Canucks 1 Coyotes 0

Canucks 1 Coyotes 0

Not a lot of goals, but it was still amazing. I don't go to hockey games very often, for they are pretty expensive, but every time I go I really feel the magic of being in the arena. It's quite different than watching it on TV. It's like being in a party room with 18 000 people, all united with the same ambition, to watch their home team win. Tonight I brought my parents to the game together with Edmond. After not having watched a single game since coming back to Vancouver last year (and went through 4 years in Toronto without going to one), I was determined to get my hands on a few difficult-to-get tickets. Luckily, the BC Medical Association releases a few discounted tickets at the beginning of the year and I locked up some. I really like taking my parents to the game. For Dad, it's a typical guy feeling to share the excitement of a sport with him. For Mom, who doesn't know the game well but enjoys watching it from time to time with us when we dominate the TV channel, it's a real treat. She knows enough when to cheer and the basic rules from driving us to and from minor hockey games with the other hockey moms when we were young. And she loves excitement. So naturally, it doesn't matter who the player is, she cheers as excitedly at good plays. She's had her share of favorite players, among them the diplomatic Trevor Linden and Markus Naslund. 

I always find it an interesting feeling when I go to see famous people perform, whether it be hockey players, race car drivers, or singers. It's always a bit of a shock to see them in person, because they would look, well quite frankly and a little disappointingly... very dully human. For almost all other times of the year, these people are portrayed larger-than-life. They're idols. They're heroes. They are the rich and famous and they might as well be from Mars. They hang with super models and they live in mansions. But up close, they somehow actually looked kinda small. Life-sized, and from afar even pocket-sized, it seems. How can individuals accomplish so much, have so much effect on others, when they are simply just like the everyman. When they get sick they still need a doctor. When they're upset they still cry. They laugh. They eat and sleep just like we do. It's.. not such a big deal for them to go about their lives. 

But I still get inspired watching them. Because even though they are just human, they somehow have consistently performed at such an almost-perfect level in their work that has gotten them to where they are today. It's that thrive for

 perfection and dedication that inspires me. I look at myself, today as a doctor, and most people would expect the same devotion that got me where I am today. But I crumple in comparison. My days seem so much more trivial. But could that be? It's not that I look at my work lightly, because it isn't. But somehow, I just feel small. 

It's good to be inspired by others who are so great. It makes me demand more of myself. I look around today at the game, and saw lots of wide-eyed kids. My mom mentioned how those parents are so generous to pay such high prices to bring their kids to the games. I thought to myself, for sure I will too, in the future. I want them to be inspired just like I did. 

I want them to have heros too.

Some shots from tonight's game. Apparently they don't let anyone use a zoom larger than 75mm on their camera on the lower floor. How disappointing! I could only get my shots from our nosebleed sections up above. But the angle of view was quite decent.  You can see the rest of my pictures on my facebook site.