Home Again

Just a quick update to say everyone made it back to their respective destinations safely. The only hiccup involved, once again, Pat's plane from Chicago to Charleston. It was delayed, once again, for two hours. I just checked, though, and it looks like his plane has landed, and hopefully he will be on his way home soon.

I'll write up some closing thoughts on the trip tomorrow, but for now, sleep.

Chicago From 5,000 Feet

If you knew Sushi like I knew Sushi...

It's hard to have a great last meal when you're in an airport. Bryan, Jim, and I went rogue, passed on Jonny Rockets, and grabbed 3 seats at the sushi bar in the concourse. After some sake, some Kirin, some edemame, and some unagi, we're almost ready to engage with reality again in the morning.

Mac's Big Mouth

Okay, while we usually enjoy immensely the tidbits of commentary that flow freely from Mac's mind, we might need to work on his volume control. We were walking down the terminal, looking for a place to eat when one of us may have directed Mac's attention to a young lady exiting a jetway who was immaculately dressed. Mac's response was to stare and blurt out (about fifteen feet away, mind you),"Holy Mackerel!" Considering the slight smirk on her face as she passed, I think she heard him. We're proud that he can bring such joy to people and reassure their self confidence.

Sweet Home Chicago

We've just landed in Chicago. In the picture, if you look really carefully, you can see the Sears Tower. Go ahead and put you face right up to the screen - no wait - that's too close. Back up and clean that nose smudge off the screen.

Phil: The next shoe bomber?

Okay, this was not funny for Phil, but we found it hysterical. As we were sitting by the gate waiting for the plane, a lady came through handing out planeside check tickets. The plane we're on is small, and only small carry-ons will fit. She looked at Phil's bag and told him he would have to go back out and check it. This is the same bag he used on the trip up. Kinda ridiculous, considering they were going to hate check it anyway, but Phil headed back out through security. When he gets back, he tells us that a Toasty Toes that he had forgotten in one of his shoes had set the alarm off. They had to run a second test, while telling him that if it failed again, they would have to escalate to the "next level". I'm not sure, but I imagine that involved latex gloves and a private room.

Another legend in the Holes' chronicle is born.

The Cribbage Kings

Mac and Z are making good use of a little down time playing cribbage before our flight out of Wausau. We had a fine breakfast at Leif's this morning. Mac thoroughly enjoyed his big sausage, while it was Scotty that went for the breakfast burrito (I went that route last time around). I'm sure he's enjoying the lingering effects as much as I did last time, as well.

Plane seems to be on time, so we should be into Chicago around 5:15. We've got a bit of a layover there, so we'll have time to grab a bite to eat again, I'm sure.

Saturday Do-Over

 Okay, so we'll try this Saturday summary again, hoping the glitch monster doesn't raise it's ugly head.  I'll do my best to remember all the life-altering wisdom I shared the last time around before Blogger reduced my epiphanies to the blank screen of despair.

We arose Saturday morning with a mission. For FIH, it was to draw a team that wasn't bound for the finals.  For MFIH, it was to build on their momentous and historic Friday afternoon victory.  As we headed out tot he vans, bags in tow, we were met with the first obstacle of the day - the cold.  And I mean FREAKING cold!  Looking back, we were so foolish to think that Friday was cold.  Friday was a day at the beach.  Saturday was rough. I'll apologize ahead of time for the lack of pictures but I could not keep my hands exposed long enough to use the camera or iPhone.  In fact, I had to slap a Toasty Toes on the back of my iPhone to keep the battery working.

FIH hit the ice first against Irmo Dirty Olde Men (DOM on their jerseys). Going into their final game, the boys were hoping to draw a team of the same mettle that MFIH had on Friday. No such luck. DOM was finals bound, with a vengeance. They put up a valiant fight, but it was rough watching them from the sidelines. Mostly because it was FREAKING cold, but also because we felt for the guys. Did I mention it was freakin' cold? How cold was it? Well, Rob asked to use my helmet at halftime because his clear face shield was not only fogging up, but freezing up. Even with using my helmet with a cage, there was frozen condensation from his breath that did not thaw off the metal until we got back to the warming tent. The final score on their game probably doesn't need to be mentioned, but I have been accused of bribing the USA Hockey guys to give my team all the easier teams.

(Sunday morn update - DOM was playing in the semis this morning)

The MFIH team was up next. Our opponent was South Side Shirts, fro Chicago.  Now, in the past, drawing a team from Chicago has not been a good thing.  This year, our luck held out, as we played the only team from Chicago that we've ever beaten. We hit the ice with a little extra roster padding from Scotty, and rolled.  The game was fairly close for about five minutes, with the other team even scoring first, but then we started pulling away. As the goals racked up, I had a brief moment that I felt bad for the other team, but then I remembered two years of trips when we got our butts kicked, and I got over it fast. They were good sports about it, and it felt great to win two out of our three games.  Ice Holes Pond Hockey history was made!  There was a minuscule chance that we might make the quarterfinals that afternoon, so we planned on catching lunch at a local bar and grill, then check back on the results. If there wasn't some sort of miracle (like one or more of the other contenders falling through the ice or being crippled in a tragic snowmobile accident), we planned on playing the traditional Teal & White game.

Lunch was at The Penalty Box - a bar and grill that's typical for this area.  Good food, good atmosphere, very slow service. You don't ever need to be in a hurry if you go out to eat around here. After a selection of sandwiches and hamburgers met their maker, we packed up and it was back to the lake. Surprise, surprise, we did not advance, so it was on to planning the Teal & White.

We were hoping there would be an empty rink for us to use, but the quarterfinals had all the rinks occupied for the next two games (about an hour and a half). Faced with this dilemma, we improvised and decided to set up our own rink on the open ice at the end of the official rinks. Some hockey bags made up the goals, and if you missed a pass, you had to skate into snow to get it.  Although we got some looks from people trying to drive cars through our play area, and Mac nearly took out two young ladies trying to navigate along the sidelines, it worked out well.  We did agree that we wanted to finish on a regulation rink, so as soon as the quarters finished, we took the rink closest to the warming tent.  As in the past, it was a great way to cap off the trip.  To add a little drama, we chose two captains to pick and reshuffle the teams.  Team Mac consisted of Mac, Rob, Brett, Kent, Scotty, and Z.  Team Erik consisted of Erik, Buddha, Rich, Bryan, Pat, and Phil. The question of who won depends on which team you talk to, but it's generally accepted that Team Erik kicked butt.  The game did have its more colorful moments, including a beleaguered Kent accusing our team of putting a bounty on his head, and a needless and vicious check of Bryan into the snow behind the goal by Mac. All I can say about that is I hope Mac enjoyed the snow sandwich he got following that Hole on Hole violence.

We ate fresh at Subway for dinner, everyone having had their fill of heavier fare and relaxed dinner services, then made our way back to the Dome for another night of local hockey excitement. The game did not disappoint. It looked like the home team was going roll over the visitors, but they ended up coming back and making a game of it.  Very entertaining, complete with an ice-clearing gorilla, a goaltending pig, and an eagle referee.  Only in Eagle River.

Everyone pretty much crashed when we got back to the hotel.  I'm sure Mac fell asleep with visions of giant kielbasas in his head.

 

Red Solo Cup

Aside from pond hockey and ice fishing, there isn't a lot to do in the winter here in ER. That could explain this impromptu sign on top of the Penalty Box bar.

Breakfast At Leif's

Everyone is chillin' at Leif's Diner this morning. We're waiting on an assortment of eggs, bacon, breakfast burritos, and, yes, Mac has ordered the sausage (reference posts from 2009). The hotel has allowed us to consolidate our bags to the suite until we head for the airport around 1pm.

Of course, the temperature is already warmer today than either Friday or Saturday. The sun is out, and it's beautiful. Should be good traveling weather, as long as the plane seats don't break.

Blog Crash

 Sorry folks - had a witty, funny, heartwarming, Pulitzer-prize winning written summary of Saturday's events composed, and the blogger program ate it. It's late, and I'm really ticked off and not in the mood to retype it all, so here's some photos from today. If I have time tomorrow, I'll try to relay some of the highlights again.

 

Signs of the Times

The town of Eagle River rolls out the red carpet for hockey teams. You can't go anywhere in town without knowing that the tournament is going on. Here's a few examples...

Another Night At The Dome

Had a great time on the lake today. I'll elaborate on our frozen antics later. For now, we are pleasantly digesting our Subway sandwiches (Eat Fresh!) and getting ready to watch the Eagle River Falcons take on the Portage Lake Pioneers at the Dome. The action last night was fast and furious with a few lead changes. I doubt tonight's game will disappoint.

And where else can you go to a hockey game and see a gorilla shovel snow off the ice?

Hockey Day in Canada

New gloves; $35, rooms at the Eagle River Inn; $160, flight through Chicago; $408, sitting in the Penalty Box on Hockey Day in Canada watching the Pens vs the Jets AND the Rangers vs the Flyers; PRICELESS!!

Lunch In The Penalty Box

Morning games are now complete and in all likelihood, they will be out last "official" games of the trip. The is a snow ball's chance that MFIH will advance, but I think out would take the ice swallowing up two or three of the teams in our bracket. We'll check later.

To recap, FIH drew another top level team this morning and got stomped. MFIH drew another "recreational" team and make mincemeat of them. Wow. It feels good to use that word in conjunction with a Holes' blog post and not have it refer to us. Someone told me the score was 16-3, but that's unconfirmed.

A little lunch at a local bar and grill (the Penalty Box) and we'll head back to the lake to heck MFIH's playoff status. If we don't advance, the current plan is to find an empty rink, if we can, and go ahead and play the traditional Teal & White game this afternoon. That way, we can have a more leisurely breakfast before we head to the airport tomorrow.

More later. Stay tuned.

Friday, Friday, Gotta Get Down On Friday

So here's a more elaborate summary of our Friday activities:

We got up bright and early to a thermometer that must have been broken, because I couldn't imagine that the temperature it was reading could be accurate.  Let's just say it was in the single digits - the low single digits. But hey, we had a delicious continental breakfast and were eager to hit the ice.  FIH (Fargin' Ice Holes, for those of you that didn't read the earlier posts) was scheduled to play first, at 9:30am.  We took the early van over, and the rest of the guys followed aout 15 minutes later.

This was no parking on the lake this year - I believe due to the thinner ice conditions than years past. (Although I did notice the number of "authorized staff vehicles" that were allowed on the ice seemed to increase during the day, and likewise seemed to be occupied by "staff" that also happened to be playing in the tournament.) So, Buddha and I, the acting chauffeurs for the group, dropped the guys and their bags off, then circled back to park the vans. We ended up hiking through the woods to get to the lake, but the walk really wasn't any longer than hiking to the shuttle pick up area.

To say it was cold this morning would be a gross inaccuracy.  It was freakin' cold, folks.  I mean, it was so cold that our lawyer had his hands in his own pockets. (Rich can't get me for slander - I didn't mention his name...oh wait...). Except when we were playing, we tried to reduce any exposed skin to a minimum.  A far cry from Pompano Beach last year, huh? There were times, when the wind wasn't blowing and the sun came out from behind the clouds that it was almost comfortable.  Almost.

So 9:30 rolls around and the first group of guys hit the ice against "Just The Tip In". Expectations were certainly high, and the boys looked like they were going to really take charge - even got the first goal of the game.  But that's where the dream ended, as the rest of the game didn't go well for the guys on FIH. I don't know if I ever heard the exact score, but it was a lot to a little.  Most of the team wasn't that far above our guys in skill, but they had one taller dude out there (Number 16) that must have accounted for half of their goals. Tough break for the FIH guys, to be sure.

11:00 came fast, and the guys of MFIH (that's More Fargin' Ice Holes - yeah, real creative, I know, but I was in a rush to get the teams registered back last July and needed to come up with some names) hit the ice against Scroticus. We've seen these guys every year that we've been here, but this is the first time we've faced them on the ice. As do many of the teams that come to this event, their jerseys are quite humorous, but definitely rated PG-13. Kids, turn away. We really thought we could win this game. We were even leading 3-2 at the half, but a few breakaways in the second half had them caught up and then some. We were making some headway into recovering the lead, but ran out of time, losing by one point. Very disappointing, because we felt like that was one we let slip away.

Oh well, on to lunch. Mostly brats (very good - cooked by the fire department) and some hydration in the form of our "free" Labatt beer we got with our registration fees. With some nutrition and fluids on board, we were ready for the afternoon. Unfortunately, FIH's afternoon game (against "Shut Your Five Hole) was a more frustrating repeat of the morning's game. It was a bit on the chippy side as well. Mac got a good one in as he sent some guys *ss over teakettle into the snowbank. The boys didn't get skunked, though, as Rob drew a penalty, awarding his team the only goal of the game. The MFIH game had considerably more favorable results. We faced off against the "Laughing Skulls" - another team that we have seen at the tourney before, but have never played. We ended up winning the game to claim our second collective victory on Wisconsin pond ice in the three years that we've come. I'd like to say it was a hard fought battle against a better team, but to tell you the truth, the Laughing Skulls were the easiest team any of us faced today. Indeed, the guys on FIH have drawn the tough rides so far in the tournament. Maybe their luck will change tomorrow.

After a quick shower, and for some, a quick dip in the hot tub, we headed out for the Old Stag Restaurant. This is a place that several of us went to last trip and had a phenomenal meal, so I knew I wanted to take the whole group back. Everything was delicious - I had the roast duck this time around, having given it heavy consideration that last time, too. Excellent. 

The evening's entertainment came, as previously reported, at the Eagle River Recreation Association ice rink, more commonly referred to as the "Dome".  The newbies were suitably impressed, and the home team won, 10-6, I think. We talked to the goalie about coming back to NC to play backup goalie for the Holes, but I don't think the contract negotiation is going well.

For some reason everyone was tired when we finally shuffled in to the hotel. Yours truly is, of course, up late, reporting to you faithful followers. I'm sure a certain "other" author on this blog is already asleep, but I just couldn't rest without feeling like I'd given you a real taste of our day. That's just how I roll.

Stay classy, San Diego.

From The Dome

We've finished up a superb meal at the Old Stag and are now enjoying some local hockey action. The Eagle River Falcons (yeah, I know - I'm not sure why they're not the Eagle River Eagles) are taking on Calumet Wolverines. Awesome action, and cheap beer. Not that any of us are interested in anything like that.

Off the wagon

The braised pork shanks that Mac is having are 138 weight watcher points but he's earned them today. The White Stag did not disappoint. Now off to watch the ER Falcons (why are they not called the eagles?), local hockey team play at The Dome, the oldest hockey arena in Wisconsin.

Mac n Me

Dinner At The Stag

After a entertaining day out on the lake, we are all gathered at the Old Stag Restaurant for a dinner featuring German dishes. Some of us had dinner here the last time out and it was fantastic. We're hoping they haven't changed chefs.

The plan is to enjoy a good meal and then head out to the Dome to watch the local hockey team battle it out on the ice with a neighboring town. The best part? All the beer sales at the game go to support the local youth hockey program. Awesome.

Winning doesnt suck

We had 4 great games and, yes, one of them was a victory. After a well deserved soak in the hot tub, we're off to dinner at the White Stag for some good schnitzel and knock wurst. Enjoy the ER sunset. Guten Nacht!

Chick Hockey

Equality is alive and well in ER. Here are the Fembots playing the MsConducts. I think the fishnet hockey socks are a nice touch. I'm glad they're not in our division!

Eskimo Mac

Hot Air

Photo: Scott making good use of the vent blowing warm air into the warming tent.

The cold air and wind are making it difficult to keep regular posts coming your way (the iPhone touch screen doesn't work well through winter gloves), so I apologize to our devoted followers. Buddha and I will get some more material up later.

The short story - two games down, two loses. FIH (Fargin Ice Holes) lost by a bunch this morning to number 16 on the opposing team, while MFIH (More Fargin Ice Holes) lost by one in their first game. Very disappointing. We really felt like we could take 'em.

Lots of great jerseys this year. Scotty and Buddha are doing a good job of trying to document as many of them as possible. We'll do our best to post some of the better ones later.

FIH plays again at 2pm (40 minutes). Here's hoping the next team doesn't have a number 16.

We're not in Kansas anymore

Waking up for our first day of hockey...ER got 1 - 2 inches of snow last night and it will continue all day. It's 12 degrees at 7:30 a.m. and that is the high for the day. Whose idea was this??

Thursday's Gone

Well, here we are all gathered in our suite at the Eagle River Inn and Resort, enjoying a selection of beverages and watching the recaps of this evening's hockey games on TV.

For the majority of us, the day was fairly uneventful, but something certainly needs to be said for Pat's adventures. He started the day in Charleston and was supposed to connect up with us in Chicago for the second leg of the trip to Wausau. We got notice from him shortly after we arrived at Greensboro for our own flight that his flight in Charleston was delayed at least two hours, and was therefore going to miss his connection. We worked it out with him to just get another rental car and meet us at the hotel. Then, as the rest of us were ordering food at Lumpy's, I got a text from Pat. Apparently, as they were boarding his plane for Wausau, a "passenger of size" sat down in a seat a row or two ahead of Pat, and prompty broke the chair. Yes, you read that right - the chair broke. We can't make this stuff, folks. Anyway, they finally shifted people around the cabin sufficiently to allow the flight to finally take off. Pat eventualy made it to the hotel about the time we got back from dinner. OK also arrived at the hotel about the same time, so the gang's all here.

On a different note, I have to say that Kent is not happy. In years' past, we've received a nice USA Hockey jersey as part of our team package for participating in the tournament. This year, they have really nice jerseys, but you have to win the tournament to get one. So what do we get instead? A watch. Kent is not happy. Of course, some of us were a bit disappointed with Kent for not trying some new jokes on Lumpy at the bar.We've got two teams hitting the ice tomorrow: the Fargin' Ice Holes and More Fargin' Ice Holes. (yeah, real creative, I know - I was in a rush to get us registered) The Fargin' Ice Holes' first game is at 9:30am tomorrow morning, followed by MFIH's at 11am. We're planning on giving the newbies a crash course in pond hockey rules and strategy in the van on the way to the pond.

More tomorrow. Good night, and good luck.