Personal Narrative: What Is Play

On March 24, 2016 I attended an American Hockey League (AHL) game at the Quicken Loans Arena between the Lake Erie Monsters and the Rockford IceHogs. To get to the game, I had to meet my good friends parents for the first time because we were taking their car up to Cleveland. Ironically, this process felt almost ritualistic, because even though my friend was a female and not a romantic interest, I still conducted my usual nervous preparation for meeting her parents. Aside from this encounter, the game really brought to life the discussion our class had regarding “what is play,” these last few weeks. To start, the game commenced after the players, coaches and trainers took the ice for the singing of the National Anthem. In regards to the frame

of this play, I knew the game would start after six players from each side took the ice and a referee dropped the puck in between the two ‘forward’ players. There was even a hierarchical structure to the players on the ice, flowing from the center of the ice, or forwards, to the goalkeepers.
Throughout the game, play was stopped several times by the referees.

In most cases, a player had committed a foul or unsportsmanlike act to cause a stoppage of play. During a hockey game, the frame of play felt jolt-like, with a lot of stop and go. Further, AHL hockey games are traditionally broken up into three 20-minute periods with 15 to 18 minute intermissions in between the first two halves. A large clock and buzzer informed the breakage of the game/frame of play. For the most part, the players, coaches, and referees had their eye on the clock to monitor the action of play on the ice. When the clock got closer to the end of the 20-minutes, the players seemed to move faster to adjust to the ending time or frame. Likewise, the Lake Erie Monsters were ahead in points during the entire game so as the clock headed toward zero, the players tried to keep the puck on the opposing teams side. Often time in sports, players consider this action as “keep away,” so that the winning team keeps their advantage into the next

period.
As discussed in class, the individuals who attend or spectate the sport of hockey fall into a series of ideologies or classes of people. For the most part, those in attendance rest in a middle to lower income class and likely prefer to live within their means. A majority of the spectators wore jeans and team memorabilia, as a way to showcase their support and admiration for the teams. If I had to guess which political party those spectating belonged to, I’d assumed the democratic or liberal party. The tickets for the event weren’t very expensive, though I did not have to pay for them seeing as my friend works for the arena. Only a limited number of people sat in the arena, a huge difference in comparison to the Cleveland Cavaliers attendance.
Moreover, in comparison to the energy of a crowd at the Cavs game, there was little excitement throughout the course of the game.

After the Lake Erie Monsters scored a goal, however, a large foghorn blared and the crowd erupted in excitement. On the other hand, the crowd remained nearly silent during periods of play. When players hit the walls of the ice rink, some fans would bang on the Plexiglas in an attempt to cheer on the players. Though the game was mild with absolutely no altercations between players, the fans continued to chant for fights. One chant, in particular, caught my attention because it seemed very violent. During various parts of the game, groups of people would yell, “hit somebody!!” loudly and with happiness. This reminded me of the conversation we had in class about play acts that engage in

aggression.
When people think of hockey, they likely think of the fighting that takes place during the games. To be honest, I was a little sad there was not a brawl between players, but at the same time the aforementioned chant really made me think about why I wanted to see a fight. In a way, fighting in hockey is more of a development of the ‘play’ that takes place on the ice. Players become so engorged in the sport and the act that their only way of showing aggression is through fist-to-fist combat. I wonder if the players feel trance like when they’re on the ice. In a way, I do think sportsman enter what Grotowski refers to as a “state of trance” (George Home-Cook, 4). A major difference though, is that the players aren’t really committing to another character. Instead, the players are engaging in their true selves, since they likely have a strong passion for playing hockey. Lastly, the game helped illustrate the differences between play and individual creativity. As the saying goes, there is no “I” in team. Likewise, sporting events that require multiple players’ efforts at a time leaves little room for individual creativity. Aside from the communication department pulling individual players for marketing purposes, the actual game requires participation from everyone. Therefore, this act of play values more cooperative team effort over solo performances.