About

Lead Writer: Austin Waldron

“Being a huge hockey fan in Texas is hard. Sometimes it is like speaking a different language, even to other hardcore sports fans. But when you love something you can’t help but be excited to be around it, to talk about it.

So when I was provided this chance to write for the Dallas Stars blog for this network called Fansided.com, I jumped at the chance. Since I was about 8 or so, I always thought hockey looked fun and exciting. It was fast at times, hard & physical. But it also had beauty, glory, teamwork, and history. And growing up being a soccer player for 10+ years and a huge Dallas Cowboys fan all my life, I saw the strategy, skill and scoring aspect of soccer with the hitting and physical play of football all on one big ice surface. It caught my attention, and since around 96-97, I have been a Stars fan. Even when I’ve had very few or no friends that liked or followed hockey, I still kept my love for the game and my team.

For many years though I had very little, if no one, to talk hockey with. In a state where hockey was the 5th or 6th sport in the 90′s and early 00′s, football rules and if not then you know baseball or basketball. But hockey? Often you get people who say they enjoy watching it on a blue moon, but do not follow it or go to games regularly. You find fans here and there, but it seems the city only supports and watches when the Stars shine. One of the greatest things was the back-to-back trips to the Stanley Cup finals, because you saw support for the team blossom and began seeing bumper stickers and Dallas Stars gear all over the place.

So how did I end up here? Well I spent the 07-08 & 08-09 seasons as a member of the “Havoc Fanatics,” a die-hard group of Stars fans who sit in the upper bowl and cheer, chant, yell and have fun at every Stars game. Sadly we lost our sponser and our now self run and fully paid for. But those two years of being at about 35 games a year brought me closer to the game and gave me a chance to fall more in love with the game. Over the last five or six years, I’ve grown from a fan of just one team to a fan of the game.”

Fun Facts:

Favorite Player: Mike Modano in the past, Jamie Benn now.

Favorite team to hate: Red Wings or Ducks

2nd Favorite team: Chicago Blackhawks (love the city, the tradition, the team and fanbase)

Player I’d love to see play in Dallas: Either Jonathan Toews, Pavel Datsyuk, Duncan Keith, or Shea Weber.

You can find me online at : twitter.com/Blackoutdallas & email at [email protected]. I am always up for a good talk about hockey, Dallas sports, or music.