Ice, Fire, and a Dog of a Wine

Victoria had gotten a suite at the Verizon Center for the Caps game through a friend (she had a personal interest in going, as she is from upstate NY, the Caps were playing Buffalo) so the group was her, our dear friend Philippe Cousteau, who for once, was in the country, and is the Founder of Earth Echo International and Paige Bishop, our friend who publishes Capitol File Magazine.

We had a blast at the game - yes, the Caps ended up winning, but I have to say, there were many confusing moments that go to this day, unexplained to me. I mean, I can pick up the Post and read what the heck happened, but what I want to know, is why don't they explain to the fans what is happening DURING the game? I don't understand. {I love going to Caps games partially because I love supporting our home teams, but also to support a great mentor to me, Ted Leonsis, and finally, the games are held at the Verizon Center which is so easy to get to - and there are tons of places to go prior to the game and after. (favorites: IndeBleu, Zengo, Rosa Mexicano, Zola, Zaytinya, Clydes, Oya, District Chophouse)}

Now, hockey moves so quickly, if you turn your head for a second, you can miss so much, and it isn't like football, where you are shown again and again the replay. And the refs don't have a mic so they can tell you what is going on when it comes to penalties, and who is accountable for what. There was a huge fight that broke out and there was some major time out and several players from both teams were in the mix. Two were booted from the game and two were dumped into the penatly boxes for a long time. We just sat there dumbfounded going "What? Who did what? What happened?" I have this feeling that they don't do replays on the screen b/c that will just make the fans of both teams go nuts and fights will break out in the stands - those die hard hockey fans are crazy! I saw 2 guys get removed b/c they were throwing beer into the crowd in front of them. They were not Caps fans, we are much too classy for that! But I did notice there were just as many Sabres fans as Washington fans last night. I didn't realize there were so many transplants from upstate NY.

The placed seemed pretty packed, which is great to see now. Finally! The fans are really coming out to watch this fun sport. From my perspective, it seems like the Caps staff are really getting out and meeting the fans, marketing themselves, and connecting the team to the community, which is wonderful to see. And it helps to have Alex Ovechkin too, who just started his own AIM page on this AOL social networking site. (click on his name to go to his page)

We left early, because we had reservations at one of my favorite places, the beautiful OYA restaurant. I love that place - we sat near the roaring fire in the sleek white walled dining room. It has such a cozy appeal, and the food is out of this world. Paige informed us that they had revamped the menu, but either way, the chef has found his way to my heart - and stomach. After way too much food, but definitely a lot of laughs and more bubbly and a wine that we were introduced to that has a name that I shouldn't write, however, it is published on the wine menu, so I guess I can share - it is called "Bitch". Yes, that is right, you didn't read wrong. "Bitch". It actually was a pleasant grenache, light bodied and went well with my sushi. I just want to know, how often that wine is ordered, and how awkward is it for someone to ask for it from the waiter, or what if you had your Mom order it? That would be quite interesting. "Yes, we'd like to order a bottle of the Bitch for the table please." I suppose there are worse names, but we did find that to be quite comical. The Bitch Grenache gave me a wonderful ending to a great evening and week!