Category Archives: Sporting

NASCAR Driver Kenny Irwin Dies

And on to graver news. On Friday morning Kenny Irwin was killed in a race car accident in New Hampshire. To most of you that probably doesn’t mean anything, and I admit that it doesn’t mean a whole lot to me. Now don’t misquote me, of course it means something. We all lower our heads and slowly shake them in sincere sympathy. But honestly the world is too large for one stranger’s death to have much effect.

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Is This Really About Sports?

After going down three games to one the home team battled elimination and came back to force a game seven. Game seven wasn’t looking good until the home team sunk a power play goal and came charging back. It was all tied up at the end of regulation and sudden death overtime began. And in the closing minutes of the first overtime the captain found some open ice and sunk it through the five hole. Game over. The home team wins. It’s all over folks.

After all, it’s not finals week, it’s the playoffs.

And when it’s all done, the children will frolic in the streets.

“Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

P.S. – Remind me not to be a sports writer.

No Stanley

Just when you finally take the time to watch the early rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, your team loses. Tonight I watched the Detroit Red Wings end their season by losing to Colorado. The interesting thing about sports is the consistent focus on winning. I suppose that’s probably the point. I just think it’s funny how obsessive you can be about it. All through the nineties the Red Wings were building a championship team. They kept coming closer and closer but they never quite made it. Something was always missing. In 1996 they almost had it and set a record for the most games won in the regular season. The playoffs came and something fell apart. Then in 1997 they got it right. Stanley Cup Championship. The winning formula continued in 1998 with a few changes, and they won again. In 1999 the formula wasn’t working so well and they didn’t even make it to the finals. And now in 2000 it’s the same story. As the final minutes ticked away in tonight’s game the announcer made the comment that this Red Wings team would face a lot of questions in the off season. The winning formula isn’t so winning anymore, and changes will be made. Never mind that they’re one of the best teams in the league and made it through one round of the playoffs. But if it’s not a Stanley Cup, it’s not good enough.

I know it’s the very nature of sports, and maybe this is why I only played T-ball and soccer as a kid. I played in the minorest league you could, and in that league it didn’t matter if you won, it didn’t matter if you scored. All that mattered was that you played. Even if you were just the catcher for your T-ball team (and I was), you were playing. It just seems kind of silly that it’s not enough to go out there and have fun, let the fans go crazy for a pretty good team. Pretty good isn’t enough. Now the Wings will start making major changes in the elusive search for another Championship. Of course changes break the team unity and things won’t be the same. Finding that perfect formula could take another forty plus years, the last dry spell between Stanley Cup Championships for Detroit. But I suppose that’s just the way things are. Change is a part life.

First Goal Ever

The snow flakes fall like a million stars in the nighttime sky. It covers everything like a soft, quiet blanket. It covers the ground and sticks to the branches, it buries cars and sticks to the grooves in your tires. Through it all voices echo, screaming, yelling, cheering. Bodies move in not-so-fluid motion, arms flail and feet kick. Sticks fly and a small orange ball rolls lazily through the snow before a flying dive and the ball is sailing across the rink again. People scamper and everyone converges on the ball.

Broomball. The ultimate winter sport of buffoonery. At first glance it looks like a game for clowns. But those clowns know how to have fun. Tonight I scored my first goal ever.

Church, Quitting and Baseball

Closing the door to my truck, I scan the grounds. Everything is still and quiet. I am late, and everyone else is inside. Walking towards the building, everything feels strangely eerie. It feels like I’m walking into a war zone. I open the door, and strange faces greet me. No smile. No warm handshake. I round the corner to find the warmth of familiarity shattered. My usual row is empty and cold. I find an empty seat and my eyes look across the room. Few familiar faces smile back at me. The songs seem forced and hollow. The message seems empty, airy, and beyond me. But was I really listening? Welcome home. Welcome to church. Where unity is stranger.

The American Way. We hear a lot about this great country of America and our character. The protestant work ethic has often defined America. It’s the land of opportunity. Roll up your sleeves, dirty your palms, and you will prosper. But is that still the attitude of America? An NBC special on Jesse Ventura tonight showed a period of Ventura’s announcer days when he claimed that cheating was the American way. I think that pessimistic slide is on the right track. I’d like to claim that quitting is now the American way. When the going gets tough, the American goes walking. When things get hard, we quit. We throw our hands up in the air and call it quits. We don’t want to work anymore. We don’t want to dirty the brow. Divorce, jobs, friendships. It’s everywhere. What a great country.

Well, I can’t be all negative today. Some friends and I played some ball today. Ah, the great American past time. It’s pretty obvious it’s not my past time. Yet still, there’s nothing like feeling a bat in your hands as it connects with the ball, and you watch the ball sail through the air. It flies higher and higher, arcs beautifully, and falls just beyond the infield: My best hit of the day. Kevin D. Hendricks, baseball legend.

Packing, Hockey and House Numbers

I’m done. I can wipe my hands of school work, I can shake the dust off my feet. My last final was tonight, and the school year is pretty much done. Of course I’m still here. I’m not going home until Saturday. I’ll just take my sweet time packing. Speaking of packing, you’ll be impressed to hear that I cleaned. Well, sort of. There is no longer a mound that my desk is located beneath. There is now one small pile located on the floor, a few things on my desk, and one overflowing grocery bag waiting to be ushered to the dumpster. My roommate must be breathing a sigh of relief.

Speaking of things that are done, the Red Wings lost to the Colorado Avalanche tonight, 5-2. Thus, the Wings are eliminated from the playoffs, and Colorado advances to the Conference Finals. I’m kind of bummed. But to tell you the truth, I’m not so bummed that they didn’t win a third straight Stanley Cup. I’m bummed because I won’t get to watch anymore Red Wing hockey. Nothing beats playoff hockey, and I love watching the Wings. But now it’s over, and I only got to watch two or three games.

Did you know that there are places in this country where the house numbers are single digits? You could live on 7 Recreation Drive. A friend of mine lives on 3 Ellen Lane. No boring three or four digit house numbers for them. America. What a beautiful country.

I look up into the dark night sky and ask what sweet perfume this is on my lips.

Red Wings vs. Avalanche

In less exciting news, the Red Wings are in trouble. I watched game five of their best of seven series with the Colorado Avalanche this afternoon. Don’t worry Mom, I was doing homework at the same time. The game was pretty poor. The Wings lost 3-0. Now they’re down 3-2 in the series, and facing elimination Tuesday night. The back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions are facing elimination. It’s not even the Conference finals yet. Needless to say, I’m a little worried. But I do have faith that my team can pull through. We’ve come back from behind before. The only sad part is that I have a final during Tuesday night’s game, and I may not be on hand to cheer the Wings to victory. Darn being away from home during the playoffs.

Rediscovering Hockey

Today I rediscovered the joy that is hockey. I’ve only managed to play once so far this year, so I donned the skates this evening and went out for an hour or so. Seth and Anders, the two ten year olds I played with, were really cool. They let me play with them and we had a blast chasing the ball around. The ice stunk, my skates were dull, and we were using a tennis ball. But that’s okay, it was hockey, and I loved it. Broomball may be a blast, but nothing comes close to strapping a pair of metal runners to your feet and gliding gracefully across the ice.

Visiting the Girlfriend for the Weekend

Wow. What a weekend. Did you miss me? For those of you who don’t know, I drove six hours this weekend to meet up with my girlfriend in the middle of Wisconsin. Not exactly the ideal meeting place, but it gets the job done. When you’re 700 miles from your girlfriend, you’ll take whatever you can get–even if it is a weekend in Cheese Country. For those who were wondering, it was a great weekend. Of course when you’re seeing your girlfriend, it doesn’t take much. We could have spent the whole weekend sitting on the floor starring at each other and it would have been a great weekend.

Here’s a few comments for your intellectual stimulation, seeing as you’ve been deprived for a few days:

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The Minnesota Vikings Melted

That’s odd, the unseasonably warm weather we’re having in Minnesota is not only melting the snow, it appears to have melted the Vikings as well. What a shock! It’s really funny, because it seems like everyone in the state (including yours truly) totally expected the Vikings to go all the way. Newspapers and TV have been filled with “Road to Miami” specials. Guess not. Did anybody see the Vikings owner on Fox after the loss? They talked to him after he came out of the locker room. As one of my friends put it, he looked like his mother just died. I’ve never seen such a depressed face. It seems strangely profound that we put so much trust and hope in a football team, only to see our hopes dashed. While watching the game, someone pointed out that they were glad their salvation didn’t rest in a football team winning. With one loss the 16-1 Vikings are finished. The finality of playoff football is unbelievable. It’s so uncertain. I’m glad my eternity is grounded on something a lot more firm.