mascot Griffin came flying out of the zamboni entrance on a shiny new all-terrain utility vehicle which he drifted around the ice as an another mascot threw t-shirts out into the stands. Everything was sponsored by someone, from the instant replays shown on the jumbo-tron to the crazy events performed by fans during the intermission to win prizes. The team even had invented their very one Griff Gatlin Gun, which I will admit was pretty sweet, as it spun rapidly shot t-shirts high into the stands, which advertised a cosmetology school. Also during that same intermission various coupons were dropped from the rafters and rained down on the fans like confetti. With all this going on alongside the game it’s not hard to notice that we live in a very capitalist empire.
Music was also a key part in attending the hockey game. It was used quite effectively to invoke a wide variety of emotions in the fans depending on the circumstance and even creating a creating a greater sense of community as a result. In the case that the griffins scored a loud exciting song would be played alongside the goal horn, which would create a real sense of excitement among the fans and in turn them cheer louder. If the opposing team gets a penalty and is arguing the call with the referee something like “Hit the Road Jack” wouldn’t be unusual or if on the other hand a Griffin’s player received a penalty that the fans didn’t agree with a song would be played that gave the referee a hard time like “Why Don’t You Get a Job?” by The Offspring. In virtually every situation a suitable song would be played, if there was a fight the start of “Eye of the Tiger” might have been played, all of which not only served to stir up the fans emotions, but also as a result everyone got into the game more, which created as sense of community among the people who were rooting for the same cause as you, and not to mention a much greater atmosphere.
Music was not the only tool used to create a greater sense of community among the fans, there were many other tools used, even some of the promotions served this purpose in some way and there were some things that were done solely for the entertainment of the fans because if the are not entertained they won’t come back and the team will lose money. For example they did the “kiss cam”, which will focus on a couple (most times) and they will have to kiss on the camera, this seems like a simple exercise, but it can be surprisingly entertaining like when the cameraman gets a smart idea and focuses the camera on two Marlies players beside each other on the bench. Everything done during the game, even the game itself, is a direct result of the empire and capitalism, which, in this case, I would argue is a good thing as it makes for an extremely entertaining experience.