"We figured you had that one!"

Last night in my beer league hockey game, I made one of the biggest blunders you can make in a hockey game.  Besides the bad clearing attempt that led to an opposition goal (d'oh) - but that wasn't the worst.

I've been playing right wing on a line with two more experienced players.  They told me when we have the puck in the offensive zone to go to the net and wait for rebounds or slot passes.  So I followed instructions.  My center was battling in the corner and I think took a shot that bounced off a defender, hit the back wall, and bounced into the goal crease - where I was with a wide open net.  It was a lay up.  It was one of those "I could've scored on that one."  And well...

...I didn't.

I took two whacks at the puck, and neither had enough to get in the net.  The goalie was able to cover it before it went in.  I had fallen down by this point and was on my stomach, my face into the ice.  I heard a few comments above me, most starting with "What the F" or "We thought you had that one!"  After a few seconds I got up, skated towards the bench with my head between my legs and getting a bunch of crap from my team mates about not scoring.

We ended up tying the game 3-3.   I told the guys after the game that I would be seeing wide open nets in my sleep.  I didn't quite do that. 

It just shows that I still have some work to do.  But I felt better out on the ice last night.  My confidence is starting to rise and I feel better and better each game.  Our next game isn't for 2 weeks,  so I have some time to regain my confidence and redeem myself for what would've made a team blooper reel.

Playing hockey has taught me a few things in the last few days:

1.  I'm really really out of shape.  I have no endurance.
2.  I really need to work on my puck handling skills.
3.  Staying in the right position is tough.  You have to pay attention to everything that's going on around you.
4.  At least in beer leagues, most players are friendly.  I've been knocked down a few times only to get an apology.
5.  Communicate!


One of these days I'll get it right.  A lot of it will come with time.  I need to get more confidence on the ice and earn the respect of my team mates.  I went in with the warning that I wasn't the best player out there, but I don't expect anybody to give me a break either.  I have to earn every inch of ice out there.

Back2Black

Last night I played in my first rec (beer) league hockey game.  I hadn't played in a formal game in probably 15 years, so I was a bit nervous.

I hadn't even met any of my teammates until about 35 minutes before game time.  I was pretty much welcomed in pretty quickly.  Most of the guys are a few years older than me, but they've been playing together for a few seasons.  It's a C2 league, so it's basically a "beginner" league. 

I was RW on a line with two other guys.  They had both played previously.  It was pretty easy to get acclimated.  However I learned very quickly I don't have the endurance right now.  I was winded after almost every shift, and was dead tired by the end of the game.  We ended up winning, 6-2.  I didn't factor into any of our goals, but had a few chances.

We play again tomorrow night.  Hopefully we'll have just as good a game as last night.

Richmond

I attended the NASCAR race in Richmond over the weekend.  It was a surprise birthday present for my wife's cousin.  In all seven of us went.

It was a good race.  There was plenty of action, some stupidity, and some just flat out good luck.  Watching Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson get into each other twice right in front of us was priceless.  In the end I was ok with Kevin Harvick winning.  It came down to who was fastest in the pits, and Harvick's crew got him out front.  Carl Edwards gave Harvick a run for his money but couldn't seal the deal.

I hadn't been to Richmond since 2005, but thoroughly enjoyed myself.  We had decent seats in turn 1.  We were able to see the action unfold and almost every lap was heart-pounding.

It was good to be back at a race track.  While I know auto racing isn't for everybody, Richmond definitely put on a good show.  The 9-11 tributes, the patriotic paint schemes, and just an all-out good race made it worth the trip.

On to the next race I attend - Dover in 3 weeks!

9-11: where I was

Since the trendy thing to do this past weekend was to tell your 9-11 story, I decided I'll tell mine.


I was in college, attending Embry-Riddle in Daytona Beach, FL.  I was just starting what was supposed to be my senior year (I graduated in Dec 2002).  It was a Tuesday morning.  I got to campus around 8:15 as I normally did on Tuesdays for my 9:45 class.  Parking was always a pain on campus and since I lived off campus with two roommates, I usually got there early and played in the computer lab either on homework or just browsing the internet.  That morning I went to a computer lab and was moving e-mails from one mailbox to another since they were going to be doing some network maintenance a few days later. 

A little before 9 the director of computer services ran in and yelled "A PLANE JUST HIT THE WORLD TRADE CENTER!"  Since there was no TV in the lab, everybody started scrambling to open any website they could to try and follow.  By that point CNN, FOX, MSNBC, among others, were unresponsive.  Finally somebody in the lab thought to go to BBC America, which had some information.  At first we all thought it was an accident.  Since I was attending a mostly aviation school, there were a lot of pilots and investigators in training.  Then we got the news that a 2nd plane had hit the other tower.  We all then knew that it wasn't an accident.

I stayed in the lab until 9:35-9:40.  We still had no clue, but the school hadn't cancelled classes or anything yet.  I went to my class, my professor completely unaware what had happened.  He held class like nothing happened.  We got out of class around 10:45.  I met up with some friends for lunch when I found out that the towers had fallen.  I thought it was just the top, and was still in disbelief when one of my friends told me that it was both towers.  Then we got word about the Pentagon being hit.  I started to think about my dad and my sister.  My dad had gone down to "somewhere around DC" for a meeting, and my sister was working in northern NJ at the time.  I reached for my cell phone.  Where was it?  Crap!  My phone was back at my apartment! 

I had another class at 2:15.  I debated about going home, but decided with everything going on I would stay and wait.  One of my roommates went back to the apartment.  He didn't want to be on campus anymore.  We then saw the word about the FAA grounding all flights.   I sat in a computer lab, trying to e-mail both my sister and my dad.  I sat on AIM talking to some friends making sure they were ok.  I finally got an IM from one of my sister's friends that had gotten a hold of her.  Somehow she had talked to my dad and found out he was ok. 

Embry-Riddle never cancelled classes, even though almost every school and university in Florida did.  A lot of students were panicking, some not able to reach family and friends in NY and DC.  Later I would find out that several students lost friends and relatives that day.

In the following days, there was word that the FBI was on campus looking for information.  We found out later that one or two of the hijackers had learned to fly at Embry-Riddle.  It was disturbing, but at the same time a lot of us felt that there was no way to know what somebody would do with the knowledge they learned.  It would be like blaming a school for training a computer hacker or virus writer. 



Life certainly changed that day.  It's too bad that people don't remember what happened in the following days - people came together as one.  The country was united.  People were volunteering to help in any way they could.  And some were scared to death.  This was something that had never happened to the US.  People didn't know how to react.  Some still don't.

I remember my grandmother, who lived through World War II, thought she would never see another Pearl Harbor.  That's what a lot of us equated it to. 

Ten years later, we don't forget, but I think the message that day sent has been clouded.

Wade Belak

The NHL has lost three family members this summer.  Derek Boogard, Rick Rypien, and now Wade Belak.  There are differing rumors out there as to what happened with Belak, but so far Boogard's was a drug reaction and Rypien was reported a suicide.

It brings the question to mind:  What happened to Belak and why?

Hockey is a very demanding sport, but it doesn't get the press in the US that it does in Canada.  People in Canada LIVE for hockey.  Kids are out skating and playing hockey all the time.  It's a passion.  It's like American football in the USA or Football/Soccer just about everywhere else in the world. 

Wade Belak played for five NHL teams in his career, including a stop in Toronto, which has some of the best and most critical fans in the league.  The pressure of playing in a city that lives, breathes, and dies for their beloved Maple Leafs makes playing there very difficult.  One mistake and the fans are all over you.  They want you traded.  They want you benched. 

Wade had a career as an enforcer.  He was a fighter but also stood up for his teammates.  He seemed to be well liked by his colleagues and teammates.  He had a family and seemed very happy with his wife and children. 

What happened?  Why did we lose Wade?  At the same time, why did we lose Derek and Rick?  We will probably never understand why.  All we can do is keep them in our memories and enjoy the time we got to watch them play. 

The games will go on. Training camp starts in just over a week.  Some players have already been hitting the ice.  In just a few weeks we will cheer for our Leafs, Habs, Caps, Pens, or whatever team you root for.  But we will be without three members of the NHL family that we lost this summer, all very unexpectedly.