In the crossbar the other night, acting the part of the social butterfly, I began to realize what a ridiculous thing we have going here. There was a highschool game in the midst of our little dress-up session, I was lucky enough to talk to one of the players in that game. His team had won against the team from Tulsa, one of the top rated teams in their league and as his season nears an end he has prospects for a career in juniors (this is professional hockey for young'uns) and who knows what beyond that. This kid is having fun, growing as a player, and accomplishing something. I am soon to be Thirty-two and clinging desperately to something I was never even close to having in the first place. Like many of you, I spend alot of money on this habit of mine and I can't even get that same fix that I used to, I just do it to feel normal.
When I grow-up I want to be... a grown-up. Admit it, you're a manchild too (or womanchild?), refusing to act your age and spend your Saturday night watching 48 Hours Mystery with the kids tucked in their beds. Instead you show up here for four or more hours playing a kid's game. We play at it like ten year olds, then move upstairs and act like we're 23, usually by Sunday mid-day we feel like we're 80. Some of us even take it to the extreme of tracking our stats and, get this, some of us write about it like it were some kind of legitimate sporting event. This is a sickness, and I don't want to get better.
I know that I am not alone, I am right in the middle of our demographic. This thing will be a draw on my life until I am the oldest one in the rink, when they carry me away. Many of you have been through marriages and careers with only this one constant in your life. I can't believe that they let a bunch of chronics like us hang-out together, we're just enabling eachother, right? What are the side effects? You know, I tell people it's my work out routine.
And it is, I do stay in pretty decent shape because of this hockey thing. And it does build a comradery, not just among those of us here on Saturday nights. You see many wives and girlfriends (and reverse the gender), and occasionally kids. I know that some of you have taken up coaching or skateguarding or some other method of sharing it with the people around us. Being a part of something like that, building relationships with people of all ages and backgrounds, could be a good thing. Then again it might be an epidemic.
bcIII
It's late and for some reason my spellcheck has been disabled, so deal with it!
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We all have our own (somewhat) unique reasons for what we do. For some it's the people we surround ourselves with, for others its the love of the game. Some of us what to have a closer connection with the pros we look up to or to show our children that they can do it if Old Dad can do it. Some of us just do it because it's a 'tough' sport and golf is for weak people.
Me? I was involved with martial arts for a few years, and found out that some of the people I fought and trained with played. I was agast with the idea that Hockey was alive and well in Texas!! So I rented and then purchased skates, taught myself to skate (with the help of some skate guards and nice I-Leaguers who skate on Tuesday evenings) and then was invited to play on a team. This began in March of '07, for which I gave up Martial Arts.
For me, it's about grasping at my last years before turning 40, and hopefully finding, at my lifes end, that I indeed had a good life and was to do all of the things I wanted to. What better reason could someone have than that?
Thanks for your thoughts on it BCIII!
Great post. Nice to see someone remembers what Saturday night is all about.
the weekend is below, on the post just before this
Great post, it is true beyond any shadow of a doubt. This place becomes your extended family and for a brief moment in our so called adult lifes, we can say - Yeah, I play hockey to your coworkers and get the ooo's and awww's. Little do they know it is truly a beer league and nothing close to NHL. However, it is our NHL, and I wouldn't trade it in for anything.
Hockey, discovered at age 38, is the best thing that has happened to me since my children were born. It doesn't matter that we suck. I just dig this game. I love the physical challenge. I love studying the game. I love watching guys on the NHL level who have mastered this art. I have the Center Ice package. I drive my co-workers nuts talking about it. When I was first learning to skate, a guy told me he never heard of someone taking up the sport and then giving it up. I have found that to be true.
The good old hockey game: It's the best game you can name.
I'm anonymous, and I'm addicted to hockey. Is that the first step to recovery? I sure hope not.
The Dallas Stars are also out of the running [for Peter Forsberg]. Co-general manager Les Jackson said Tuesday that he spoke with Forsberg's representatives Friday.
"They called back (on Saturday) and said he was going to pursue other options," Jackson told The Dallas Morning News. "I think we made a good effort, but now we move on."
http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=229000&hubname=nhl
Forsburg will be a Flyer. Book it.
he'll be a Sen
he'll be a bust....again
its nice for some one to put into words what we've all been thinking at one point or the other. Great Post
Rahul
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