Showing posts with label Hockey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hockey. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

S - Sports and Sault Ste Marie


Sports: here it is Olympics time I catch myself staying up too late at night watching to see if Americans win their events. It is too bad most of the events now all professionals, it is not that same watching the Pros play. Back in the “olden” days when it was only for armatures (we won’t get into the East German and Russian Training). That is why when the US Hockey Team beat the Russians back in the 70’s it was such a big deal. It was more about the one that truly sacrifices for a few years to win something that money could not buy. With the Pros playing are we not just buying the medals?

Sault Ste Marie – The Soo is located at the eastern tip of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This city on the St Mary’s river was founded in 1668 over 100 years before the United States became a country. Not much has changed in the Soo from when I was a kid; there are a few more hotels now that there is an Indian Casino on the outskirts of town. But still the largest event in the city is the I-500 Snowmobile race. The Soo is like a second home town for me. Both of my parents were born and raised in the Soo so we spent time every year there, most summers my older sister and I would spend at least a couple of weeks there with our grandmothers and cousins. Then I attended college in the Soo at Lake Superior State University. If you walk down the hall at the local hospital you will see a picture of my grandfather, Dr Husband, one of the founders of that hospital. My roots run deep in the Soo and yes, I can go home there.

Friday, June 6, 2008

Why So Important

As we have just completed the Hockey Season with the Red Wings wining it all and are the current Stanley Cup Champions I’m sure some of you are wondering what the big deal is. It is more than a game, it is more than a sport and if you have never lived where hockey is truly respected for the amount of skill involved you just wouldn’t understand.

Ice hockey is played on a large flat area of ice, using a three inch (76.2 mm) diameter vulcanized rubber disc called a puck. This puck is often frozen before high-level games to decrease the amount of bouncing and friction on the ice. The game is contested between two teams of skaters. The game is played all over North America, Europe and in many other countries around the world to varying extent.

The game of hockey is more like a tradition. I know for myself some of the earliest memories of my step dad are when I was about 10 and we sat in front of a TV in our living room and we watched the Red Wings Play on Hockey Night In Canada. Even though the picture was small grainy and black and white, it was the best time ever. Hockey is about the working stiff, the blue collar guy. Professional Hockey players are not in the news much even though they are very skilled and most of them are family men and take pride in that.

Today was the parade in the city of Detroit celebrating the team and their accomplishment this year and for spectator Corinne Gordon, the parade was bridge building. The Red Wings' six-game series win over the Penguins gave fans the chance to temporarily put aside the economic doldrums and the mayoral saga that have dominated the news for months. "There's been so much doom and gloom and separation between the city and suburbs because of what the mayor has done," Gordon said. "This brings people together."

Hockey is about family, tradition and hope for if only three 20 minutes periods.

Monday, April 7, 2008

Playoff Time

Detroit vs. Nashville

Thursday, April 10: Nashville at Detroit. 7 p.m., VERSUS

Saturday, April 12: Nashville at Detroit, 2 p.m., NBC

Monday, April 14: Detroit at Nashville, TBD, VERSUS

Wednesday, April 16: Detroit at Nashville, TBD, VERSUS

Friday, April 18: Nashville at Detroit, 7:30 p.m., VERSUS, if necessary

Sunday, April 20: Detroit at Nashville, 3 p.m., NBC, if necessary

Tuesday, April 22: Nashville at Detroit, TBD, if necessary