Last Friday I went to the game of a lifetime (so far). I went to the Anaheim Ducks' Come Out and Play Night in partnership with The Offspring. Now if you don't know the Anaheim Ducks, let me give a brief history. The Anaheim Ducks are a hockey team in Anaheim, California that started in 1993. If you've seen The Mighty Ducks movie from 1992 and wonder if that's connected, the answer is yes. Disney gave the rights to the National Hockey League (NHL) and thus a new team was born. I'll also explain The Offspring since the audience I do this for won't know them because they want to only listen to the popular stuff in the world of music instead of exploring older stuff, and that's putting it lightly. The Offspring was founded in 1984 (already going on 40 years! Geez!) and is a rock band from Garden Grove, California. Their members as of now (according to a picture I took before I left of this giant poster with them in the jerseys) include: Todd Morse (3 on jersey), Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman (5 on jersey, just call him Noodles), Bryan "Dexter" Holland (15 on jersey, just call him Dexter), Brandon Pertzborn (11 on jersey), and Jonah Nimoy (also 3 on jersey). If someone can decode what those numbers mean, I forever have your thanks. They are on the same level as Blink 182 and Green Day as they brought punk rock into mainstream music during the 1990s. So having, 1. a hockey team I grew up with by going to games with my family and 2. a band that I recognized because of my radio attentiveness in 4th grade and shares a genre with 2 (all 3 if you look at Alternative Rock to include Linkin Park) of my favorite bands, made this a game I couldn't miss. 

        When we got there, we instantly got in line to buy the merch. I got this cool sticker of The Offspring skull in the Ducks logo, a puck that says "Puck Punks" (with Parental Advisory Explicit Content hidden on the bottom), and a spirit jersey with the same tagline on the front and on the back it said The Offspring: 30 years of Smash (their 1994 album where the name of this event is a song called "Come Out and Play", all about youth violence) $110 wasted later, I took some pictures, went to warm-ups, and we took our seat when it ended. The lights went out 5 minutes before the game started to play the 30 years rewind at the start of all games. Expecting it to have the referees skate out afterwards, I was surprised to hear their Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace (2008) instant classic "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid" over a collab montage. I knew the lyrics so I sang along in joy. The players from Edmonton came out with the refs and then the Ducks. After the national anthems for Canada and the US, The Offspring came out to do the puck drop and the guy who does the line, "You gotta keep 'em separated" in "Come Out and Play" hit the button to start the game. For both events, I screamed my lungs out. The game started and at the end of the first period, we were at 1-0. The rest of the game was a stadium sing along as they played "Come Out and Play" (Smash, 1994) numerous times and other songs like "The Kids Aren't Alright" (Americana, 1998) and "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid" (Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace, 2008). It went into overtime and sadly Edmonton won 5-3. I could see Noodles and Dexter from my seat leaving their suite and Pertzborn along with Nimoy going to the seats in front to sit. While it was a rough game, attendance was massive and they were happy. I spent over 10 minutes waiting for the merch line to die down so I could get the perfect shot of the massive poster, and it was so worth it in the end.

      Overall, I had so much fun singing along and screaming till my lungs stop breathing. While we lost, in the end, it doesn't even matter. We come to have fun, and maybe get into a few fights while drunk, but still come for fun. Another band to add to the list of favorites! Do you notice that the bands I like all come from California? Bands are Cali, artists are outta state. That's very interesting, but I don't really care. I'll be eagerly awaiting the next collab game!