ICE Magazine - Winter 2009

(Okay, so I know it's been a while since I've written anything. I've been waiting on the new issue of ICE Magazine to come out so that I could post my newest article. Well now it's out and here's the article. If you get a chance, check out the website http://www.myicemagazine.com/ . My article's on page 12 of the winter issue.)

What's In an Age?

Mark Twain once said, “The first half of life consists of the capacity to enjoy without the chance; the last half consists of the chance without the capacity.” Well these girls might have a few choice words for Mr. Twain and if he were still with us I’m pretty sure they’d slam him into the boards a few times for his comments on aging.

Every year women from all across the United States come together and duke it out so that they can hold the proud honor of being crowned #1 in the 50 and up women’s national tournament held near Tampa, FL. That’s right…50 and up. Some women hit 50 and start preparing for a relaxing retirement, they begin to step away from the table and start cashing in their chips. Well these ladies aren’t. They’re ordering another Crown and Coke and doubling down on a weak hand with the dealer showing twenty. If you haven’t picked up the gambling metaphors, they’re doing all the things that society tends to think they’re not capable of at their age or that they shouldn’t do and they’re doing them well. After certain people in the hockey community said it couldn’t be done, Norm Dann and others with the Florida Old Timers Hockey Association have put together a tournament that makes dreams come true and that brings people together in a way that only the game of hockey can. I recently had a chance to sit down and talk to Norm, who is originally from the Niagra Falls area in Canada and is currently living in Florida. You see Norm knows a thing or two about beating the odds. He’s 71 years of age and is still suiting up to play several times a week. A couple years ago, after hearing a little local chatter, Norm felt confident that there were women out there that wanted an opportunity to play in a tournament like this. He proceeded to drive his point home with USA Hockey in 2007 when he helped organize the first event in Brandon, FL which consisted of four teams. Since that time the tournament has blossomed and grown to seven teams in 2008 and they are hoping to have a dozen teams in the event that is scheduled for April of 2009.

Norm told me that while the tournament was established to be highly competitive, it’s also set up for everybody to have a great time. You can enjoy some good competition and a healthy dose of camaraderie during the day and then join your teammates later that evening and take in one of the most truly amazing sunsets you will ever see on the nearby beach in St. Pete. Another great aspect of the tournament is the round-robin format. It’s definitely exciting because it crowns a champion but also guarantees each team at least three games regardless of their squad’s strength or ranking. When I asked Norm where all the 50 and up players were coming from I expected to hear that most of these ladies grew up playing the game and were currently playing in their local leagues all across the country. However, I was surprised to find out that a lot of the women had been former hockey moms that used to sit and freeze their butts off while their kids took to the ice. Now the kids are all grown up and they’ve decided to take their turn.

I had the pleasure of talking to one of these former hockey moms who is hoping to play in the upcoming tournament in Florida. Nancy Little is 51 years old, lives in Indiana and plays on a couple of different teams. She’s consumed with the game, and for good reason. Nancy’s family has a history of rheumatoid arthritis, which is a painful disorder that causes inflammation and tissue damage in joints and tendons among a long list of other problems. She’s seen first-hand what this horrible illness can do and has had to look on as some of her loved ones lives have been cut short due to its effects. She saw the ugly path that laid before her and decided to take a different route. You see, Nancy had what she believes to be a mid-life crisis but instead of buying a new Corvette, she opted for a stick and a pair of skates.

Nancy has found what appears to be the fountain of youth as well as a great form of preventative medicine in the game of hockey. She talked to me about the symptoms she was seeing and the aches and pains she was feeling before she got into the game. By her own account the pain and symptoms subsided after she decided to lace up her skates and get on the ice. Personally, I think Nancy’s on to something. Imagine how much this sport could grow among women in the 30 and up demographic if it were seen as an alternative to busting your ass on a treadmill or stationary bike for hours at a time just to come back the next day and run in place again. Women everywhere would throw down their i-pod and put on some gloves…They would take the headphones out of their ears and put on a helmet…Last but not least, they would toss out those goofy looking running shoes that look like they could double for a new box spring and they would pick up a pair of skates. I can see it now, bumper stickers and t-shirts with some kind of extreme catch phrase like, “Save a life…Hit the ice!”, printed across them. Sorry I’m going off on a little bit of a tangent, (although I might look into copywriting that catch phrase).

Nancy would go on to tell me, “Hockey is a sport that women can do even when they’re much older than I am…it’s a little easier on your knees and your joints than some of the other sports that you might do. It’s kept me younger…emotionally, physically, mentally younger. ” This is one of the reasons she is spear-heading the effort to get a women’s hockey division in the Senior Olympics. Nancy also told me that by far one of the greatest things about being a former hockey mom who has now become a player, is that she’s become even closer with her daughter. She’s even had the opportunity to share the ice with her daughter as a teammate, and that is something that she will always cherish.

One of the biggest things that Nancy and Norm both stressed in our conversations is that they look forward to seeing more women on the ice. They know that there are a lot more women in the 50 and up demographic who would love to play if they knew there were leagues and tournaments out there for them. So here’s the deal readers, Nancy and Norm are doing their part. They’ll be the first ones to say this article was fun but it hasn’t been written to make them look like heroes. This article was written in the hope that one of you will put down this issue, (after reading the rest of the articles first of course), and go tell somebody…anybody about the opportunity to play women’s hockey regardless of their age. Women’s hockey can grow beyond your wildest belief but it’s only going to work if it starts from within.

How can they find out more? Well, Nancy and Norm both said that the easiest way to get involved in the game is to contact your local rinks and find out what they’ve got going on. Norm also said that they are always looking for more players and sponsors for the tournaments in Florida. Below is contact information for anyone looking to get involved in either the national tournament held in Florida or the Women’s Hockey Division in the Senior Olympics.

Norm Dann - old.puck@juno.com
Nancy Little - stinkysiren45@yahoo.com

P.S. - For all you ladies out there 50 and up that are thinking about playing, I leave you with these final thoughts… “Save a life…Hit the ice!”

Blog Update

I'm sure everyone couldn't wait to see what kind of absolute nonsense I planned on writing about this week and I apologize for not posting. The plan was, and still is, to post my newest published article with ICE magazine as this week's post. Hopefully, it will be posted on the magazine's website before the end of the weekend so that I can put a copy of the final draft on here as well. Don't be scared, next week everything will be back to normal. You guys will be reading my typical style post and wondering what I was thinking when I got the influence to write it.

Have a fantastic weekend!

The Answer!

I’ve been a little bogged down lately because our world is filled with so many problems. We’ve got global warming, over population, economic problems, teen pregnancy…well the list is too long to type. I keep wishing that I could go back to that time of innocence when the world seemed to just pass me by like a friendly acquaintance. It would say, “Hey, how’s it goin’?”, but it wouldn’t hassle me with the troubles that were abounding in its’ own existence. Those were the days! I could be totally satisfied with life so long as I could watch the Cubs day game on WGN with an ICEE and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The world was much simpler. Michael Jackson wasn’t a pedophile, baseball didn’t need congressional hearings, Pee Wee’s Playhouse wasn’t an adult theatre, and the Mickey Mouse Club wasn’t quite as gay. What the hell happened?!!!

I guess maybe this is just all part of growing up. Maybe adulthood is supposed to suck. But what if the answer to all of the world’s problems is back in that time of innocence? What if we were supposed to take a little bit of that childish atmosphere and combine it with what’s going on today to make this world a better place? The world might turn out quite different…quite different indeed.

I think the answer to all of our problems will be solved once we can figure out how to reanimate the dead. I know what you’re all thinking, “Wow! I was following this guy for a second but now he’s totally lost me.” Just hang with me for a minute and you’ll see where this is going. You see, if we could bring the dead back to life we could take the reanimated zombie corpse of Walt Disney and make him supreme ruler of all the land. Now, before this goes too far, I should say that I didn’t know him personally so some of his beliefs might make this a bad thing. That being said I think he could probably do a lot for society. Just think what the world would be like if he ran it like one of his magical theme parks…

• Obesity would no longer be an issue in our country. The average man can’t afford to eat at any of his current parks as it is. It’s the ultimate crash diet.
  
• Global warming wouldn’t be an issue because he could equip all the areas of the park with those industrial size fans that blow a cool mist over everything.
  
• Suicide rates would have to go down because depression and boredom would be a thing of the past.
  
• There would be a lot more jobs and the workplace would be a lot more exciting with all the pirates, dwarfs and wild animals.
  
• Unwanted pregnancies would cease to exist. (Seriously, would you have unprotected sex after seeing all those little monsters nagging and throwing tantrums because their parents wouldn’t buy them personalized mouse ears?)
  
• Over population wouldn’t loom over us anymore. All the poor people would die off because they wouldn’t be able to afford the price of admission.
  

The great Dr. King once said, “I have a dream.” Well I do too. Mine consists of every man having a water park in their backyard...everyone’s dog can talk and help with the housework...mice are no longer considered a pest, but instead a valuable part of the family...and the only arguments and debates our government officials will have is where to put the new rollercoaster.

I know, we’re a long ways off and Walt hasn’t agreed to do it yet…It’s just a thought.