It's a chore for many parents not to live vicariously through their athletic kids, but try we must.
Through Twitter, I stumbled upon this Top 10 list of mistakes parents of kids in sports make.
Recognize any of your errors, parents?
Minor Hockey Moments
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Buy the book
Grandparents and parents of hockey players and fans are hitting amazon.com and bookstores looking for Christmas gifts. Don't buy a hockey book until you read Saturday's London Free Press print edition (preferred) or lfpress.com.
My hockey book reviews will be published and posted Saturday to help you decide if your money is best spent on Kerry Fraser, Don Cherry, Alex Ovechkin, Brian Kilrea or the ever humble Al Strachan.
I was at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto before a Maple Leafs game last week and asked the gift shop staff and a nearby Chapters store what titles were selling well. At the Hockey Hall of Fame, it was their own Hockey Hall of Fame Book of Goalies. At Chapters, it was Don Cherry's Hockey Stories Part 2.
Neither shop was moving many copies of my three favourites, Kerry Fraser's Final Call, Al Strachan's I Am Not Making This Up and the Brian Kilrea-James Duthie tome They Call Me Killer.
Nor were they selling a lot of copies of the excellent Ovechkin biography, The Ovechkin Project by Damien Cox and Gare Joyce. If Ovechkin were a Toronto Maple Leaf (hey, we can dream), this book would be a national bestseller.
Readers of Wayne's World of Minor Hockey can order books by clicking the amazon.com ads.
My hockey book reviews will be published and posted Saturday to help you decide if your money is best spent on Kerry Fraser, Don Cherry, Alex Ovechkin, Brian Kilrea or the ever humble Al Strachan.
I was at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto before a Maple Leafs game last week and asked the gift shop staff and a nearby Chapters store what titles were selling well. At the Hockey Hall of Fame, it was their own Hockey Hall of Fame Book of Goalies. At Chapters, it was Don Cherry's Hockey Stories Part 2.
Neither shop was moving many copies of my three favourites, Kerry Fraser's Final Call, Al Strachan's I Am Not Making This Up and the Brian Kilrea-James Duthie tome They Call Me Killer.
Nor were they selling a lot of copies of the excellent Ovechkin biography, The Ovechkin Project by Damien Cox and Gare Joyce. If Ovechkin were a Toronto Maple Leaf (hey, we can dream), this book would be a national bestseller.
Readers of Wayne's World of Minor Hockey can order books by clicking the amazon.com ads.
Closed arenas should mean refund for parents
What happens when you pay thousands of dollars to a vendor for a service they can't deliver. Would you "suck it up" or expect a refund for services or products paid for but not provided?
That the question for thousands of minor hockey families in London, Ont., where 100 cm of snow and a strapped snow removal crew led to the closure of all city-owned and at least one privately owned arenas for two days. Arenas are scheduled to reopen tonight.
Lost have been all practice ice - costing parents about $150 an hour - and in peril are games. There is not enough free ice time available in the city to reschedule practices at any logical hour. Finding appropriate blocks of ice time to accommodate two lost days of games will be a hair-pulling task for minor hockey volunteers and city staff.
London owes its various minor hockey and figure skating clubs a full refund for closed arenas and lost ice. If our newly elected Mayor Joe Fontana is serious about running the city more like a business, he'll make sure this is done.
That the question for thousands of minor hockey families in London, Ont., where 100 cm of snow and a strapped snow removal crew led to the closure of all city-owned and at least one privately owned arenas for two days. Arenas are scheduled to reopen tonight.
Lost have been all practice ice - costing parents about $150 an hour - and in peril are games. There is not enough free ice time available in the city to reschedule practices at any logical hour. Finding appropriate blocks of ice time to accommodate two lost days of games will be a hair-pulling task for minor hockey volunteers and city staff.
London owes its various minor hockey and figure skating clubs a full refund for closed arenas and lost ice. If our newly elected Mayor Joe Fontana is serious about running the city more like a business, he'll make sure this is done.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
DJ Steve Porter eyes hockey
DJ Steve Porter, who did this video, is about to give his treatment to hockey.. Porter is taking his act to Hockey Night in Canada, starting on Saturday, Dec. 11, with a special opening to the Toronto Maple Leafs-Montreal Canadiens matchup (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 7 p.m. ET). Porter's certain to have some creative licence with Don Cherry.
Could be the best part of the game.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/story/2010/11/19/sp-porter-hnic.html#ixzz17TVCGsky
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/story/2010/11/19/sp-porter-hnic.html#ixzz17TVCGsky
Weather wimps or safety first?
In 10 years of minor hockey, I don't remember any games or involving games between two in-city teams being cancelled due to winter weather.
We're Canadians, We know how to drive in snow. And we like hockey.
Of course that's not to say there haven't been some dubious nights. I remember one game night crawling along to Oak Ridge arena just across the river and being grateful we were not making the big trek to Argyle in the far end of London.
Things are different this week thanks to a dumping of lake effect snow that's left 100 cm of snow here in two days.
There have not been blinding whiteouts in the city, but the huge snowfall has left my friend Ed and his fellow city snowplow operators unable to cope. They can only work 12 hours a day and have not yet made it around even once to residential streets like our cul-de-sac.
On Monday, our game against North London was cancelled when the city closed its arenas in a move that, to my recollection, was unprecedented. On Tuesday, they closed the arenas again, meaning there's no practice this week. It has already been announced that schools will be closed for the third consecutive day on Wednesday.
One wonders if the reason for closing arenas is the weather or a redeployment of staff to cope with the snow. Or staff not making it into work. Or the fact the city hasn't plowed arena parking lots.
Whatever, it doesn't seem Canadian.
We're Canadians, We know how to drive in snow. And we like hockey.
Of course that's not to say there haven't been some dubious nights. I remember one game night crawling along to Oak Ridge arena just across the river and being grateful we were not making the big trek to Argyle in the far end of London.
Things are different this week thanks to a dumping of lake effect snow that's left 100 cm of snow here in two days.
There have not been blinding whiteouts in the city, but the huge snowfall has left my friend Ed and his fellow city snowplow operators unable to cope. They can only work 12 hours a day and have not yet made it around even once to residential streets like our cul-de-sac.
On Monday, our game against North London was cancelled when the city closed its arenas in a move that, to my recollection, was unprecedented. On Tuesday, they closed the arenas again, meaning there's no practice this week. It has already been announced that schools will be closed for the third consecutive day on Wednesday.
One wonders if the reason for closing arenas is the weather or a redeployment of staff to cope with the snow. Or staff not making it into work. Or the fact the city hasn't plowed arena parking lots.
Whatever, it doesn't seem Canadian.
Bed bugs fears put end to teddy toss
Everyone's quite rightly on alert for bed bugs. When I go into a hotel room, the first thing I do is check the mattress for any tell-tale signs. When I get home, the laundry is done immediately and the luggage is left in the garage. Minor hockey families staying in hotels during tournaments might want to do likewise because once these little critters are in your home, they are tough to get rid of. It's a lice-like experience.
Now a hockey team has cancelled its teddy bear toss fundraiser due to a fear of spreading bed bugs, according to the National Post.
Just wait until university kids start returning home next spring. That's when Ontario's bed bug concerns could hit a new level.
Now a hockey team has cancelled its teddy bear toss fundraiser due to a fear of spreading bed bugs, according to the National Post.
Just wait until university kids start returning home next spring. That's when Ontario's bed bug concerns could hit a new level.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Not just hockey rough on kids
Minor hockey isn't the only rough and tumble activity for kids. Take walking the dog, for instance.
Stranger danger reminder
Here's a new worry for hockey parents. Never mind coaches who slip through the cracks or keeping an eye on little sibling roaming rinks. In Nova Scotia, there's a problem with authorized adults wandering into dressing rooms.
It prompted the local minor hockey president to issue an advisory which read, in part:
It prompted the local minor hockey president to issue an advisory which read, in part:
- Pay close attention to your children, know where they are at all times and ensure they are not left alone.
- In a non-threatening manner, challenge anyone who is inside a dressing room and doesn't belong there.
- Report anything you feel is "wrong" to arena staff immediately.
He added: "This is not to alarm anyone or suggest in any way that anything has 'happened,' merely some common sense reminders," according to Southshorenews.ca.
Awareness defeats predators.
Put racism on ice
There is no room for racism and slurs in minor hockey, but did we need Peterborough house league coach Greg Walsh to point it out?
While everyone appreciates the discussion Coach Walsh spurred when he and his players decided to quit a game after a racial slur hurled at one of his players, his action is troubling and a bad omen for minor hockey organizations.
While making a strong, effective statement about zero tolerance for racist, he also unwittingly showed kids how to thumb their noses at authority, rules and process - which is why Coach Walsh has been appropriately suspended.
Let's be clear. The minor hockey hierarchy is filled with smart people who have the bases covered. Let's also be clear that minor hockey organizations want to welcome all kids and all skill levels.
But teenagers, taught and emboldened by their parents and rogue coaches, will say things and do things in the heat of a game. F-bombs, gay jokes, animated and pointless advice to referees, and, yes, racial taunts are all part of the mix.
There are penalties and suspensions in the rule book to cover all scenarios.
Minor hockey can't have coaches inventing their own rules on the fly, including when to play or when not to play. The result would be chaos.
Without being there, it's hard to say how the situation could have been handled better.
Perhaps the best way would have been to follow the example of retired NHL referee Kerry Fraser when he mediated a situation between Theo Fleury and a player with the St. Louis Blues. The Blues player had taunted Fleury about cocaine and alcohol addictions. Fraser, as he recounts in his new book Final Call, provided on-ice counsel and arranged a face-to-face apology along the boards. Fleury appreciated it and the Blues player later called it a life, and attitude, changing moment.
Too bad the offending opposing player did not have the benefit of Fraser's wise advice.
Still, the player has now expressed regrets, as reported in the local Peterborough Examiner.
And for more on this topic, check out the letters published by the Toronto Star.
Maybe it's time we all bought a copy of the Willie O'Ree biography, the first black person to play in the NHL.
While everyone appreciates the discussion Coach Walsh spurred when he and his players decided to quit a game after a racial slur hurled at one of his players, his action is troubling and a bad omen for minor hockey organizations.
While making a strong, effective statement about zero tolerance for racist, he also unwittingly showed kids how to thumb their noses at authority, rules and process - which is why Coach Walsh has been appropriately suspended.
Let's be clear. The minor hockey hierarchy is filled with smart people who have the bases covered. Let's also be clear that minor hockey organizations want to welcome all kids and all skill levels.
But teenagers, taught and emboldened by their parents and rogue coaches, will say things and do things in the heat of a game. F-bombs, gay jokes, animated and pointless advice to referees, and, yes, racial taunts are all part of the mix.
There are penalties and suspensions in the rule book to cover all scenarios.
Minor hockey can't have coaches inventing their own rules on the fly, including when to play or when not to play. The result would be chaos.
Without being there, it's hard to say how the situation could have been handled better.
Perhaps the best way would have been to follow the example of retired NHL referee Kerry Fraser when he mediated a situation between Theo Fleury and a player with the St. Louis Blues. The Blues player had taunted Fleury about cocaine and alcohol addictions. Fraser, as he recounts in his new book Final Call, provided on-ice counsel and arranged a face-to-face apology along the boards. Fleury appreciated it and the Blues player later called it a life, and attitude, changing moment.
Too bad the offending opposing player did not have the benefit of Fraser's wise advice.
Still, the player has now expressed regrets, as reported in the local Peterborough Examiner.
And for more on this topic, check out the letters published by the Toronto Star.
Maybe it's time we all bought a copy of the Willie O'Ree biography, the first black person to play in the NHL.
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