Multiply this times 6 and that's what I need to drop from my ass to be in race shape. What a drag.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
CHAMPS!!!
Well I did it. 3 days of intense hockey: warm up, stretch, ice time, eat, rest, recover. This was the seemingly unending cycle for 72 hours. It was a blast. Definitely a "checkbox checked" on the list of cool life experiences.
Friday was drills, practice, chalk talk, practice, scrimmage games. Saturday was a round robin tournament to seed teams for Sunday's championship tourney. We finished out 2-0-1 Saturday for No. 1 seed. I (as well as everybody) was cooked both Friday and Saturday night.
To Mellon Arena Sunday. Body says "no!", brain says "go!".We watched 2 v. 3 in the first game. 2 dominates; clearly the team to beat. On they go to the championship game. But first things first - we have our own 1 v. 4 semi-final to get through. We handle this team again fairly easily with a 6-1 win. A memory from this game that I'll never forget (remember this is full-on Mellon Arena hockey - jumbotron, replays, announcers, music, the works): The booming announcement of the game's first goal went like this: "The Chinstrap's goal! scored by the Ol' 2-9er! PHILLLLL BOURRRRRRRRRQE!!! Assisted by number 16, KEN DE-FURYYYYYY-O! Time of the goal 6:19 - DeFurio to Bourque!" Awesome.
Brief recovery while the consolation game is played. Championship game starts at 9:30pm. A battle royale, start to finish. I had the fortune of scoring the first goal of the game on a great pass from the blue line from one of our young defensemen. Another indelible memory - scoring a goal in a championship game on Mellon Arena ice. So we fought hard the rest of the way. So did they. If you've never played hockey it's hard to describe the intensity, speed, and emotion through the game's ebbs and flows. Just surreal. We win 5-4 on a Bourqie game-winning goal with 3:00 minutes to go. Held off our opponent's empty-net assault in the final 2 minutes for the win.
So yes there is a cool cup/trophy on which all the winners' names are engraved. They presented the trophy followed by guys hoisting the cup, team photos, equipment everywhere, guys getting pictures with their wives and kids, etc. The guys were just, well, stoked. But through most of the revelry I quietly skated a few laps around the Igloo, soaking it all in and thinking about the likely hundreds of events I've been to in this soon to be memory of a facility. Learning to skate and to play this game as an adult made it all the more unlikely that I should find myself here. Plus I got to share it all with my hockey buddy Bret who just lit it up the entire weekend.
The folks from work who gave me this gift - and attended the semi-final game as huge fans - have no idea what a gift this was.
Friday was drills, practice, chalk talk, practice, scrimmage games. Saturday was a round robin tournament to seed teams for Sunday's championship tourney. We finished out 2-0-1 Saturday for No. 1 seed. I (as well as everybody) was cooked both Friday and Saturday night.
To Mellon Arena Sunday. Body says "no!", brain says "go!".We watched 2 v. 3 in the first game. 2 dominates; clearly the team to beat. On they go to the championship game. But first things first - we have our own 1 v. 4 semi-final to get through. We handle this team again fairly easily with a 6-1 win. A memory from this game that I'll never forget (remember this is full-on Mellon Arena hockey - jumbotron, replays, announcers, music, the works): The booming announcement of the game's first goal went like this: "The Chinstrap's goal! scored by the Ol' 2-9er! PHILLLLL BOURRRRRRRRRQE!!! Assisted by number 16, KEN DE-FURYYYYYY-O! Time of the goal 6:19 - DeFurio to Bourque!" Awesome.
Brief recovery while the consolation game is played. Championship game starts at 9:30pm. A battle royale, start to finish. I had the fortune of scoring the first goal of the game on a great pass from the blue line from one of our young defensemen. Another indelible memory - scoring a goal in a championship game on Mellon Arena ice. So we fought hard the rest of the way. So did they. If you've never played hockey it's hard to describe the intensity, speed, and emotion through the game's ebbs and flows. Just surreal. We win 5-4 on a Bourqie game-winning goal with 3:00 minutes to go. Held off our opponent's empty-net assault in the final 2 minutes for the win.
So yes there is a cool cup/trophy on which all the winners' names are engraved. They presented the trophy followed by guys hoisting the cup, team photos, equipment everywhere, guys getting pictures with their wives and kids, etc. The guys were just, well, stoked. But through most of the revelry I quietly skated a few laps around the Igloo, soaking it all in and thinking about the likely hundreds of events I've been to in this soon to be memory of a facility. Learning to skate and to play this game as an adult made it all the more unlikely that I should find myself here. Plus I got to share it all with my hockey buddy Bret who just lit it up the entire weekend.
The folks from work who gave me this gift - and attended the semi-final game as huge fans - have no idea what a gift this was.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
The Day of Reckoning is Nigh
Well, if I'm not ready now, I won't be. Start Friday with 3 days of INTENSE hockey. 4 teams, each captained by a former Pen (my captain is the Ol' 2-9er...cool!!!). Finish up on Sunday on Mellon Arena ice. Hopefully in the championship game.
My team is the Chinstraps. German national team jersey colors (black/red trim). Bust out the ice and ibuprofen...this silliness is gonna hurt.
My team is the Chinstraps. German national team jersey colors (black/red trim). Bust out the ice and ibuprofen...this silliness is gonna hurt.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Update
Been on the ice 7 times (including 3 games), ran 2x, RODE 2x! (indoors), some light lifting...feeling ok....so far, so good...maybe some XC skiing is in my near future with this sweet snow...
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Comeback Begins
So the people at work get me a spot at the Pittsburgh Penguins "Fantasy Camp" Feb 12-14. Intense three days of hockey with guys who can play. Figures that this is the first time in 20 years I haven't been skating for 3 months by now. With my various injuries, I haven't done shit in 3 months. 49 days to get in shape. I hit the weights and the ice on Christmas Eve, then skated again yesterday. I hurt from head to (still sore) toe. Who knows, maybe I'll build some riding into this workout routine...
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Saved the quad...
...from damage as my chainsaw accident required only 8 stiches to close up and didn't get into muscle. By myself, happened so fast I didn't even realize it. 80 mph to the ER...didn't want to look at it....but it wasn't bleeding too bad so I knew I was lucky. Get to yank the stiches in 10 days. Despite the scare, no worse for the wear. Afib even warned me to be careful.
Man do I suck.
Man do I suck.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Checkin In
The boys were out on the MTBs today.I almost went, but instead headed over to the new property and spent another entire day with chainsaw in hand. I thought the whole gang was in the woods, but I almost delivered a log when Richy and Randy startled me as I was cutting wood. They were about 2/3 of the way through the Fear This 14 and stopped to say hi. It was good to see them. Took a short break, Richy shed some clothes in the back of my Suburban, and off they went. It was a gorgeous day and I was jealous.
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