All Flyered Up

All Flyered Up

With the Phillies' brief playoff run over and the Eagles' season seemingly in disarray, it's time for some Flyers hockey! After a dismal season last year, the team made some major upgrades and they figure to make the playoffs this year and hopefully do some real damage. Tonight, I had a chance to check them out in person, as they took on the Atlanta Thrashers at the Wachovia Center. See me all dressed for the occasion in my authentic Flyers jersey (which makes me look huge, by the way).

As you can see from the view in the picture here, my father and I had great seats. The players looked huge and the puck was easy enough to follow. The only problem I had was the frigid temperature inside the arena (it is home to an ice hockey team after all). My driving hand got so cold that by the end of the game, I could barely control my wheelchair -- even after putting my driving hand in a wool sock for most of the game.

The Wachovia Center is very wheelchair-friendly, though it wasn't always that way. Eleven years ago, when the building opened, wheelchair users like myself loved the view -- until we realized we could not see ANYTHING when people in front of us stood up at exciting points of the game. Simply amazing how such an error could be made in the construction of a facility costing hundreds of millions of dollars! A class action lawsuit followed, resulting in the installation of elevated platforms, accessible with use of lifts like the one pictured above.

I suppose all is well that ends well, as the sightlines for those of us in wheelchairs are now pretty spectacular. Good thing, too, because last night's game was definitely worth seeing, as the Orange and Black easily dispatched the winless Thrashers, 4-0.

LET'S GO FLYERS!!!