> > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Back by popular demand, it's The HOCKEY-L "Ode to Joy" !! Several list- > members objected when I originally posted this on Valentine's Day several > years ago, but nary a peep has been heard in subsequent years. Sooooo, I've > decided to post it once again for your amusement in the light-hearted spirit > I'd always intended. For all you HOCKEY-L veterans: Try it Again, For the > First Time :-) For all the new-comers .... Enjoy !! Flame *ME* (not the > list) if you're offended - hopefully we can come to some understanding with- > out dragging all of HOCKEY-L into it. Some hateful speech should be self- > censored, but IMHO the following anecdote is far from that. > ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > For many years the Boston "Phoenix" would publish a special section > on/around St. Valentine's Day that chronicled reader testimonials of Cupid's > hits and misses. The following excerpt appeared a few years ago, and was > sent to me by a friend in Boston whose first date with his future bride > included a UNH hockey game, and who together still plan their winter social > calendar around the Wildcat icemen. I think we *all* know people (of both > sexes) who could have written the following: > > "I blame it all on a goddamn college hockey game. Oh, sure, you're > thinking, maybe I should blame myself. Well, the hell with all of you. > > The light of my life, she was - or so I'd convinced myself over the > space of the three weeks we'd been taking the same political history course. > Our eyes met during a lecture on Grover Cleveland, and I was hooked. I > asked her out for a beer after class; she mentioned that she had an extra > ticket to that night's game against St. Lawrence. At the time, I understood > less about hockey than I did about Grover Cleveland, but so what ?? I would > be with HER. > > That night, I learned that the St. Lawrence icemen are known to one > and all as the 'Larries'; for all I knew, there could have been a bunch of > Moes and Curleys down there too. The problem was .... *she* knew. Worse > yet, she CARED. And she was appalled that I didn't. Which is why she then > launched into a lengthy and aggressively condescending discourse on the > subtle differences between cross-checking, spearing, and aggravated assault, > intermittently punctuated by her emphatic observation that the referee was, > as she put it, a 'blind motherf**ker.' All hope vanished at the moment she > realized that I didn't count Snooks Kelley as one of the five greatest > inspirations of my life; her lips were silent, but her eyes said 'wimp city.' > > Dreams die hard - but none so hard as those shattered by a bunch of > hyperthyroidal Canadians with knives on their feet and sticks in their hands. > Goddamn college hockey game. Maybe I'll become a priest ...." > > Well, *I'd* sure like to meet her .... !! Cheers, Jim > > Jim Love (*grin*) > [log in to unmask] > Go 'Cats > How can anyone object to this? This is the first time that I've seen this, and I love it! Of course, I've had former girlfriends become aggravated at my love and devotion to the game (and to Hormone-Ball). later jd on wisCAHNsin!