One full year!
First things first, HAPPY ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY of blogging to me here on blogspot.com! Yes, the actual anniversary was on 18th but much like anything else I tend to forget those important dates! It's hard to believe it's been a full year already. My how has the time flown that's for absolute sure!
So how do I kick off the next year of blogging? How do I commemorate it? How about a long posting!
Well, some of you who read my blog may or may not know this but I have taken up the sport of sledge hockey . I will tell you all that it's alot of work but it's also a lot of fun. I've been at this since the second week of October and have been at quite a few practices to get into the swing of it all and just recently played my first game EVER this past Sunday afternoon. The team that I play for is the London Blizzard , a local team here in town. A pretty good bunch of people and pretty supportive towards rookies like myelf.
I'd be lying if I said learning how to "pick" (it's what you do when you propel yourself in your sledge) keep your balance on your sledge was easy let alone learn how to pass and shoot. It's been frustrating but at the same time I know I am new to this sport and shouldn't expect so much from myself so soon. But in a lot of ways you do feel a certain pressure to learn fast because when you are called upon to play you want to make sure that you know what you're doing on the ice and at the same time appear somewhat proficient/competent. I'm slowly getting the hang of what I am supposed to do in my drills and skills and developing the other muscles I need in order to play this sport (the muscles you use for "picking" are way different from what you use for rolling).
As I said, I played my first game this past Sunday. We had a team come in from Windsor to play us and man, what an experience that was! They say that when you play in a game situation things go faster than what happens in practice. I never really believed that claim but things do go at a MUCH faster clip when you play and I found that out about 5 minutes into the game. But once I got used to the pace things seemed better but as a rookie to the game it's harder to pick up on certain things like timing for passes, anticipating plays, picking up your man, assuming your forward position, line change on the fly and of course command of your sledge let alone shoor whne you get the puck. Needless to say I think I did okay given how little I know about actually playing the game but in one instant that changed ..
About 10 minutes or so into the third period and the game was tied 3-3 I was on the ice in the Windsor end. I had managed to get past the other forward defending me and headed to the front of the net. All I heard was "front of the net!" being called by the Windsor goal keeper. The next thing I saw was the puck slide by me but a little out of my reach. The pass seemed like it went went further than it was supposed to and probablly because I was off my position. So in one movement I reached for the puck, fell over on my side and took a swipe at the puck with my right stick and contorted myself in such a way that I was able to look at the last second and see the puck laying across goal line. I suddenly couldn't believe what I saw .. I scored .. I heard the referee's whistle blow and it reaffirmed that I did indeed score my first sledge hockey goal*. A sudden feeling of absolute bliss swept across me, I got up on my sitting base, pumped my arms in the air so happily and I started to get that weepy choked up "oh my god I am going to cry feeling".
(*the account of the goal that was given to me by my Dad afterwards was that I was on my side when I took a swipe at the puck but managed to get it up enough for the goalie to make the intial stop but it turned into a "knuckleball" type spin and handcuffed him and he lost control of the puck)
As I made my way back to the bench my linemates were coming off the ice with me and all I heard was Jim, the fella who passed me the puck say kiddingly "you owe me a beer Jay!" and the fellas on the bench were asking who scored and my other linemate Tony said "Jay did!" followed by more teasing of "Jay can't shoot!". My Coach was pretty happy I scored but at the same time our play we had designed fell apart and where I was shouldn't have happened. It came on a broken play but he said we'll take it anyways but now we must defend the lead. In the end we did hold the lead and won 4-3 and my goal was the game winner.
After the game in the dressing room during a post game ceremony I was presented with something. I recieved THE puck that I scored my first game with. Apparently our trainer/equipment manager Ted asked the ref for the puck and gave him another. He explained to the ref what had happened and he readily agreed to it.
So here it is .. here's the puck I scored my first goal with:
It's a pretty beaten up piece of hard rubber but it sure looks cool! I'll treasure this puck for as long as I play. I hope that a goal or two more come this season but if not, that's cool because I did say when I started this year all I wanted was at least the chance to score let alone play. I achieved one of my goals by just playing a game but scoring is a added bonus. Let's hope this puck signifies a long and prosperous "career" as a sledge hockey player and just maybe one day realize my dream of being good enough to play for the national program! But I think for now I'll just focus on the rest of this season and get used to my "picking", my sledge control and learn how to ACTUALLY shoot!
What else?
Well, some of you will also know that I am a fan of loud, hard music and wrestling. Well, what a better combination of the two when wrestler (my "hero, your party host, your rolemodel, one bad mamma jamma, the Ayatollah of Rock and Rolla") Chris Jericho and his band Fozzy came to town this past Saturday night. This was my first Fozzy show and my second time meeting Chris Jericho. But what I will say is that Fozzy just absolutely rocked the stage and put on one amazing show. I have had friends tell me that if I do see Fozzy live I will NOT be disappointed and by no means was I disappointed at all. The musicianship was first rate and lead guitarist Mike Martin's solos were mind blowing! The rest of the band was just amazing as well. When he had the chance, bassist Sean B Delson's bass playing really shone through and showed that he wouldn't be upstaged by Mike Martin's solo work as well. Of course the rythmn guitar player Rich Ward held a down a steady beat and drummer Frank Fontsere was BLISTERING on the drums.
The show started off with "Nameless Faceless" the opening track from their most recent CD "All That Remains" and then went right into the track "Don't You Wish You Were Me?", a track that appeared on the WWE album "Originals" (which was also Chris's entrance music for a short spell when he came to the ring). For the most part the show bounced between their second CD "Happenstance" and the aforementioned "All That Remains" album but they also threw in a few cover songs such as Judas Priest's "Free Wheel Buring" and Motorhead's "Eat The Rich". The final song of the night however was the song "Enemy", a song from "All That Remains" but was also the theme for the WWE Pay Per View "No Mercy" about a year ago. The song was done in memory of wrestler Eddie Guererro who passed away last weekend. A loud chant of "Eddie! Eddie!" broke out (you could tell who the wrestling fans were in the crowd) when Jericho reminded us all of what a great friend Eddie was to him and how he misses him but he (Jericho) reminded us to live every day to the most and make the most of the time you have. A very fitting way I thought to end the show.
Here are a few pictures post show. The first one you will see is myself and Chris. I kind of look dorky and not too great here but I think I was in the midst of speaking, telling person who shot the picture that the flash was about to go off. I should have told the person in advance however andm aybe the picture would have turned out better. Anyways, the last time I met Chris he was very cool, really polite and very classy and he was the same way again this time amidst the other people wanting his attention. Either way it was great to meet Chris again!
Here I am with the lead guitarist Mike Martin. He was a really cool person to talk to and was really humble. When I thanked him and the band for coming he just said "no, thank YOU for coming!" and bowed to me after he said that. We had alot to talk about in the time he spent talking with me. A really classy guy and really funny too!
I also had the opportunity to talk to Sean B. Delson and Rich Ward. Both of them as well were very cool, very down to earth and took the time to talk with me as well. Both of them had fascinating stories to tell about their touring experiences and upcoming musical projects. I couldn't thank them enough for capping off what was a great night of music!
I would be remissed to say if I didn't mention the opening acts Papa Fogals Chair and Reason Disappears . Both bands put on amazing sets as opening acts for the night. You had the crushing hardcore off tempo beats of Papa Fogals Chair (a Mudvayne meets System of A Down type sound) to the progressive electronic rock sounds of Reason Disappears. All I can tell you is that by the end of their respective sets I was a instant fan of both bands!
So ther eyou have it folks the big one year anniversary blog installment. I look forward to another years worth of blogging and I hope that you enjoy what I do here in my little corner of blogspot.com.
Until next time, take care!
So how do I kick off the next year of blogging? How do I commemorate it? How about a long posting!
Well, some of you who read my blog may or may not know this but I have taken up the sport of sledge hockey . I will tell you all that it's alot of work but it's also a lot of fun. I've been at this since the second week of October and have been at quite a few practices to get into the swing of it all and just recently played my first game EVER this past Sunday afternoon. The team that I play for is the London Blizzard , a local team here in town. A pretty good bunch of people and pretty supportive towards rookies like myelf.
I'd be lying if I said learning how to "pick" (it's what you do when you propel yourself in your sledge) keep your balance on your sledge was easy let alone learn how to pass and shoot. It's been frustrating but at the same time I know I am new to this sport and shouldn't expect so much from myself so soon. But in a lot of ways you do feel a certain pressure to learn fast because when you are called upon to play you want to make sure that you know what you're doing on the ice and at the same time appear somewhat proficient/competent. I'm slowly getting the hang of what I am supposed to do in my drills and skills and developing the other muscles I need in order to play this sport (the muscles you use for "picking" are way different from what you use for rolling).
As I said, I played my first game this past Sunday. We had a team come in from Windsor to play us and man, what an experience that was! They say that when you play in a game situation things go faster than what happens in practice. I never really believed that claim but things do go at a MUCH faster clip when you play and I found that out about 5 minutes into the game. But once I got used to the pace things seemed better but as a rookie to the game it's harder to pick up on certain things like timing for passes, anticipating plays, picking up your man, assuming your forward position, line change on the fly and of course command of your sledge let alone shoor whne you get the puck. Needless to say I think I did okay given how little I know about actually playing the game but in one instant that changed ..
About 10 minutes or so into the third period and the game was tied 3-3 I was on the ice in the Windsor end. I had managed to get past the other forward defending me and headed to the front of the net. All I heard was "front of the net!" being called by the Windsor goal keeper. The next thing I saw was the puck slide by me but a little out of my reach. The pass seemed like it went went further than it was supposed to and probablly because I was off my position. So in one movement I reached for the puck, fell over on my side and took a swipe at the puck with my right stick and contorted myself in such a way that I was able to look at the last second and see the puck laying across goal line. I suddenly couldn't believe what I saw .. I scored .. I heard the referee's whistle blow and it reaffirmed that I did indeed score my first sledge hockey goal*. A sudden feeling of absolute bliss swept across me, I got up on my sitting base, pumped my arms in the air so happily and I started to get that weepy choked up "oh my god I am going to cry feeling".
(*the account of the goal that was given to me by my Dad afterwards was that I was on my side when I took a swipe at the puck but managed to get it up enough for the goalie to make the intial stop but it turned into a "knuckleball" type spin and handcuffed him and he lost control of the puck)
As I made my way back to the bench my linemates were coming off the ice with me and all I heard was Jim, the fella who passed me the puck say kiddingly "you owe me a beer Jay!" and the fellas on the bench were asking who scored and my other linemate Tony said "Jay did!" followed by more teasing of "Jay can't shoot!". My Coach was pretty happy I scored but at the same time our play we had designed fell apart and where I was shouldn't have happened. It came on a broken play but he said we'll take it anyways but now we must defend the lead. In the end we did hold the lead and won 4-3 and my goal was the game winner.
After the game in the dressing room during a post game ceremony I was presented with something. I recieved THE puck that I scored my first game with. Apparently our trainer/equipment manager Ted asked the ref for the puck and gave him another. He explained to the ref what had happened and he readily agreed to it.
So here it is .. here's the puck I scored my first goal with:
It's a pretty beaten up piece of hard rubber but it sure looks cool! I'll treasure this puck for as long as I play. I hope that a goal or two more come this season but if not, that's cool because I did say when I started this year all I wanted was at least the chance to score let alone play. I achieved one of my goals by just playing a game but scoring is a added bonus. Let's hope this puck signifies a long and prosperous "career" as a sledge hockey player and just maybe one day realize my dream of being good enough to play for the national program! But I think for now I'll just focus on the rest of this season and get used to my "picking", my sledge control and learn how to ACTUALLY shoot!
What else?
Well, some of you will also know that I am a fan of loud, hard music and wrestling. Well, what a better combination of the two when wrestler (my "hero, your party host, your rolemodel, one bad mamma jamma, the Ayatollah of Rock and Rolla") Chris Jericho and his band Fozzy came to town this past Saturday night. This was my first Fozzy show and my second time meeting Chris Jericho. But what I will say is that Fozzy just absolutely rocked the stage and put on one amazing show. I have had friends tell me that if I do see Fozzy live I will NOT be disappointed and by no means was I disappointed at all. The musicianship was first rate and lead guitarist Mike Martin's solos were mind blowing! The rest of the band was just amazing as well. When he had the chance, bassist Sean B Delson's bass playing really shone through and showed that he wouldn't be upstaged by Mike Martin's solo work as well. Of course the rythmn guitar player Rich Ward held a down a steady beat and drummer Frank Fontsere was BLISTERING on the drums.
The show started off with "Nameless Faceless" the opening track from their most recent CD "All That Remains" and then went right into the track "Don't You Wish You Were Me?", a track that appeared on the WWE album "Originals" (which was also Chris's entrance music for a short spell when he came to the ring). For the most part the show bounced between their second CD "Happenstance" and the aforementioned "All That Remains" album but they also threw in a few cover songs such as Judas Priest's "Free Wheel Buring" and Motorhead's "Eat The Rich". The final song of the night however was the song "Enemy", a song from "All That Remains" but was also the theme for the WWE Pay Per View "No Mercy" about a year ago. The song was done in memory of wrestler Eddie Guererro who passed away last weekend. A loud chant of "Eddie! Eddie!" broke out (you could tell who the wrestling fans were in the crowd) when Jericho reminded us all of what a great friend Eddie was to him and how he misses him but he (Jericho) reminded us to live every day to the most and make the most of the time you have. A very fitting way I thought to end the show.
Here are a few pictures post show. The first one you will see is myself and Chris. I kind of look dorky and not too great here but I think I was in the midst of speaking, telling person who shot the picture that the flash was about to go off. I should have told the person in advance however andm aybe the picture would have turned out better. Anyways, the last time I met Chris he was very cool, really polite and very classy and he was the same way again this time amidst the other people wanting his attention. Either way it was great to meet Chris again!
Here I am with the lead guitarist Mike Martin. He was a really cool person to talk to and was really humble. When I thanked him and the band for coming he just said "no, thank YOU for coming!" and bowed to me after he said that. We had alot to talk about in the time he spent talking with me. A really classy guy and really funny too!
I also had the opportunity to talk to Sean B. Delson and Rich Ward. Both of them as well were very cool, very down to earth and took the time to talk with me as well. Both of them had fascinating stories to tell about their touring experiences and upcoming musical projects. I couldn't thank them enough for capping off what was a great night of music!
I would be remissed to say if I didn't mention the opening acts Papa Fogals Chair and Reason Disappears . Both bands put on amazing sets as opening acts for the night. You had the crushing hardcore off tempo beats of Papa Fogals Chair (a Mudvayne meets System of A Down type sound) to the progressive electronic rock sounds of Reason Disappears. All I can tell you is that by the end of their respective sets I was a instant fan of both bands!
So ther eyou have it folks the big one year anniversary blog installment. I look forward to another years worth of blogging and I hope that you enjoy what I do here in my little corner of blogspot.com.
Until next time, take care!
posted by Spatchula at 9:19 PM
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