Allez, Grenoble, ALLEZ!

.....Grenoble, 6 // Angers, 2.....

Nous avons gagné!!!

I'm still on a high from the fabulous ice hockey win chez Grenoble!  Tonight I profited again from the enourmous enthusiasm les Grenoblois (the people of Grenoble) have for their winter sports.... it was, in fact, my first professional ice hockey game, but after how much fun I had, it will certainly not be my last!  

Talk about an EXPERIENCE.  I was singing and shouting the whole game.  Elisabeth, myself, and our friend Hamid (from Rabot) purchased tickets right before the game, and decided on some seats near ice level.  The man had mentioned that we could choose others because these seats were "quite loud," but we were naive, I guess, and weren't quite sure what he meant anyway.

Well, we figured it out straight away when we located our seats and found a big bass drum sitting there instead.  Truth be told, we had chosen seats in the "rah rah"/devoted fan/pep band section, so after being informed (by a young decked-out fan) that we could chose any seat in the section, we took our places.  The red color of the seats wrapping around the cozy arena was quickly dissolving into navy blue as the fans poured in.

 Lights started flashing and the teams were about to come out.  The drums in front of us began.  Right in front of us.  We had skill for choosing the seats near the action; we were one row behind the entire drum line (led by a middle-aged Grenoblois on a megaphone!).  Friends, this man never once stopped shouting into that megaphone during the entire night.  His comrades never stopped banging their drums.  Happily, I am not joking.  : D  I learned about ten different cheers and felt quite proud to be associating with these spirited individuals.  I can't tell you how many laughs I had, when the chanting would stop and the old man drumming on the end would still be singing away (until he faded out, embarrassed), or when we were in the middle of a cheer and suddenly megaphone man's voice went out a little because the other team had almost scored.  He was so shaken up, he had to fan himself a little after that!

And so, by chance, I got to integrate right into Grenoble's most devoted fan section and I had a blast the entire night!  There's nothing like chanting continuously with the crowd for a team that is playing spectacularly.   Les Brûleurs de Loups, as the team is called, played fluidly and kept the puck constantly on the offense.   The team they were playing, Angers, is ranked number one in the league, and this game was the semi-final for the league championship!  Grenoble scored one in the first quarter, one in the second, and FOUR in the third.  Exciting news-- I not only taped the celebration of goal number five, so you all could see just how fanatic the Grenoblois are, but I continued taping long enough that in minute 2:13 of my video, you can witness the sixth goal of the game, a beautiful give and go straight to the back of the net!  Check it out--I hope you do! (you'll find it on the right hand side just below my 'profile.'.... the link takes you to the youtube video.  sorry it's not the best quality... it was taken on my camera).  I was pretty excited to have lucked out with capturing that (too bad I didn't get the Angers player when he knocked out at least two teeth... that always has to happen, huh!?).

The game actually ended in a weird way--Grenoble had clearly won, but the teams and refs talked for awhile and then played encore in sudden death.  I'm pretty sure it was because each team had taken one win.  Thankfully, Grenoble's best player had a slap shot that hit the goalie's mitt but tumbled...in slow motion.... past the black line for the win.  The fans went the craziest they had all night, and Hamid and I got offered a piece of a huge banner to hold up saying something about winning (naturally, I was on the wrong side to read it!).  The channel 3 TV station was there and we are all pretty convinced that we'll be making some air time.  Awesome. :) 

Tonight I felt proud to be in Grenoble, proud to be a part of Grenoble, proud to be a Grenobloise.  I leave you with the chant below......it was one of my favorites and it is still stuck in my head.   It supplemented, of course, the standard "Allez, Genoble, allez!" (which literally means, "let's go Grenoble!").  There.   Now you even know a little french. ; )

GREAT WIN GRENOBLE!

(to the tune of "She'll be coming around the mountain")

Si tu bien es Grenoblois frappe tes mains
Si tu bien es Grenoblois frappe tes mains
Si tu bien es Grenoblois, si tu bien es Grenoblois, 
Si tu bien es Grenoblois frappe tes mains

(If you really are a Grenoblois clap your hands)


Si tu frapperas tes mains Grenoble gagnera
Si tu frapperas tes mains Grenoble gagnera
Si tu frapperas tes mains, si tu frapperas tes mains 
Si tu frapperas tes mains Grenoble gagnera

(If you clap your hands Grenoble will win)

P.S. Exciting sidenote: in perusing the Grenoble ice hockey team's website, I found a story on the Chicago Blackhawks .... why?  Because Christobal Huet, their goalie, was trained in Grenoble and is from Grenoble!  WAY COOL!!  Everyone should now go to a Blackhawks game.