Good times, bad times

Its a pretty exhausted Phoenix off-ice crew at the moment. Dog days of the year, the novelty and excitement of having the team back and travelling to new places has worn off. So things slip into routine, and what is normally exciting sometimes becomes a chore.

I'm tired, and I don't mind admitting that. Phoenix takes up so much time, plus I do have a regular job to hold down, as well as little bits of work that I do on the side as part of my own business. Caroline is the same, juggling lots of balls at once, and now we have the complication of a wedding to plan.

To give you an idea of my weekend, work Friday, come home, more work, upload Phoenix gallery (having had to edit photos at the last minute), then up, off to Accrington for a mates wedding, reception, drinks, back home, sleep six hours, eye test, off to Sheffield for meeting with some people who are helping with the wedding, then into Ice Sheffield for the production meeting, then the stress/adrenaline of a game, then home for 1am.

I don't think I even said goodbye to everyone properly. I just remember going "muh muh muh" to Fishcake who was looking equally tired.

"A wedding? But they are fun!" I hear you cry. yes, they are. It was a good day, a good do, a big laugh and remember how it takes it out of you? I couldn't attend the stag do properly, as we were playing Coventry that night, so I went with the guys in the afternoon Laser Questing. And after what seemed like half an hour of running around, we realised that we ain't quite as young as we used to be.

This may sound like a whinge. It isn't, not really. Because everyone involved in the Phoenix is the same right now. I find myself having similar phone calls:

"Bad day?"
"Yeah."

And then we realise that we're all suffering the same way, the same lethargy. We don't even bother venting anymore, because we're all in the same boat. After the game, we began packing up. Neil was waiting at the back of IS, and I moved some equipment there. And we just stood, and stared at the wall in silence. I don't think we've ever been in that kind of vicinity for so long without actually saying anything to each other.

Thats why I when I think "Bad day", I realise yep. Probably is. But, I don't have the pressure of building a rink and funding a team. So quite frankly, if I'm gonna blow off steam, I'll do it elsewhere - because my problems aren't worth squat compared to his.

Perspective is the key. I've blown a couple of announcements? So what - he's got fans ringing him up and whinging about nothing. So I shut up, because to moan would be stupid and selfish.

For game time, the adrenaline pumps and for that four hours or so we all live off it and put on a good show. I understand now why bands go crazy on the road touring - its an impossible high punctuated by stretches of either nothing, or stress. The Match Night crew are like a band, each has a job to do individually that integrates with the other.

Its times like these that I'm grateful that I'm surrounded by the right people. Fishcake and Rev are handling the sound - Fishy ran the playback for the first time on Sunday against Nottingham. John and Steve run the cameras and despite being novices to the game, are hooked completely. They're good blokes. Richard gets a little over-stressed at times, but he's under so much pressure its difficult not to. He has to deal with the needs of 9 people, maybe more, as well as keeping an eye on the ice.

Good job that when he had his hair cut off, it grew back grey. I don't think we could tell the difference any more.

Its at times like these that you appreciate the little things - Jon Curtis turns up with tea and coffee during the game and its a godsend. (Although me mistakenly taking all the sugar and milk was a giggle.) It is not be the fact that its tea, its an old thing I used to do in the trenches of tech support, pass a brew to a guy having a bad call, just to get them aware that they aren't enclosed in a tiny space, but surrounded by people who are helping out behind the scenes. A cup of tea provides that little bit of sanity in a mad situation and is always, always, totally appreciated.

As I half said, half ranted at Paul, an old friend running the home penalty box - this is the price of being "in the know". This is the price of being an "insider". You turn up two and a half hours before faceoff, run around like blue arsed flies setting up, live on raw energy for the game, about half of which you actually see, and then from a terrible vantage point, fret, worry, improvise, cajole, marshal and then pack the whole thing up and go home.

Oh, and every mistake you make is seen by a thousand people. So get it right because you'll only be slated for it the next day on the forum.

Which is why I'm really, really pissed off with people having a go, not at me personally, but the club, and the volunteers. The Sheffield game last week was horrible. Lets look at it from a realism point of view. A volunteer crew, in an unfamiliar rink, with 1500 people to squeeze in in fifteen minutes.

I kind of half expected that the crew would get hassle from opposition fans - they don't know the pressures they are under. But from Phoenix fans? Come on. I'm not going to go into great detail, but some people ought to be totally ashamed of the way they behaved. Not because everything worked perfectly, it didn't. But taking it out on people who are doing their best under trying circumstances?

That crew that night deserved a fucking medal, not the whinging and carping afterwards.

And yes, I am tired of the moaners. Especially those who sit behind the comfort of a keyboard, don't go to games, yet feel they can have a pop at people anyone. Can't come? Shut up then. I pay more attention to one complaint from someone who was at a game, than 500 compliments from people who weren't. I'm sorry that not everyone can make it right now, but I'm catering for those who can. And making them happy. Everyone else can wait their turn.

People moaning about the ticketing, the team. People sitting back, hitting Google and looking at a photograph and feeling they have a right to pronounce on the rink, call Neil and the contractors liars when they haven't the first damned clue. I don't give a shit if someone works in the construction industry and comments on the construction of the Ice Dome. Because I'm a web developer, doesn't give me the right to tell Microsoft how to run its websites.

We've had to deal with some real, real problems, especially at Ice Sheffield. I'm not going into too much detail, but you know the old cliche about not slagging off someone in the toilets, when there is a locked cubicle behind you?

I can be really quiet when I want to.

Like with the rink - its amazing how much people think they know what is involved, when actually, they haven't the first clue. An Elite team has to do so much off the ice, we have a lot of equipment, mics, cameras, DVD recorders, mixers and desks, batteries. Then merchandise stalls, season tickets, photographers, all that stuff. A small army behind the scenes that we actually hope you never notice, because if you do notice, then something has gone wrong.

Yet when we're slagged off by some bloke who is involved in an ENL side, we've got to smile sweetly, and mentally add him to the list of people who will be up against the Wall of Fame when the revolution comes.

Other stuff - the MOMs were delayed on Sunday because the photographers had been locked by persons unknown in their area. Again, last Sunday, the lights dimmed during the ENL game. We were on the media gallery, and everyone started yelling at us. There was even an announcement taking the piss over the PA. Noone would come up to see the problem, we had to go down there.

Guess what? It wasn't anything to us. Did we get an apology? No. Especially as we had been accused, over the PA, of doing something that we hadn't. That is totally out of order, and completely unprofessional.

Re-reading this, I know I sound tired and moany and whingey. I love what I'm doing, it is still a rush, and I wouldn't give it up for the world. But right now, people are tired, and stressed. And some Phoenix "fans" need to get their heads out of their arses and give people a damned break.