MsSingleMama at the Blue Jackets

February 27, 2012

After a hard day’s work, the Cement Marketing team took the short hike from our Gay Street office to the Arena District to catch the Blue Jacket’s versus the Detroit Red Wings.
In just minutes we were at the Arena, ready for some action on the ice. It’s amazing how short the walk to the Arena District is from all of my favorite spots in Downtown Columbus. From the vibrant Gay Street, just five or seven minutes and from the Short North, even closer.

I am not a sports fan. Anyone who knows me knows this. In fact, I have a hard time focusing during sporting events on the actual game. For me, the game is a social event. A time to gather with friends, drink good beer and in our case, to celebrate Rod Richmond’s coming to America. Rod is Cement Marketing’s newest hire and he also happens to be fresh from Edinburgh, Scotland, where there is no national hockey league. Needless to say, when he moved here one of his first wish list activities was a Columbus Blue Jacket’s game. Here he is with our copywriter Sara, clearly bursting with excitement before the game started.

Brad Spencer and his fiance, Courtney joined us also.

You can see by the look of complete shock on their face, they weren’t expecting me to pull out my camera. With plenty to drink and eat, we settled in to watch the game. I admit, I spent most of the time talking to my sweet date, Seth Gray. As single parents, we cherish our date nights and we loved the change of pace the Blue Jacket’s game brought. We could still talk and then break to watch the game, talk more, and then, of course, there’s the full bar and the locally brewed beers on tap. My favorite game time moment? This…

Not really a game time moment, but these little guys were so adorable. I immediately vowed to get Benjamin, my five year old son, signed up for hockey lessons as soon as possible. After the game, we all walked to the Three Legged Mare. The bar was packed with Blue Jacket’s fans, who were still in good spirits in spite of the 5-2 loss to the Red Wings.

There’s nothing like walking out of a national sporting event into a bar and then finding a drink in your hands minutes later. No long lines, no madness, just the perfect time to be with friends.

Alaina Shearer is the Principal of Cement Marketing, an interactive marketing firm in Columbus, Ohio offering social marketing, search engine optimization and Web design and development services. She is also the author of Ms. Single Mama, her blog on dating as a single mother.