White Sox vs. Toronto

A few weeks ago Kish and Louis took the Via Rail train to Toronto to meet Paul who was there on business. Danielle was in Calgary that week and we let Louis have a "sick day" in order to cheer on the White Sox in Toronto. I wish more people could experience train travel -- it was awesome. Fares between Toronto and Montreal are affordable and it's a popular route. In our case it was less than driving since we would be driving back with Paul. The train station is ten minutes from our house (next to the airport) and the train goes right to downtown Travel and a ten minute walk to the Rogers Center. Louis loved the train and even ate a sandwich he wouldn't touch if his mom made it at home, but for whatever reason, on the train it was "really really good."

We were able to get to the stadium in plenty of time to watch the White Sox warm up. And we had a motive of hoping to get autographs since Sox fans sort of stood out in this empty stadium.

We stood there waiting and Mark Kotsay walked up to Louis. He signed his ball, looked at it and said "is this your ball son?" Louis nodded yes and Kotsay said "you need a real Major League Baseball ball" and went out on the field and grabbed one and signed the second ball.

Then Kotsay went down the line signing more autographs when he looked over at Louis and asked if he wanted a picture. Louis, being very shy said "no." Not because he didn't want to but he gets really quiet when he's in a cool situation. So Kotsay was signing collector cards from some of the "professional" autograph seekers when he looked over at Louis again.

So after signing the Mark Kotsay card from the professional he looked at the guy and said "You will be giving this card to Louis." It was then that he handed the card to Louis and the professional just said "uh, okay."

Louis had a smile on his face the entire game and came home with two signed balls and an awesome trading card. He wanted to give one of the balls to his buddy Liam in Chicago.

It happened to be Jackie Robinson day. We had to explain to some Canadians in back of us who Jackie Robinson was when she was confused as to why every player was wearing #42 jerseys.

The Rogers Center is an amazing structure. The roof started out open and after a couple of innings they closed it. It's very similar to the stadium in Milwaukee.

Sadly, the White Sox lost. We have yet to see them win while we've been attending games in Canada. And the crowd? Very dismal, yet, surprisingly very LOUD. It must be all that practice at hockey games. Or perhaps the Blue Jays team is all they have to cheer for for since the Maple Leaves suck were not doing well. Ozzie Guillen had a few choice words to say about the fans. For us, it was no different than any Chicago game.

Things not seen in the U.S. #8

Montreal is completely crazy about the Montreal Canadiens. The fans are particularly fond of the goalie, Jaroslav Halak, as evidenced by this STOP sign. We've seen Photoshopped stop sign photos in the paper with Halak replacing ARRET. In seeing this stop sign, it's also unique around Montreal because there are very few signs that stay STOP rather than ARRET. The Language Police (no joke) might demand this sign be replaced because the English word is the same size as the French word. (no joke)

This evening it was a very quick softball game for Danielle as the game took place during the first period of the Canadiens/Penguins game. The Canadian Canadiens fans, snug in winter coats (yes, we are wearing winter coats on May 10) had to show their spirit at the softball game today.

And speaking of hockey....for some reason, perhaps because we now live in Canada, watching/hearing the National Anthems of both countries is incredibly awesome.

Holy Hockey!

It's a beautiful, warm Sunday in Montreal and 90% of the residents are inside watching the Montreal Canadiens play the Pittsburgh Penguins today. Around here, hockey is more of a religion than a sport. No joke.

One of Danielle's friends suggested an interesting Facebook group where the following prayer is posted, very appropriate on a Sunday when very few Canadian Catholics go to church anyway...

Our Father, who art in Bell Centre
Hockey be thy Name
Thy will be done
the Cup be Won
on ice as well as in the Stands. 


Give us this day our Hockey Sticks
and Forgive us our Penalties. 
As we Forgive those who Cross-Check against us
Lead us not into Elimination and 
Deliver us to Victory.


In the name of the Fans, Lord Stanley and the Holy Halak! Amen


Since I like to include images in these posts, just for the heck of it I entered a google images search for Hockey Rosary Beads and believe it or not...this appeared.

Yes, it's a rosary with beads shaped like hockey pucks. For more religious hockey items, click
here