Anaheim Ducks fans -- they’re (from) everywhere!
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First, a little family background. My husband, Dan, has seven siblings, and one of his sisters, Mary Anne, married an Australian, Ted George, whom she met on a post-college European trip. It was, really, love at first sight at a Munich beer hall.
Ted just never much liked living in the U.S. He missed his mates and so he and Mary Anne moved to Melbourne and eventually Perth, where they raised two sons, Colby and Will. Will is now 27 and a truck driver in Perth. Earlier this year, he accepted an offer to spend six months in the U.S. driving large combines between Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, the Dakotas, Montana and Canada. He did it as a way to see the U.S. and soon became friends with co-workers Nathan Harris, 28, from Maryborough, Queensland, Australia, and Charlie Miller, 36, from Harvey Bay, Queensland, Australia, who had accepted the same job -- driving combines.
The Aussie 3, as we’re calling them, got done with work a couple of weeks ago and they’ve been sightseeing -- in Nashville, New York, Cancun, Christmas in Las Vegas and, as of Sunday, in our home.
When they arrived, Harris -- Harry he’s called -- burst into the house proclaiming his grand desire to see one particular sporting event. Lakers, we’re thinking. But Harry said no. Oh, right, Rose Bowl, of course. But Harry said no again. ‘I’d really like to see a Ducks game,’ Harry said. ‘I love hockey and I love the Ducks.’
That was unexpected. But Harry is a fan in the true fanatic sense. He and his mates wanted to go to tonight’s New Year’s Eve game between the Ducks and the Columbus Blue Jackets. Harry’s favorite player is unexpected too. It’s not Teemu Selanne or any other goal scorer. He’s a goalie guy. He loves Jean-Sebastien Giguere and is a huge fan of injured Vancouver Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo.*
Harry became a Ducks fan because of the original Disney movie released in 1992. Hockey is his favorite sport, though it is hardly played in Australia. So he’ll get up in the middle of the night to watch Australian ESPN broadcasts of hockey games. He loves the original Mighty Ducks jersey.
And, yes, the Aussie 3 will be at tonight’s game. You may recognize them because of those Aussie accents. Two of them are big guys -- Harry is trying to find a XXXXL Ducks jersey. If you’ve got a lead on that and see Harry at the arena (he’ll probably be wearing a baseball cap and flip-flops and he’s got a ponytail and a few tattoos because he is, after all, a truck-driving hockey fan), he’d be happy to hear about it.
-- Diane Pucin
* The spelling of Roberto Luongo’s last name was corrected at 3:50 p.m. on Jan. 1.