Stick A Fork In It...

...the 2013 Ice Holes Pond Hockey Experience is done.  Sad, but every great journey must come to a close.  Although, I'm getting some pressure to start planning 2014 already.

As with any great experience in life, there are lessons to be learned.  So, what, you may ask, did we learn on this trip?  Here's some thoughts:

• Vermont is a beautiful, slightly hippy-ish, a little-bit redneckish, eccentric, windy, cold, colder, frigid (at times), friendly, gorgeous sunset-filled state that I'd be happy to visit again sometime.
• "Tuques" is pronounced "tooks", not "tookus" and is a type of hat, as opposed to the other thing.
• Burlington has some very good meatloaf.
• Poutine, a dish consisting of French fries covered in brown gravy and cheese, must be consumed within five minutes or it will set up like concrete.  Which doesn't bode well for what it does having gained access to your GI tract.
• No matter what your record is in a tournament, or what the tournament officials tell you, always, always check the playoff schedule to see if your team made it.
• A Jello shot must be properly "loosened" in the cup before tipping it up - otherwise you just look foolish.  If you are in doubt as how to best free the gelatinous inebriant, consult with someone under the age of 24 (but preferably over 21).
• No one call pull off the look of tying a scarf around your head, Rambo-style.  However, if you are on Social Security and resemble Colonel Sanders, this behavior can be excused.
• You should always keep your anger bottled up inside and never, never let it out.
• It is advisable to not duck under barrier ropes when you have something attached to the top of your head.
• If the airline loses your luggage with all your hockey gear, make sure you talk about that loudly in the bar bathroom.  You never know when a cast member of Slap Shot is within ear shot.
• Pizza, burgers, nachos, beer, and other bar food consumed on a hockey trip hold zero points on the Weight Watchers Diet, especially if you eat at least one salad during the trip.
• When skiing, don't ever trust those signs that say, "Easiest Route".  They are lying and enjoy a good laugh watching the suckers climb back out of the woods, skies under their arm.
• Tosslecap Karma is a b*tch.

I'm sure there are many more nuggets of wisdom I'm missing, but if you've learned anything from these, I've done my job.

Finally, I want to extend a heartfelt thanks to OS and Linda for sharing their family, their family's stuff, and their old stomping grounds with us.

So, until next time, I'd like to say, "I don't always play hockey, but when I do, I prefer to play with Ice Holes.  Stay thirsty, my friends."

An Open Letter

On Monday night, after we got back from skiing, I discovered a folded-up letter written on notebook paper on the desk in my room. The author was only identified as "Innocent Bystander". Now, I am typically reluctant to read anything that arrives on my desk unannounced, as it usually contains some sort of inappropriate request from Mac or hate mail, but as the author took the time to hand write this, I gave it a once-over. I only had to read a few lines to realize that this was an important, insightful testimonial. And despite the fact that I might disagree with the notion that the white team enjoyed any significant kind of artificial performance edge over the teal in their victory Sunday morning, I felt this account needed to be shared. So here is the transcript, in it's entirety (reproduced exactly as written).

 

 

 

"To: Brian (sic)

FM: Innocent Bystander

2.18.13

An Ice Holes team made the playoffs for the first time in memory. Therfore, they had no experience in how to deal with such an unusual event. Thus, they slept in and never showed up for the 9am event, and not knowing about it, they broke training the night before at Burlington's Irish Pub. These are the hazards of high level competition like this, tho I have a feeling it will not happen in the future.

Of course, the effect of deviating from iron-clad training rules were revealed on Sun AM at the 10am Intrasquad White v. Teal game, where the players who failed to qualify for the Playoffs waxed, or otherwise stifled, the players who did make the playoffs, by a large score. I guess we found out who broke training and who didn't.

That Sun AM "tilt" at 15 degrees and 20 mph wind gusts resembled a pinball game with the players as "flippers", barely able to do much more than touch the puck which flew around like a ball of mercury on a mirror! All cercerned wore every stitch of clothing they brought. Some refused to exit the game for a rest because that would have meant standing still.

Players were extra busy shagging the "mercury" pucks, and a guy named Buddha, who was wearing a mini video cam on his helmet, knocked it off while lifting the boundary rope over his head. He then conned an innocent bystander to use it like a movie camera so that this tournament to be the most recorded athletic event in history.

The organizers reported 600 participants, 85 teams, 5 categories, 9 rinks. They did not report how many beers were consumed. Labatt Blue reached Vermont as well as Wisconsin.

The rinks were a little bigger than a basketball court. Hockey nuts came from all over the east to include Canada, and even Georgia, Illinois, Montana, Michigan, and Kansas. NC provided our two teams and one came from Ft Bragg and Wake Forest. Women played with men teams and had their own teams. Ice Holes found competition for creative team name from the likes of Yeast Infection, Hit For Brains, Drunken Clams, Pond Scum, Swamp Donkeys, Puck U, Frank n Stein, Ankle Draggers, The Flying Eggplants, etc.

Categories included Open, 30+, 40+, Just For Fun Under 35, Just For Fun +35. We were in the last bunch, and you know we saw our share of ringers.

Ah well, winning includes more than putting more pucks in 12 inch by 2 inch holes. It also includes bonding and team espirit. That's where we excel. They had a term for it in the Army Code of Conduct. "Keep faith with your fellow prisoners," or in this case, your teammates. We always looked out for each other. If anyone lost his hat, no effort was spared to find it. If you teammates looked like they needed hor d'ouvres, order some for them. If you tell your friends you'll warm up the car for them, you get lost and let them stand for 10 minutes in 15 degree, 20 mph gusts. No one was ever without a beer to the point where special hockey gloves were offered, made with a hole that could contain one can or bottle of beer.

Old Steve and Linda's relative Scott opened his home to us after the Saturday games, and we helped him clean up - all the beer, Jack Daniels, tea, cherry pie, hors d'ouvres, nuts and goodies in sight. The view of L. Champlain sunset was awesome. We did some real bonding over that opportunity."

 

Headed Home

Tuesday morning, and time to go home. Our collective feeling in talking to our wives last night was that while they were saying things like, "we're so glad you had a good time", the underlying message was, "you've played around with the boys long enough, we're tired of being here alone, get back home". So we bid Vermont a fond farewell. Buddha and his dad loaded up and headed out around 8:30 this morning. The rest of us are currently sitting at the airport, waiting on our flight. With luck, we'll be back in Charlotte this evening.

Pour Some Sugarbush On Me

On Monday morning, Buddha, Kent, Vrettacos, and I left the hotel at 6am in order to get to Sugarbush right as the ski shop opened at 7:30. We anticipated that there would be a fairly good crowd at the mountain because of the holiday weekend (Presidents' Day). We made excellent time, and arrived at just after 7am. Parking was not a problem at all, and we parked right up front. When we exited the car to head over to the ski shop, we were immediately blasted with arctic air that seemed to cut right though all the clothing we had on. Now, the pond the day before had been right chilly, but this frigid gale-force wind was painful. Nevertheless, we rented our gear, and headed out. The resort at this time almost seemed deserted, and we had no wait at all when we got in line for the lift. On the ride up, we once again were treated to the wrath of the mountain wind, as it threatened to freeze us to the chair lift. When we finally got off the lift and were able to get moving, we warmed up some - except for our faces, which were numb by the time we reached the bottom of the run. The skiing however, was really good, and this resort is fantastic. Kent, Vrettacos, and I did take a time out to get something to cover our chins and nose, then were right back on the slope.

Warming up at Allyn's Lodge on the mountain

The night before, Vrettacos suggested we wear our hockey jerseys over our ski clothes, and, in addition to offering some further protection against the cold, it also made it really easy for us to keep track of each other. And and as added bonus, we received a lot of comments - something I've come to expect when traveling with this group.

As anyone who has been skiing knows, there is one moment during the trip where, standing at the top of a run you probably have no business even looking at, you say, "What the heck". My personal opinion is that the combination of cold weather and constrictive nature of head garments leads to reduced blood flow to the brain, inducing an state of euphoria causing the individual to experience feelings of invincibility and instilling delusions of grandeur. It was around 11am that we fell victim to this condition. Standing at the top of a run called "Stein's Run", I remember uttering the words, "Well, see you at the bottom, boys", and I headed down. Now Stein's Run is technically a double black, but it really didn't seem that bad. No moguls, no severe cliff-like dropoffs. What it did have is a very steep grade, and ice. Lots of ice. Ice deceptively disguised under a nice looking, but very thin layer of powder. It was maybe about a third of the way down that I fell victim to a long patch of this ice. Now, being the experienced skier that I am, when I knew I was losing control, I did the smart thing and laid back down into the mountain, which is much preferable to going over high-side. Everything was going according to plan, except that I didn't stop. I kept going downhill, picking up speed, despite the fact that I was laying on my side, skis downhill, breaking as hard as I could. About the time I was thinking "this isn't good", my ski tip caught a small patch of powder, spinning me 180 degrees. I was continuing in my previous path, only now, head-first. As the trees were whipping by me at about 100 miles per hour, I remember thinking, "this is really not good". Luckily, I finally came to rest in a pile of powder that was located at the end of the strip of ice. Snow filled every open pocket and flap on my person, but, hey, I was not moving any more. Okay, so here comes the best part. As I'm laying there trying to figure out how to stand up, some little 10 year old kid snowboards over and asks, "Are you okay, mister?". I tried to hit him with my ski pole (I miraculously managed to retain all of my equipment affixed in the proper place) but he was out of range.

The rest of the run was fabulous. The snow was much better on the second half of the run, probably because all the powder had slid down there off the top half. I figured the rest of the boys would be down soon. They weren't. I kept scanning the slopes for signs of a snowmobile headed up with a stretcher, but saw nothing. After about twenty minutes, I finally spotted them on the way down. Apparently, being reluctant to follow my stupid a** down Stein's Run, they opted for the cutoff trail labeled "easiest". I believe someone was playing a cruel hoax, because Buddha affirmed that it was definitely not easy. They were briefly in the woods, dodging Vermont's fine sampling of hardwoods and evergreens, then were dumped out onto a trail just below the lift with some mild moguls. Well, mild moguls covered in ice. As they navigated their way through, Buddha had a similar experience to my wild ride, although he had the fortune of having a kindly tree stop his progress. Once he collected his gear and hiked back out of the woods, the group continued down to find me waiting at the bottom.
One good thing did result from my extended wait for the guys at the bottom. OS and his crew found me. We decided it was a good time to break for lunch, trying to beat the crowd. Having satisfied our need for sustenance, and having shaken out all the snow from my camera bag, we put all the warm stuff back on and set out to shred some more (that's young, cool talk for skiing or snowboarding well). The runs, though still passable even late into the afternoon, were steadily growing more icy and tricky. Also, five games of pond hockey in three days was beginning to show in our tired legs, and we were all happy to climb back in the car to head back to Burlington as the sun set behind the mountain.

The sign in the bathroom at Allyn's Lodge. They are very green, here in VT.

Once we got back, we enjoyed a quiet dinner at the hotel bar before turning in. Buddha will head out early in the morning with his dad. They have plans on visiting some family/friends in the next few days as they make their way back to NC. Kent, Vrettacos, and I have a 11:40am flight out of Burlington, connecting through New York on our way back to Charlotte. If all goes well, we should be back in NC around 5:30pm.

The Moose is Loose at Sugarbush

After a great tournament, five of us stayed in Burlington to take advantage of Vermont's other great winter pastime, skiing. We headed south to Sugerbush and had an awesome day. The Ice Holes hockey club may turn into the Ice Holes Hockey and Skiing team.

Oops

Below, you will find two versions of Sunday morning's events documented below. Both contain elements of truth. I will let the readers decide which version they would like to subscribe to. Unfortunately, due to the extremely cold nature of, well, mother nature, that morning, and to the fact that both of the Holes' principle photogs were participating in the event, there is no photographic record of the event (although it is rumored that there may be some bootleg video shot, thought this has yet to be substantiated).

Version 1:

Folllowing the completion of the preliminary games, we thought that neither team had a good enough record to advance, considering that several sources, including some associated with the tournament, indicated that you would probably need at least a 3-1 record to advance. However, we made sure to look at the results on the tournament web site to just double check to make sure, and were pleasantly surprised to find that the Number 2 team had just made the cut and would be facing the Boll Weevils (the team the Ice Holes faced for their first game on Friday) in the play-in quarterfinals at 9:40am. The 2's showed up ready to put it all on the line. They battled valiently, but in the end, lost the quarterfinal game, 15-0.

Version 2:

After a night of revelry on Church Street, most of us had a slow start to Sunday morning. We had made plans the night before to play our traditional Teal and White game around 10:30am on an unused rink at the lake. It was wicked cold in the morning, so all of us put on some extra layers and rolled out to the lake. As we were walking down the boat ramp, we could see the tournament's playoff games going on. It was then that several of the Boll Weevils team members (the first team that the Ice Holes faced on Friday) came up and asked, "Where were you guys? We were supposed to play you at 9:40 this morning for the quarterfinal play-in game", to which we replied, "What???!!!". We checked with the tournament officials, and, yes, indeed, the Number 2's made the play-in game, but since they didn't show, they lost by forfeit 15-0.

 

Whatever version you choose to accept, the rest of this writeup is factual and can be independently verified by an anonymous bystander. We did end up playing the Teal and White game, with the Ice Holes going white and the Number 2's going teal. The ice this morning was much better than it was for yesterday's games, owing to the fact that they flooded the rinks the night before. Even at that, we had a new challenge - the wind. It wasn't a constant wind, but the gusts could about stop you in your tracks as you tried to skate. Both teams stayed neck and neck for the first fifteen minutes or so, but then the white went on a scoring tear, notching 4-5 unanswered goals that proved too much for the teal to overcome. There was one point toward the end of the game when the captain of the teal team suggested, "next goal wins". The problem was, everyone was so worn out at that point, no one seemed to be capable of scoring a single additional goal. So, tired to the point of exhaustion, we shook hands and packed up our gear.

The grill at Al's French Frys

Following our Teal and White game, most of us headed up the street to a place called Al's French Frys - an old-fashioned diner that has been a staple here in Burlington since the 1940's. Obviously, fries (or "frys") are the specialty of the place, but they carry an assortment of burgers, patty melts, and brats/dogs. Everything was pretty good, but the fries really were the star.

Seven of our group were headed out on Sunday afternoon/evening. Mac was the first casualty, as he had plans to drive to Maine to visit some relatives before heading back to NC. Brett, Jim, Erik, Jack, Rich, and Scott were the next to head out, as they had a flight around 7pm, leaving Buddha, Kent, OS, Vrettacos, and me. The five of us had plans to go skiing on Monday at Sugarbush, a ski resort southeast of Burlington. OS stayed with friends Sunday night, so the four remaining, plus Buddha's dad, grabbed some dinner at Chicken Charlie's up the street, then returned to the hotel, where we watched "Skyfall" and hit the hay in anticipation of our hitting the slopes in the morning.

 

Church Street, Burlington, VT

Our evening plans were a work in progress, but we ultimately decided to stage our own pub crawl by heading down to Church Street - an area in downtown Burlington that is sectioned off from vehicular traffic and is home to a variety of shops and restaurants. We actually spent a little time here yesterday when we ate at Ken's but the nightlife is an altogether new animal. Our plan was to go to an Irish pub we saw there yesterday called Ri Ra. It was a good plan until we got there and were told that they couldn't seat us. We could order drinks, but weren't going to get a table. Okay - on to the backup plan. OS headed across the way and got us some tables at a place called Sweetwaters. Only problem was, it would be an hour before they could seat us. So we compromised. We kept the reservation, but stayed at the pub to have some beers while we waited.

The hour passed quickly, and most of us were seated (Scottie got scared off by the $16 meatloaf, and Erik and Vrettacos just decided to stay put at the pub). It was another excellent meal, complete with tempting dishes such as chipotle braised mussels, steak frites, and a sesame crusted tuna. Following the meal, we rejoined our holdouts back at the pub, where a live band had set up. The band was very good, and between the rockin' tunes, some Jello shots, and more beer, a good time was had by all.

 

Church Street at night

 

 

The Lakehouse

Well, in regards to the lakehouse...wow. It's a beautiful place right on the shore of Lake Champlain. The photo geeks (Buddha and I) spent fifteen minutes outside waiting for the perfect light in a gorgeous sunset. Yes, I know sunsets are way overdone, but it was truly magnificent. We were treated to some excellent cherry pie, and after some members of our party polished off a bottle of Jack Daniels, we regretfully had to adjourn for our evening's plans.

 

The Ballad of the Tosslecap

Let's take a little break to hear a tale of the tosslecap. On the last day of last year's pond hockey trip, as we were packing up for the drive back to the airport, Kent's custom made teal "tosslecap" (as Mac calls it) disappeared. A the time, Kent was certain that Mac was the culprit. Unpleasantries were exchanged that continued to be a sore spot in locker room discussions for the entire year following the trip. Just prior to the first game, while we were in the warming tent, putting on our gear, Mac reaches into his bag and low and behold (and with much snickering), pulls out a teal tosslecap. now, some conspiracy theorists have suggested that the hat in question is not, in fact, the original hat, but a craftily skilled replica, perhaps even made by the one and only Melanie Northcote, the creator of the one of a kind keepsakes. Now, on to the ironic part. During the trip, Mac's own tosslecap went missing. Coincidence? I'll let the blog's faithful readers decide.

 

The Break Point

Going into the afternoon games, the Number 2 team was poised to be the first Ice Holes' pond team to advance to the Sunday games. All they had to do was beat the runner up from last year, the Golden Tuques (not to be confused with the Golden Tuckus). We met these guys in the bar at the hotel on the first night, and they seemed pretty cool, but that was for fun. Now it was war.

So Buddha and his Green Mountain Boys (that's a Vermont reference that I cleverly worked into the writeup - neat, huh?) geared up an hit the ice - some literally - to keep the playoff dream alive. How they do? Well, not too good. Final score was 8-1. So the collective playoff hopes for the Holes ends (or did it? - hint - foreshadowing).

The other Holes team didn't fare a lot better in their final game, either. We played the Flying Eggplants in our last matchup. I think we played them close for much of the first half, but in the end, we fell 8-3. So the two teams ended up,with records of 2-2 for the Number 2 team and 1-3 for the Ice Holes. With all the preliminaries out of the way, there was nothing left to do but relax and commiserate with the other teams. After changing into some semi dry clothing, we hit the beer garden to cash in our free beer tickets. We made good use of the many fire barrels, seeing as it was rather chilly when you weren't panting as you skated around on a frozen water surface. There were several fire brassieres, too, all of which had some pretty big puddles underneath where they'd melted the ice (think Ali Kabob's truck). The Holes actually had a pretty good size cheering squad at the lake. Representatives of OS's extended family were there to lend their support, and they stayed afterward to socialize.

There was one more "win" at the lake that afternoon. As I was wondering around, I heard them announcing from the beer garden area that they were going to raffle off a Keurig coffee maker. "Kent? Is Kent in the crowd?". Kent was hanging out in the changing tent at the time, and they were just about ready to move on to the next name when Buddha informed our winning team member of the awaiting raffle prize. As a collective sigh of disappointment sounded through the crowd, Kent announced that he was present and ready for his prize. Nice souvenir, huh?

Having won everything we were going to on the lake that day, we started packing up to head back. It was at that time that OS's former brother-in-law (you keeping up with me) invited us to come see his lake house. Not wanting to be unsociable, we happily obliged.

Before we leave the lake, however, here are some more pictures for your viewing pleasure:

 

The grand prize for the whole kit 'n' kaboodle

I question the wisdom of storing gasoline in the corner of the changing tent, but what could go wrong?

 

Saturday Morning Cartoons

With the thermometer in the car registering 25 degrees Saturday morning, we felt like the ice might be in a little more solid state than it was by Friday afternoon. Of course, that meant the air was a bit on the chilly side - especially when the wind picked up. We quickly found out that the nice ice conditions (other than the surface water) we enjoyed yesterday were gone. The ice was a LOT rougher today. Word was that they didn't flood the rinks because they were worried about it not freezing up. Personally, I don't see how a little extra water over what we were skating in would have made a difference.

The Ice Holes' first game was 9:20am, facing a team called Angus J's. We figured it might be a challenging one, having peeked at their record from Friday, and we would really need to be on our game. Turns out, we weren't quite on our game - or, perhaps, we just don't have game. It wasn't too bad at halftime. We were only down 3-0, and actually made a bit of a comeback in the second half, scoring a couple quick goals. In the end, though, we weren't able to rally the points needed to come close, and lost 7-2. The Number 2 team did not have a concurrent game, so they were able to laugh cheer for us from the sidelines, and Buddha got some good action shots. I promised to return the favor in their game at 12:40pm.

In talking to some of the other teams about what type of record you would need to advance, it seems like 3-1 was a minimum, with goal differential kicking in to decide ties. So, based on this info, the Number 2 team with their 1-1 record from Friday, still had a chance to make the Sunday games. Now, we, here at the Ice Holes' media group, are always on the cutting edge of technology when it comes to bringing you coverage of the team's events. In keeping with this spirit, Buddha affixed a Go Pro camera to the top of his helmet in order to give our loyal readers a first-person perspective on what it's like to be on the ice at this elite level of pond hockey competition. It would've been great, except that somehow the battery was drained on the camera before we could give it a try.

The Number 2's hit the ice against the Wicked Beavers at 12:40pm. Their opponents showed up on time, so they didn't get any goals spotted for them - they'd have to earn their keep this time around. This turned out to be a very back and forth game. Luckily, our boys got up two goals to begin with, so the Beavers were always playing catch up. Then, with the minutes ebbing away, one Daniel McGovern put the team on his back and willed them to a victory with his game-winning goal. The 2's now had a 2-1 record and were masters of their own fate going into the final game.

We didn't head back to the hotel between the nooner and the 2:40pm games - just hanging out instead and enjoying the culinary craft of Ali Kabob's food truck. (This is the same street-food vendor type truck that was standing in about 10" of water yesterday as the heat from the truck kept melting the ice.) Some went for burgers, some for the dogs, but it was either good food, or just tasted good after coming off the hockey rink.

Stay tuned for results of the afternoon games.

 

Bella Notte

So after a day on the lake, we had plans to visit an Italian restaurant that I'd read some good reviews on. Problem was, when I called to ask if they could get 11* people in tonight for dinner, they kind of laughed and said they were booked up for the evening. So on to plan B. Even though it was the day after Valentine's Day, apparently, it was still a very popular night for going out to eat. Friday? Really? I don't get it.

(* We had 11 because OS was involved in a family dinner, and Rich was taking his nephew, who's a student at UV, out as well)

 

We did finally get some reservations at another Italian place - this one right across the road from the hotel. You could walk to this place, and, well, we did. The place is called Pulcinella's and seemed like a nice, cozy place to eat.

They had some very interesting specials for the night, as well as some very enticing dishes on the regular menu. We had an assortment of appetizers - olives, grilled mushrooms, calamari in an aoli (isn't that French?!) sauce. We also included some more exotic fare, such as roasted brussel sprouts in Balsamic and Parmesean, and some carpacio. For the entrees, a good number of us at the table went for the linguine and clams, while Brett ended up with a chicken parm that was as big as a frisbee. Everyone seemed pleased with their choices, and we all left stuffed to the gills. Upon making it back to the hotel, some headed for their rooms to turn in, while others (who will remain nameless, but I bet you can guess who, since it seems to be the usual suspects) headed to the hotel bar for a nightcap. (I, myself, am enjoying a glass of the Zaya rum I slipped in my luggage for those "down times" on the trip.)

On tap for tomorrow: the Ice Holes play at 9:20am; the 2's play at 12:40pm; then we both play at 2:40pm. The temps are supposed to be a little cooler, so I am hoping we won't have the standing water that we accumulated today.

Good night and good luck.

 

Friday Ice Lights

Mallet Bay

If you've seen my Tweets from earlier, you'll know already how we did on the ice, so you can skip these next few paragraphs. Of course, if you'd like some further details, or just enjoy the witty journalistic brilliance of the blog's author - read on. After partaking of a hearty breakfast in the hotel's lobby, we loaded up the cars and headed to the lake. A couple of scenic detours and about twenty minutes later, we arrived at Champlain Marina and got our first look at our Vermont pond hockey rinks. There were 10 rinks laid out in Mallet Bay, right alongside the boat docks, which I must say added a little character. It was a balmy 38 degrees this morning, so much of the conditioned ice had a wet sheen to it, with some puddles here and there. We still had some good cloud cover, but I feared that if the sun made an appearance we might be water skiing more than skating. Luckily, the sun held off for most of the day.

In the warming tent

We got ourselves situated, checked on the rink assignments, and headed out to our 8am games. Both teams were playing concurrently today - at 8am and again at 10:40am. Whenever you have a division like "Just For Fun", you tend to get a lot of variety. There are teams that are truly "C" level, with no high-level standouts that are there to have a good time and hopefully put up some good games. Then there are the teams that consist of guys that think they're in it "Just For Fun", but have fun mostly by running up the score, acting out their Broad Street Bullies fantasies, and generally being a bunch of tools. We've played both of these types of teams, and I much prefer to play the first variety, even if they are much better than us at times. Luckily 3 out of 4 teams this morning were the first variety.

Buddha's very good friend

The Ice Holes first game went fairly well, though we had a bit of a learning curve in the first half. We had two newbies on the roster, and I firmly place all blame on them as to why we were down 5-0 to the Boll Weevils going into the second half. (The Boll Weevils hail from Wake Forest, NC.) Actually, we improved as the game went on, and we rallied in the second half, closing to within two goals of tying it up. We outscored the other team 5-4 in the second frame, but still lost 9-5. The Number 2 Team got a bit of a present in that their opponent, Oscar & The Grouches, didn't have enough of their skaters show up until six minutes into the game. Word was that Big Bird had some problems getting through TSA at the airport. Rules of the tournament gave our boys a point for every minute the game was delayed, so the 2's got a nice 6 point buffer. It turns out they wouldn't have needed it, outscoring their opponents 17-5 for the win.

We just hung out on the rinks until 10:40, and our next set of games started. This time for the Ice Holes, it was Frozen Assets. Having one game of experience under our belt, we hit the ice like a dominating, well-oiled machine, and very soon had a one goal lead. By the time the carnage ended, we amassed a 9-3 victory. The Number 2's second game didn't go as well. They played the Vipers, and at halftime, we leading 4-2. This, despite some reservations we had regarding their skill level as we watched them warm up. In the second half, though, those reservations proved true as the team showed us that they fit in the second category of "Just For Fun" teams. Kent ended up particularly molested, I think. Final score, 10-4.

Following the games, and a jump-start to get Buddha's car going, we headed downtown to get some grub and see what we could see. We ate at a place called Ken's Pizza Pub, after bailing on our original choice when it was discovered the cheapest item on the menu was a grilled cheese for $13. Ken's turned out to be a great place. Kent wholeheartedly recommends the meatball parmesean sandwich and the pizza that Vrettacos, Mac, and I split was very good. In wandering around the area, we found a charming little store that specializes in "specialty" things (think pariphenalia). There, we found Mac a midget - oh, sorry - little person inflatable companion to keep him company.

Most of the group crashed for a few hours at the hotel, and are now assembling for our evening excursion. I think an Italian place is on tap for eats, followed probably by more consumption of beer, somewhere. There seem to be a variety of bars to choose from.

Namaste'

Yes, that's Mac with Ron Jeremy in the background

 

Jump starting

Dead battery? No problem. Kent's on the job. Red on red, black on black, and don't stand in the puddle while hooking it up.

Old soldiers never die...

Jacko the Army hockey veteran got to share old war stories with the recruiters on the ice. They listened intently because the sergeant told them they couldn't leave. FYI, the IH#2 team won 16 - 5*. (The asterisk will be explained later.)