Student Rush

Been a little crazy the past week, otherwise this would've been sooner. But last week, on October 13th, I participated in my first Student Rush for the Pittsburgh Penguins, and attended my first game in the new arena.

Now for those of you who don't know what Student Rush is, basically the Pens take whatever tickets they have left unsold for the game and set them aside for college students with a valid ID and sell them for $25.

 Now these seats could be literally anywhere. We got seats in section 120, row X. These are approximately $135 seats.

Now we got there rather early in the day, & let me tell you, it was a very long day. The line wasn't really much of a line and there were some really rude people. The highlight of being outside was seeing Pens assistant coach Tony Granato walk by with former Pens player Billy Guerin.

But we also got free t-shirts, courtesy of American Eagle.

The whole time we were miserable in line, we just kept telling ourselves that once we got inside, it would all be worth it. & Wow were we right. I had been in the arena for Student Flush (another Pens promo) but it had been a month away from being finished at that point. And what a difference.

It is beautiful in there. So much room. And the echo you get when the crowd chants "Let's Go Pens" gave me chills. Beautiful. 

During intermissions, we continued our usual tradition of walking around to stretch our legs. The concourse is so much more spacious, (we only checked out the main concourse) and there are a ton of food options, everything from the usual arena foods, to Primanti Bros, Nakama (sushi), and Tim Hortons.

We also had to go check out a new feature in the arena, the Mario Mosaic. The Mario Lemieux Foundation came up with a promotion where fans could donate $66 and upload a photo that would be placed in a giant mosaic tribute to Mario Lemieux that will forever be a part of the Consol Energy Center.

 My grandparents gave me the money to buy a spot because they know how big of a hockey fan I am, and even more, how much of a Lemieux fan I am. So we had to go and find the picture I submitted. It took a the use of the touch screen lookup system and a few minutes of careful searching, but finally found it.

Even though waiting in line was awful, and the Pens didn't quite pull off the win, it was still a great time. We ended up actually sitting right next to the team doctors and saw Sidney Crosby's 1st goal in the new arena. 

& I love that the Pens have a promotion like this for a good number of the games. They realize the younger, college aged students are the future of their fan base and that they need to do all they can to make them fans for life now and that it will stick in the future.

Oh, and if anyone wants to see all the pictures I took, click here.