I’ve heard from a fair share of you guys in the past week expressing your feelings about the fact that I’m not over in Europe covering the Lightning, and I appreciate the sentiment. You guys have come to expect a certain amount of Lightning news out of my and the newspaper in recent years and you certainly deserve it.

But I’m all past that. It goes without saying that I myself feel a certain amount of disappointment not being able to follow the team across the pond and hang out in Europe for a little over a week - wait, did I just say hang out? I mean to say working my tail off providing you with the coverage you and the newspaper expect out of me, that’s what I meant to type. The silver lining to all this is, first I got to spend the time with my family and kids, the second is I’ve been able to help out with coverage of the Tampa Bay Rays playoff games here at Trop Field. Currently I’m sitting Waaaaaaaay out in the left field bleachers, which is where I sat yesterday and got a good view of Evan Longoria’s second home run of the day literally hit the “C’’ ring in the cat walks.

This really has been an enjoyable experience to take in the first two games in Rays’ playoff history. The games have been lively and the crowds have been tremendous.

But it got me thinking earlier this afternoon about my experiences in a playoff atmosphere at a baseball game compared to a hockey game. Obviously, I’ve been fortunate enough to attending a bunch of playoff hockey games - including the first home Lightning playoff game right here at Trop Field against the Flyers in 1996 when I was still attending school - but tonight is only my fourth baseball playoff game. I happened to be in Fenway Park as a fan for Games 1 and 2 of the 2004 World Series with my brother and that was an incredible two day experience.

I have to say, however, that sitting up here the past two days taking everything in, hockey is definitely the better of the two arenas to be in. That’s not to say anything bad about the crowd here, they are loud, they are into the game and they are into just about every pitch. But it just doesn’t compare to being in a hockey arena for a game. Once you step into a hockey rink, you know you are at a hockey game, you can sense it, you can feel it. It’s a bit hard to explain and really put into words, but there is just a buzz about a playoff hockey game, from the scenes outside to the sense of anticipation in the air inside. The build up before a hockey game leading up to the opening faceoff is like the feel of Christmas Eve when you are eight years old, you can’t sleep, you can’t settle down because you are just filled with anxious anticipation of what’s to come.

When the game starts - and maybe it’s a by-product of the speed of the game - if you aren’t on the edge of your seat it’s because you are standing in front of it. With every rush up the ice, something magical can happen. With every hit along the boards, there is a roar. With every shot there is a cringe followed either by pure jubilation or a sense of awe (or ahhhhhhh) depending on how the goalie reacts.

Walking around The Trop before the game, even with a packed house of more than 35,000 people here (about 15,000 more than fit in the Forum) it felt like any other pregame situation I’ve seen and/or heard for other games that I’ve been in the building for. Even during the game, probably because of the amount of time before pitches, there just isn’t that constant buzz you experience at a playoff hockey game.

Again, I’m not knocking the crowd here, they’ve been great. They are ringing their cowbells, they stand and get extremely loud every time a Rays’ pitcher gets two strikes. When they anticipate a key moment or a key play - such as Grant Balfour on Thursday in the seventh inning - everybody is into the moment.

It’s just that at a hockey playoff game, fans are into every moment.