Watching Hockey from the Second Deck

My wife and I have season tickets for UND hockey. After our move last year, it is now about 80 miles one way to attend a game. This year I have been shooting alot of hockey. We also had tickets to the World Junior Championships, so I have seen alot of hockey this year. Our World Jr's tickets were on the first deck, about 7 rows off the ice. Photographing hockey also frequently puts me close to the ice. But our season tickets are on the second deck. Last night was the first time in about 45 days that I had sat in our regular seats for a UND game. I was bored silly and easily distracted. You could barely hear the sounds of the game and I never felt into it.

I have been to Fenway park once. I had great seats; five rows behind the home/first base dugouts. Fenway field has a very high crown. I enjoyed watching baseball from those seats because the ball flew "up". I have years of experience playing, umpiring, and photographing baseball. The game has a completely different feel from field level than it does from stands looking down at play.

I just watched the Superbowl on TV. Baseball and Hockey do not translate as well to TV or stands. On the other hand, Football is a sport I like to watch from above (stands or TV). I see the plays develop better and am not blocked by big lineman or dodging linebackers like you have to do on the sidelines when you photograph it. Unlike hockey, I don't seem to loose the hits and action because of distance.

Being a sports photographer has spoiled me for how I like to watch my sports.

How about you? How do you like to watch sports?