I’ve written about strange encounters around New York before and figured I’d update everyone on some of the more recent interesting meetings in my life. The above image from The Dark Knight (the sequel to Batman Begins) has no relevance to anything in this entry– I just thought it looked cool.

1. My buddy Mike and I went to the Yankees game on Friday night, which turned out to be quite a fun time, since the Yanks finally snapped a three game losing streak. The weather was a bit miserable and I wore a long sleeve Yankees shirt to keep warm, which I was still wearing when I went to my favorite local bar. As soon as I entered the bar, I noticed a woman staring at me and ignored it—I figured I was just imagining things. The bartender came up to me, smiled and said the woman had asked if I was a player for the Yankees. Later, once a few other guys there learned I recently became an American citizen, they started asking me to flex and saying, “America’s got some more muscle now!” while squeezing my arms. Just an odd night overall.
2. On Saturday, I was in Central Park and ran into one of the many cartoonists who hang around, offering to do caricatures for the many tourists passing by. He tried stopping my by getting very close to me and saying “You like your picture? You very good looking. I draw you.” Maybe it’s just me, but even if I were inclined to sit and be drawn, I’d be creeped out a bit.
3. No matter where I go in New York, as long as I’m wearing a Montreal Canadiens hat, someone stops to talk to me about hockey. Some friends at work have joked that the logo looks a bit like the logo of the Chicago Cubs, but I’ve always dismissed it as them joking with me. This weekend, I was stopped by numerous people who said, “Oh, you’re a Chicago fan?” to me and really meant it.

This winter, I’ve spent a lot of time wearing my Montreal Canadiens hoodie, touque and hats at various times. Now that’s not because I’m so obsessive that I’ll only wear Canadiens related winter clothing during the hockey season, but the few items I own are pretty practical and the weather here has been pretty mild. But a strange thing happens when I wear these items– I’m always stopped by someone on the street who asks, “Are you a Canadiens fan?” or “Yo, Canadians!”

That’s something unique in New York, at least given my experiences wearing logos of non-NY sports team. When I wear Dallas Cowboys gear, I get razzed by strangers and get told I’m jumping on the bandwagon (never mind I’ve liked the team since I was a child, when my father brought home a Dallas Cowboys sticker for my door). If I wear a Toronto Blue Jays hat, I get Yankees fan (and I like the Yanks as well) fans making dismissive comments about the team.

But when I wear my Habs clothing? I get people giving me high-fives, asking me when I became a fan and acting like we’re old friends. It’s happened on the subway, in liquor stores, in bars and even just when I’m walking down the street. Sometimes they’re French-Canadian living in New York, sometimes they’re tourists, but no matter the origins, they’re always extremely kind. I’ve never encountered anyone in New York who’s felt the need to hassle me for showing I’m a Habs fan, even when the team’s in town to face the Rangers.

A lot of this probably relates to the lack of America interest in hockey, though cities like New York are exceptions (this place is rich with great hockey history). People seem far more passionate– or perhaps invested–in football, baseball and basketball, a theory strengthened by the pitiful ratings that hockey receives in the US. However, I’d like to think that just as hockey fans are generally far more respectful and restrained than in most other sports, perhaps hockey fans all feel a special connection in this country just because we’re a small group, leading to the general kindness I’ve experienced.

As for fans of the Montreal Canadiens, we’re the best hockey team ever, so perhaps the fans aren’t so different.

I’m not saying that because we’re on cell phones we don’t communicate with each other since phones, by their nature, are devices for communication. And we’re hardly isolated or unappreciative of the city if we’re out in public, walking, talking and watching at the same time. But it just seems bizarre to see people out at dinner, tapping away on their PDAs (I’ve been that person unfortunately) and multi-tasking relationships with business. Is work that much more prevalent in our lives? Does this incessant use of cell phones connect us to people more than before? And, perhaps, is there nothing wrong with the new status quo?

As someone who uses his BlackBerry a lot, I’m hardly above indictment, but it seems like we’re all so wrapped up in using these phones that we miss out a lot on things—or at least I do. My recent travels highlighted that as I noticed the little details around me more because I wasn’t on my phone and I wasn’t trying to talk & observe at the same time. Even my conversations on the phone seemed more focused and intelligent on my part because I had them while I was relaxing, not while I was walking around and discovering. Hell, had I been on the phone while watching the Canadiens/Leafs, I can’t imagine I’d have been as absorbed by the game and enjoyed it nearly as much. It’s hard to have a conversation with a friend over dinner if we’re both checking our phones. It’s hard to truly notice a great city when we’re focused on our phone call.

Maybe some things just shouldn’t be multi-tasked?

It’s been well-established that I attract some odd situations. In the last week or so, here’s a few more to share, summed up in nice little sound bytes:

“You must have made a lot of babies up there”– a vendor at Madison Square Garden talking to me before a hockey game about what he thought Canadians did during the NHL lockout that caused an entire season to be missed.

“Are you going to serve me or what?”– a woman who looked a lot like Sherri Shepherd, yelling at me to serve her a hot dog yesterday. Why? Because I happened to be standing behind a cart on the phone.

“You wearing padding under there or is it all real?”– some fellow customers at the NHL Store opening, asking about my, uh, physique.

Friday is the best day of the week for a lot of reasons. It’s the end of the work week (as much as I enjoy my job, I need the break); it’s the night when everyone goes out to party; and cool events take place because of all the tourists here in NYC. This Friday was no exception, with the first NHL Powered By Reebok Store opening up right here in Midtown Manhattan and of course, I had to go. M my boss was gracious enough to let me leave work at 11am for a couple of hours to see the store as not only was there lots of cool merch…but the Stanley Cup was there! So my work buddy Damien and I headed off, where we were greeted by a long line and a lot of fellow hockey fans. Having grown up in Canada, I’m always a bit surprised when I see passionate hockey fans in America, mainly because most people I met seem indifferent to the sport or simply mildly amused by it all. But, in the middle of this work day, there were hundreds of people lined up, clad in jerseys from various NHL teams and I admit, it was really cool to see.

After about 30 minutes in line, Damien and I finally got in the store, quickly racing to the Stanley Cup, as we wanted to take our photo with the greatest championship trophy in sports history. I was surprised how many people headed straight for the merchandise and not the Cup, but to be fair, some probably didn’t have as much time as we did and just wanted to get in and out. The result, ironically, was a 30 second wait to get your photo taken with the Cup, as you can see Damien and I did below. I also took a picture of a father & son who were there, clad in Rangers jerseys, but didn’t have a camera to take the photo themselves—I figured I should help them because if I was a kid with my dad, I’d want a record of this kind of once-in-a-lifetime memory.

Now, as to the store itself, it’s a superb design both from a shopping POV and from an aesthetic POV. The store is full of monitors, displays and eye catching larger than life graphics that put you in a hockey mindset the minute you enter the store. I must admit, at times I was a bit annoyed by how narrow the aisles seemed, but then again with hundreds of people inside, it’s hard for it to feel spacious, y’know? It’s hard not to realize how you can find almost everything you’d ever want as a hockey fan—jerseys, sweaters, t-shirts, home accessories and more. Now will you find collectibles, rare items and the like? No, but to be fair, even the mind blowing (and admittedly superior) NBA Store doesn’t have every little thing you could ask for in merchandise. I quickly scooped up a Montreal Canadiens hoodie, an old school Canadiens t-shirt and a retro Winnipeg Jets t-shirt, but trust me, I could’ve bought more. All the retro “Original 6″ shirts were awesome but hardly necessary, so I focused on the merchandise I knew I’d regret not purchasing. The selection of caps was fairly mediocre, mainly because as someone with a big head I need the slightly larger caps to fit my head, but I give them credit for stocking Quebec Nordiques headwear.

Overall, the service was excellent and the selection of merchandise was great, but I hope they have a large store room because in the first hour this store was open, there were already some shelves that looked to be bare by the end of the next hour. Like myself, many people simply grabbed merchandise and didn’t much worry about the price because we were all so excited about a store in town that caters to the coolest (no pun intended) sport on Earth. After checking out and realizing we’d explored the store as much as possible without going broke (I really did want one of those cool new Skill Sticks), Damien and I lined up to see if our NHL key could win us anything. To clarify, all around NYC this week they’d been handing out black keys with the NHL logo, that could be used to open a locked box and win some awesome prizes at the store. Naturally, my key didn’t work and we decided to check out the rest of the cool stuff around there, including a New York Islanders shooting challenge, a hockey trivia challenge and some great free samples, including free Starbucks coffee.

As seen above, I soon ran into some Maple Leafs and Rangers fans, with whom I joked about being natural enemies and asking to pose with me for a photo. I suggested they try beating me up (as I was wearing my new Habs hoodie) and they naturally obliged. We chatted for a few minutes and it only underscored one of my favorite aspects of the visit– everyone was friendly. No matter which team you liked, no matter who you didn’t like, everyone was awarm and inviting because it was a gathering to celebrate the spirit of hockey. I’ll definitely head back to the store again soon…but perhaps not too soon, as I don’t think I can justify spending money there any time soon!

However, I encourage all hockey fans to check out this store and soak in the atmosphere– I’ve had a smile on my face since Friday and I don’t think it’ll go away any time soon because it’s one of the most pure, joyous sports experiences I can imagine outside of watching the game.

So yesterday I leave work, exhausted for a rewarding but long work week. When Friday rolls around, my plan is always simple: relax, catch up on some television and reflect on the week. Examine my decisions, the rationale, the results and consider how I could– or should– have done something differently.

Exciting, I know.

Living in Lower Manhattan, you find a lot of great bars with character– as they’ve survived a lot– and one of those near me is a favorite because it’s a bar. Not a place to pick up women. Not a place to act “cool.” Just a place to eat, drink and be merry. So I stopped in for some food before I got home, when one of the waitresses (who I’ve met a few times) asks me if I like hockey. Bear in mind she doesn’t know I’m Canadian nor does she realize I’m wearing a New York Rangers t-shirt (my second favorite team behind the Habs). I said yes and she gave me two tickets to the Rangers game that night at Madison Square Garden. Sure, it’s pre-season hockey, but it’s MSG and against the New Jersey Devils– one of their biggest rivals!

I quickly said yes, thanked her profusely and ran down the street to find a cab, before realizing none were stopping for me and finally got on the subway. I called everyone I knew to see if I could find someone else for the game, but no one was available, so it seemed I’d be flying solo on this fortuitous night.

When I arrived at MSG, I ran into three guys trying to get hockey tickets. They were all from Canada and wanted to see a game, but didn’t have tickets and asked if I had any for sale. I said I had one and they admitted they had no money to offer, so they didn’t expect a miracle.

So I gave them my extra ticket with the condition they not sell it and actually watch the game. It seemed like the right thing to do.

The game was fantastic. The sound of skates gliding over ice, sticks hitting ice and players slamming into boards takes me to a place of complete happiness. Hockey captures my attention and emotion like nothing else because it represents my past, present and future in one. It reminds me of my wonderful childhood, my parents who took me to as many games as they could and provided us equipment to play street hockey, even when I knew it cost them more than they’d like. It represents my Canadian heritage and all that nation gave me in my nearly 20 years there. It represents the one sports team that I’ve always loved without fail– the Montreal Canadiens– and the one sports passion that keeps me excited for the winter. It’s also the one sport I want to start playing again, the activity that I think would bring a lot of happiness to me.

During the game, two fans of the Devils were being completely obnoxious and yelling obscenities at people. That’s part of games these days and I try not to be mean to fans of the opposing team, as I respect their passion, but these fans were yelling, “Fuck you and all your mothers” fairly loud. By the third period, the entire crowd was chanting “Sit down assholes” with some clapping in between (to a 1-2, 1-2-3 count), so loudly that some players looked up at us before the puck was dropped for a face off.

The Rangers won 4-3, which was great, but winning and losing didn’t matter– I was entranced for hours, yelling so much my throat is still sore today, clapping so much my palms feel a bit tender and smiling so much I can still feel it on my face. That’s hockey.

At the end of the day, I got free hockey tickets for no reason I can imagine. Maybe it was karma. Maybe it was good luck. But I do know one thing– it was a damn good thing.

As I’ve written before, I’m often mistaken for being a cop, but there are some other fun stories of mistaken identity worth sharing that occurred recently.

Yankee Stadium Employee: at a recent Yankees game, my friend Mike and I were waiting for a friend outside Yankee stadium. There are hundreds of people out there at any given point before the game, so two guys wearing Yankees t-shirts shouldn’t draw much attention, but people kept coming up to me and asking if I worked there. I generally replied, “No, but can I help you?” and ended up directing close to a dozen people to the appropriate places. It was an odd situation because there were real employees around the stadium but they consistently came to me instead for help.

Professional Wrestler: the interesting thing about this mistaken identity is that I’m only ever mistaken for a wrestler at hospitals. Every time I’m there, someone asks me if I’m a wrestler. Then again, needing to wear specially sized hospital robes (because the regular ones are too tight), probably makes them think I’m training to beat up someone.

Marine Paratrooper: well, this one is bizarre. Kurt visited this week and we traveled on the subway to go to most places. On Monday, around Central Park, we were getting off the subway when some guy (who seemed a bit crazy) asked me how many pushups I could do and said he thought I could do 100 million pushups. He wasn’t kidding and followed it up by asking me if I was a Marine. I was a bit surprised and he kept saying how I was military guy, could beat up some guy standing next to us and then when leaving, said he thought I was a paratrooper. He was still yelling this even as I was exiting the train.

Today I spent a good five hours (if not more) walking around Central Park with my friend Kurt (who’s in town for a visit) and near the end of the walk, I noticed two women (and a little child) trying to carry a stroller up the stairs. So I went over to help them carry the stroller— which contained a cute baby—up a few sets of stairs and one of the women told me, “You’re going to be a great father.” I responded by saying, “I hope so.”

When I was leaving, the five year old daughter yelled, “I hope you have a baby soon so you can be a great father.” I laughed and said, “Well, I hope it’s not too soon,” But the smile on that girl’s face, the sheer happiness she got from me helping her family…there’s no better feeling than that. I’m not saying we do good things in the hopes of any kind of reward, but when you can make someone that happy, it’s all worth the effort just for one person reacting that way.

New York City is an amazing place. It’s full of some of the world’s greatest wonders, some of the greatest accomplishments and some of the greatest people. After all, I’m here, eh? Ha. Jokes aside, there is something else you see here—a lot of people in need. NYC takes no prisoners and it’s not an easy place to survive if you trip & fall along the way. Naturally, I feel bad for the many homeless people I see in the city every day and wish I could do something to help. Something to give them the chance to get back on their feet and feel some kind of hope. This may sound clichéd, but all it takes is giving a dollar to someone in need. Maybe just a quarter. But that’s where it becomes difficult.

We’ve all been ripped off by people in need to whom we’ve donated money. Maybe we’ll see them buy liquor or smokes. Maybe we’ll realize they were lying. Does that mean we distrust everyone in need? No, of course not, that’d be stupid. But, as stupid and wholly illogical as it is, I admit that sometimes I’m torn about whom to give cash and who I think is conning me. Those who’ve traveled the subways here will surely be familiar with people who’ll walk through the subways asking for money, explaining they’re on their last dollar and are on the verge of getting their job, but just need money to feed their kids. It’s heartbreaking to hear these stories, but you’ll find that most people don’t donate to them. I can’t speak as to why, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s because they’ve been conned so much that they don’t know who to trust anymore.

That’s the challenge of charity. We all want to give, and to be honest I try to give away $50.00 per month over four weeks, but it’s hard to know who to give money too and it’s hard for me. I want to give money to everyone I see in need. I gotta ask: who am I to judge who needs it more? Who am I to turn away someone asking me for help? Surely if I ordered one less wrestling pay per view a month then I could give away $30 than I normally donate. If I didn’t order HD channels, I’d be able to donate another twenty bucks. At what point am I being selfish and not giving enough away? At one what point is one allowed to spend on their own happiness when they could be helping people truly in need?

Updated: Alex Shelley, who is apparently a huge comic fan, contacted me to echo Sabin’s sentiments.

Updated: Chris Sabin contacted me to thank us for the kind words and support. HAIL SABIN!

It’s a well-known fact that I love my job. I get to promote awesome comics (including the awe-inspiring Immortal Iron Fist, available in hardcover next week!), work with great people and get paid. Now you know I love wrestling and so do many of my co-workers, in particular Bill Rosemann and Jim Nausedas. I’ve known Bill for abotu six years and he’s the epitome of integrity. I’ve known Jim since I started at Marvel and he’s been nothing but a class act, in addition to a good friend. We’re all fans of TNA Wrestling, especially the new(ish) tag team called “Motor City Machine Guns.” Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley are the wrestlers, managed by the legendary Kevin Nash (better known to some as “Diesel”), and not only are great in the ring, but also know how to make things fun. They pose and bring a theater to their matches that unites the best of Japanese and American wrestling. They’re simply amazing. here’s one of their funny skits:

So today, Bill, Jim & I decided to mimic one of their poses and form B.A.D (Big Apple Defenders), our own wrestling “tribute tag team.” The photos below.

In the left photo, it’s myself and Jim, with Bill standing on top. On the right, we’ve got MCMG, with Kevin Nash up top, Alex Shelley on the left and Chris Sabin on the right. Our pose isn’t all the same, but we were also trying to take these photos during a five minute work break so no one would interfere. We laughed a lot trying to take these photos, as Jim laughed that we were doing “coreographed posing” and we all began to laugh. We finally got that one photo off and our friend Henry walked up to us, with a surprised look on his face. He’s a wrestling fan too and while he knew what we were doing, he couldn’t stop laughing at our sheer desire to mimic MCMG.

So, as the title of this all says…I LOVE MY JOB. Where else could I find like minded wrestling fans who’d pose with me and help form a new tribute team?

Make Mine Marvel.