One amazing day

This week I've been working in Ireland. It's been nice to go back over as it's been a while now. So anyway Tuesday evening the three of us are sitting in the bar discussing recent developments in the world of cardiology (or not) and we're generally having a good old chat over several pints. It gets to that point in the evening where the discussion goes along the lines of "Shall we have one more?" Now it's normally the case that the amount that is drunk the night before is directly proportional to the number of patients. With this in mind we called a halt around midnight.

Anyway next day there we all are on the unit in Sligo, with what looks like a reasonably big list ahead of us. However disaster strikes when the kit decides it's not going to play ball.

Break downs are a right pain in the neck, with everyone getting stressed about cancelling patients and things, and often the biggest problem can be no one wanting to make a decision. But I have to say that to everyone who was involved credit, a decision was made promptly and unfortunately the list was cancelled.

However this presented a very tempting opportunity. Coventry blaze were playing the Edinburgh capitals in a match that would decide the league title if Coventry were to win it. So I faced a decision. Do I race as quickly as possible to Belfast airport to try and change to an earlier flight with the hope of getting to Coventry in time for the game. The chances of making it were slim. With no idea if there even were earlier flights, and no guarantee of being able to get on an earlier flight.

I decided to give it a go, after all what did I have to loose? I hadn't planned on going to the game so the way I saw it was that getting to the skydome would of been a bonus. So off I set from Sligo hospital, some 400miles away from the Skydome. The journey was going fairly well, with those narrow Irish roads being relatively quiet. With no radio in the hire car I kept myself awake by humming some of the tunes I'd hopefully be hearing later in the evening. This quickly turned into random chants of 'PEASY PEASY' every time I overtook the assorted tractors on the roads. I soon found myself crossing the border into Northern Ireland, and with that came better roads and the chance to speed up a bit. With each passing mile, my optimism increased, I was sure I was going to make it. But I still had to change my flight.

So some three hours after leaving Sligo I pulled up at the hire car return at Belfast, oblivious the the fact that I was humming Chelsea dagger perhaps a little too loudly. I quickly found the BMI baby ticket desk and smiled sweetly at the rep. "Changing your flight? Certainly sir, let me just check. Right there's a flight to Birmingham at 16.55" A quick check in my head, and I estimated that I'd land at about 6 o'clock. Perfect. Changing the flight cost me £80, but somehow my credit card lept out of my wallet and over the desk.

Now my next worry was, what if I get to the Skydome, and it's sold out? All this would of been for nothing! So it was on to the Internet to get the number for the booking line. There it was. Done. My ticket would be waiting for me.

Everything was going to plan, could it work, would everything fall into place? I spent the next couple of hours worrying about mechanical failure, weather problems, and anything else that could scupper my chances. Then, my flight was called, early! We all boarded, early! no one was left behind, no one got lost in the bar, everything looked rosy. Captain announces over the tannoy in a slightly surprised voice that everyone is on board, and that we will be leaving EARLY! and that due to a strong tail wind, we will be arriving even earlier!!

I didn't relax until I heard the undercarriage come up and saw the rugged Ulster coastline disappearing behind us. So at 5.40 we landed at Birmingham, and by 6 I was headed down the A45 towards Coventry. Nothing was going to stop me now.

At 7pm I pulled up in the carpark and walked the short distance to the skydome. I spotted Badger, whose first words to me were "You're supposed to be in Ireland!" With that I quickly collected my tickets and stood in my usual spot, savoring the atmosphere.

The game itself was a fairly usual Blaze affair, with Coventry quickly securing an unsurmountable lead. As the clock ticked down the minutes the atmosphere inside the arena was incredible. The title was insight, the cup was in the building!

The final hooter sounded and the arena erupted into euphoria, we'd done it and I WAS THERE! To see how much the win meant to the players and fans was a moment I'll never forget. In fact the only occasion that I have to compare it with is the 1987 FA cup final.

This has been my first full season following the Coventry Blaze. I've been to Cardiff and Sheffield and followed the team through the good and bad matches. Ice hockey has been a real revelation for me, OK so I'm still learning all the technicalities, but for me it's pure entertainment. I now relish the thought of Sunday evenings,and what my team, the Coventry Blaze can do.

So now that I consider myself a true Hockey fan, I popped down to the hockey locker today to pick up a copy of Ignite, the Blaze magazine. The assistant manager of the Blaze, Luc Chabot was in there looking very hung over. I don't blame him mind, I bet there were a few sore heads this morning.

Anyway carrying my copies of Ignite, I started walking back to the car, when I was stopped by a local BBC news crew, who asked if I wouldn't mind answering a few questions. Not being in a rush I agreed. Their first question was whether I'd heard of the Coventry Blaze. We all had a laugh as I showed them what I was carrying. They went on to ask whether the team deserved a civic reception, and what I thought about it.

So all in all, it's not been a bad few days.