JCC Floor Hockey

 

Juranka's Corner

Apr 17,2006

tom's place
and a week passes
and all four
remaining teams are
facing elimination
once again

red and yellow faced it
with orange and green
in the quarter-finals

and survived

and then
grey and black faced it
last game and now
we face it together

i was already
rehearsing for defeat
last game so i am ready

grey and black had the
back against the wall syndrome
last game so now
we need to deal with
over-confidence from
the most recent
BATW victory

although all four teams
no have BATW pumping
blood to their muscles

grey and black had it
most recently and that
may be a dis-advantage

the anti-wave which
can shift momentum
is the conflict between
over-confidence and
BATW.

i know that i play my best
when lady luck is
blessing me with great fortune

and i feel loose although
tired like i was in the playoffs
and the very next monday
i'll be watching from the stands

joining the poker bunch
in the bleachers
and at roy's afterwards

not even going to the firkin
with the playing teams

but so what about the firkin

its just a week-night party luxury
hardly a working man's option
but its still
an amazing part of the experience

carolyn was inspiring
from our bench
and came out to
reunite with paul
and meet the gang
at the firkin

patrick, mike and chris may be
potential snow board recruits
for the jcc ball-hockey/snow-board
night riders exodus
to snow valley where this URL
http://www.skisnowvalley.com/school_night.htm
should give you an idea of the cost
of the night riders program
which i just checked
was $275 this past year
for 8 wednesdays including everything
except for the alcoholic beverages
in the chalet

the ones on the slopes are on me !

that works out to $34 a night
which is still amazing but not nearly
as amazing as when you buy
these programs in the summer
before Aug.1

then there is another lesser price cut
for purchases before Nov.1

so if you buy it in July
then i believe it will be
around $20-25 a night

usually the lessons cost thrice that
and then the lift and rentals also cost
more than that so especially
for broke first time boarders
who want to give boarding a decent try
but don't want to commit with
too much money

then think
that
if you go up
for 2 evenings
then you have
more than paid
for the entire package

think of it as
6 free evenings
of boarding
lift plus
rentals plus
lessons if you
paid regular prices
for 2.

and hit the Aug.1 deadline with a commitment
for two nights of boarding !

and survive it and be hooked
for life on the blissful zen
snow carving art form
like
a jcc ball hockey player
is
to the feel of the whiffle ball
as it flies
towards the net
with sweet potential

its the spring time
of the jcc league
and
potential opportunities abound
like the crazy pollenation
of plants and insects
and the playoff games
that tickle our spines
with glee and anticipation

the feel
of an amazing opportunity
and its perfect execution

the joy of stick-handling
looking up
at other players
sussing out
what plays
are developing

watching
a forward head for open court
and snapping
a fast pass
well-received

even the moments between glory heroics

even when
its tight and strategic
and caution reigns
even those moments are very special
and all true lovers
of whiffle ball hockey
know of that passion

on the eve of elimination
half of us will have to say
goodbye
to an endearing element
of our weekly entertainment
and exercise

that's when winter is truly over for me
and its something i sorely miss

imagine missing an element if winter
but this one and the snow boarding
i do

back against the wall

they will be close games

anybody could take it

its important to remain loose
and that means calm but
its also to be alert and that
means focused and intense

balancing those allows you to use
the craft you developed all year
at the level of play you could achieve
during the year and add to that
a dose or two of adrenaline
as we let BATW soak our
minds and bodies with "flight
or fight" endorphins

it will be pressure and it feels great
but like all intense pressure
it requires a level-headed approach
to not let the lower level instincts
rule

so just as
when you are really drunk
you are still required to harness
your emerging instincts

sports are a sublimation of war

although competition feels like battle
it is important to honour the differences
and that where good sportsmanship
is born

i'm not saying its easy
especially not for those
who feel that it brings
true grit into a sport that
would lack passion if some anger
isn't expressed (at least verbally) !

the canadian spectacle of sports
is confused by the violence allowed in hockey

don cherry blames increasing stick violence
on prior bans regarding fist violence

on this topic he is a moron

basketball is more stringent
about violence
and the quality of play
which is the real basis
of passion and entertainment
has improved

the evolution of sports into purity
will take us back to the joy of competition
and the gracious co-existence of
victory and defeat

it will be sad to lose
if i do
but it will have been
an amazing year
already

the year began with
yellow and red
in first and second

and then for a surreal moment
five of the teams were tied
for first place

grey took first for the better part
of the second half and then
out of nowhere
"the black team"
grabbed the golden ring
for the last two games

grey and yellow
face the classic combo's
of hornsby and tanner
with lessem and lepage

in my first year i played goalie
for the hornsby-tanner team
and we lost because
although i had figured out
lessem's golf shot from the point
lepage slipped two crucial goals
past me in very low scoring games

the red team is full of the
hillcrest school bunch that
amir and i would have joined
if the hillcrest school team
was finally assembled

red has mitch and tim and kitch
which
is half of my victorious zeppelin's

it feels like i'm getting flashbacks

i don't know which team i'm on

monday nights games will be amazing
see you all there


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