This is the second installment of a series that starts here.
Lest I gave the impression that sled hockey is all fancy trips to Texas playing with Paralympic champions, I give you a B Team weekend in Peoria. Or more accurately, beautiful Pekin, IL, once home to a particularly troubling high school mascot. This one is close enough that we can drive instead of fly.
A Little of Column A, a little of Column B
While you have to work your way onto the A Team roster, B Team is for new players, and recreational players who have no aspirations of playing at a higher level. Everyone who wants to play is welcome. The pace is much slower, and among players there can be big differences in skill levels. This year we lost three of our normal players for various reasons, and we have two new players who just got on the ice for the first time a month ago. This weekend two of the other players who play on both A and B aren’t with us, but we have three players from a Wisconsin team who wanted some playing time because their team isn’t doing much this year.
My role on this team is a lot different. On A Team I’m a forward and play about one third of each game, but on B Team I’m the number one defenseman and I usually don’t take any shifts off. Being the fastest on the team, it’s my job to keep an eye on center ice and prevent any breakaways, and get people away from the front of the net. I’m not scoring many goals, but I’m more than making it up in preventing goals on our end. Plus I get to cut people off and hit a lot more, so that can be fun.
Thunderstruck
This is an annual tournament organized by The Central Illinois Thunder. This is a fairly new program. They have adult and kids teams. The Thunder was started by an able bodied guy who wanted his young disabled daughter to have a sport to play. He’s since expanded the program to adaptive cycling and wheelchair racing. The whole story is pretty inspiring, and he’s one of the nicest guys I’ve met. The Thunder also have a player who was on the first US team to get a Paralympic gold medal back in 2002. I’ve come across him a lot and we’ve had some fun conversations.
Here’s how the weekend went.
Saturday, 5:45am. My plan is to drive to Illinois, leave my car at an A Team player’s house, and hitch a ride from our goalie. I roll out of bed and head west.
Saturday, 8:10am. I arrive at the aforementioned teammate’s house. He and his wife foster cats so he as about 10, and I spend some time saying hello to a few of them.
Saturday, 8:30am. We realize we spend too much time hanging out with cats and get on the road later than we had planned.
Saturday, 10:45am. We arrive at the Pekin Memorial Ice Rink. It’s a small building with one rink. Our locker room is also small. Like tiny small. So small that our team of 10, some of us with wheelchairs, can’t fit in it at all at once. I keep my pads outside the locker room and get dressed out there.
Saturday, 11:15am. Our first game is against The Thunder. As we get on the ice we find out we’ll have 18:00 periods with a running clock. This pisses off our captain, who specifically told these teams that all games in our league will have 15:00 periods with stopped clocks. The Thunder is a team we’ve always beaten pretty handily. But not today. We lose 2-0, and one of those goals was scored on a nice breakaway by former Paralympic player. With the crew we have our offense is pretty lacking and we don’t get many shots on net. We also have a dog issue. One of our guys brought his “service dog”, which is a not-too-well trained year old female rot. He leaves her behind the bench, and she gets distressed and bites one of our coaches. The player has to come off the ice, then after the game he takes the dog and leaves for the weekend.
Saturday, 2:00pm. Our next game was moved from 3pm to 7pm, so we have time to kill. After an endless barrage of text messages, we finally decide on having lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings. Then we still have time to kill so we just watch football in the hotel lobby.
Saturday, 5:45pm. We arrive at the rink and while we’re in the lobby, a girl with a white cane approaches and tells us we looked good out there. I’m not sure if it’s worse for a blind kid to say we looked good, or a sighted person to tell us we suck.
Saturday, 7:00pm. Next up is St. Louis. Like us, they have two teams and now I’ve played both of them in the same season. This team is young and the whole team’s faster but they can be easily knocked off the puck and are very nervous about getting hit. We have some stretches of time in their zone, but I can’t cut off all their breakaways and we lose 5-2. I had two partial breakaways but my aim is terrible and I miss the net by a foot both times. I had to work hard this game, so I’m pretty tired.
Saturday, 9:00pm. The timing isn’t right for dinner so we grab some McNuggets and hang out in the hotel lobby and talk to the Paralympic guy for a while.
Sunday, 12:30am. Time for bed. This is a nice hotel in contrast to our last B Team trip. I actually sleep most of the night.
Sunday, 8:30am. I wake up a little sore from the St. Louis game. We have a hotel breakfast, sit around again, pack up, and head back to the rink.
Sunday, 12:00pm. This time we play the Indy Steel. They’ve only been around 2 years and have a lot of kids. Three of us are much faster than their whole team, so we purposefully hold back and work on passing to our new players. I nearly connect with one of them on a 2 on 1, but pass just behind him. I really want to get him his first goal, but no luck. We end up winning 5-1, but more importantly the game was slower so we got to work on our team play.
Sunday, 2:00pm. We pack up and head toward home.
Sunday, 4:00pm. I get back to my car, and my teammate’s wife makes us dinner while I spend some time with the cats again. We’ve planned on both of us going to tonight’s practice.
Sunday, 9:00pm. Some of the guys from both A and B are at practice, and we spend the whole time scrimmaging 4 on 4. It’s a fun night and gets our A team warmed up for the next tournament.
Monday, 12:15am. I arrive at home, throw my smelly hockey clothes in the wash, and head to bed.
And Then…
Here’s where it gets interesting. I’m home for three days, and on Thursday it’s on a plane to New Jersey, where both teams play in the NHL Sled Hockey Classic, one of the two national tournaments that are held each year. It’s unusual to have back to back weekends like this, but that’s just how it goes sometimes. This is my favorite tournament, and I get to play in it just a few days before my 50th birthday. It will be a quick turnaround and there are lots of things to do in a few days.
To be continued…
The Pekin Chinks? Really?
I dont know what to say about that.
It was a different era, I guess.
It’s good that that’s not acceptable anymore.
It’s bad that every goddamn subject in the universe has been racialized to death.
There must be some happy medium.
Until 1981!
Need a high-def large image of that one. Wow.
The Pekin Chinks? I’m far from the most politically correct person, but even I think that’s wrong.
So solly, Dick Tracy!
IIRC their reasoning behind the name was their city name “Pekin” was just a letter short of being “Peking”.
So why not the Pekin Ducks instead?
https://cardinalscholar.bsu.edu/bitstream/handle/123456789/195194/LananeJ_2011-1_BODY.pdf;sequence=1
How do you confuse Peking with Beijing?
“Peking” is based on what Cantonese folks called “Beijing” because in the old days most Chinese in America were Cantonese.
At some point China insisted that we use Mandarin for all Chinese names which is why we have “Guangzhou” instead of “Canton”, “Chongqing” instead of “Chungking”, etc. etc.
Expect “Hong Kong” to become “Xianggang” someday soon.
Peking is Mandarin origin, just Nanjing Mandarin
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_Beijing
It’s also intertwined with Wade-Giles romanization and was chucked when Pinyin replaced that as the commies romanization.
The vocalization also sounds more similar when pronouncing it as Běijīng, not Bay-zhing.
Well, they would have had to order Pekin Ducks in advance.
What’s the difference between “Chinks” and “Redskins”?
*grabs popcorn*
Redskins is no longer a sports team name.
“Redskin” was used as a self-identifier by Native Americans to differentiate between the two races?
War whoops vs pulled down eyebrows?
Was redskins ever actually derogatory? I know it’s not PC any more, but I always figured it was the polite term for its time. I figured like “negro” or “Chinaman” it was outdated but never really a slur.
Modern progressives know that when people used to say it, that they did it with hatred in their heart. And that’s all that matters regardless of literal meaning or any other context.
Back in the 1930s, some cities had “related” nicknames for their baseball and football teams (see: Chicago Cubs / Bears, Detroit Tigers / Lions).
When George Preston Marshall was awarded the Boston franchise by the NFL, they played in Braves Field and were called the Braves — which could probably be confusing for casual fans, just like New York having two squads called the Giants was. The next year, they moved to Fenway, home of the Red Sox, and (I guess) decided to blend the name of their new hosts with the Native American motif from the previous year. So for four seasons, Fenway hosted the Red Sox and the Redskins. When the football team moved to D.C. in 1937, they kept the nickname.
“He leaves her behind the bench, and she gets distressed and bites one of our coaches. The player has to come off the ice, then after the game he takes the dog and leaves for the weekend.”
WTF?
Yep. Such is sled hockey sometimes.
Happy Birth Day!
I’m still impressed that you are 49 and playing hockey.
I guess we know whether it will play in Peoria.
Good one, Mr S!
sounds like fun,
Cheers!
This series on sled hockey is very enjoyable and not something I ever expected when Glibertarians made the great migration from the other site.
Thanks for the behind-the-scenes glimpses, and a feel for the player experience too!
You’re welcome! I’m enjoying this!
I didn’t know there was such a thing until I met TOK, here on the Glibs. Very interesting and also challenging, I’m sure
Spoiler alert, I just finished the next tournament and I’m in Disney World for my birthday. Next article will be next week.
If you went to Disneyworld, then QED, you must have won your tournament.
https://cardinalscholar.bsu.edu/bitstream/handle/123456789/195194/LananeJ_2011-1_BODY.pdf;sequence=1
The “Chinklettes? Yikes.
Right?! It should be Chinkettes.
I almost corrected that assuming it had to be a typo, but who am I to edit Joe Lanane’s Master of Arts thesis?
Well, this is “Wikipedia Asian Month 2021” so if there is anything you need to know Wiki has a group of Asians standing by to answer your questions.
All the facts, none of that slant.
Some needs to nip this in the bud.
This is a slippery slope.
I dare Swissy to narrow his gaze on this one.
Are you saying he’s yellow?
The school should’ve changed their mascot’s nickname to the Knights.
But I guess that opponents would’ve still been able to find a chink in their armor.
Fun read, TOC. Thanks for sharing. You also sent me down a Chink rabbit hole. I wonder if I go long enough if I’ll get to China…
Stupid hicks can’t even handle simple calculations.
Right? The author’s condescension oozes from that paragraph. And in a heavily footnoted article, apparently that claim doesn’t require citation.
There shall be no fancy in these parts!
Am I wrong to assume that Peking, China’s football team is not called the Hicks?
Not sure why I thought Kevin starts with a “C”…
This guy has a sad.
Simple calculations prove it incorrect? I assume the stupid idiots is predicated on the two points not being on completely opposite points? Because any two points on a sphere can be joined by a single line, or tunnel. Now tunneling through the earth is a technical impossibility given both what is known about the composition as well as practical experience with deep digs, but neither of those are simple calculations.
Yeah, “center” of the earth.
Pogo disproved it by shooting a globe.
Good stuff Kevin thanks. Where are you driving to Peoria from?
49 and still playing is making me jealous. God bless.
Northwest Indiana.
Thanks, New York City!
Controversial Theodore Roosevelt statue outside of New York museum finds a home in North Dakota
Yup.
How white of you (pl.).
So what does history have to say about iconoclasm?
Just flipped to Hannity out of curiosity – OMG. The Hair in hi-def is unbelievable. I can almost see the individual strands wriggling.
Anyone seen Bruce Campbell’s new “Black Friday” yet? Weirdly opened last week but not locally. Would have expected a wider release.
Wide releases no longer exist in our universe. Try the multiverse. B list movies are probably lucky to get 100 screens nationally.
Meanwhile, I made red beans & rice in my microwave, adding peas & carrots. It was actually edible, thanks to the vast quantity of salt Vigo put in the packet.
Meanwhile, I’m shocked at how far downhill Netflix has slid. It’s pretty much their own produced stuff and acres and acres of dreck and B movies, all being pushed without easy way to surf through it. The only classic war movie I can find is Guns of Navaronne, which isn’t that great. But watching it again for the second night in the row because hotel cable tv is even worse. I remember when that used to be a treat and something to look forward to.
Can you imagine how shit movie rental places would have been if studios had exclusive contracts with a single chain?
Thanks TOK. I always enjoy the insights into this crowd’s (dare I say) diverse interests.
The NFS here tried to rename Chinaman and Confederate Gulches, but the locals weren’t having it. Our state rep took down the covers the NFS put over the signs. The NFS quietly dropped the issue.
Chinks is a bit much though.
Thanks, Kevin!
I have really enjoyed your adventures.
And you should play D all the time!
“…you should play D all the time!”
But chicks dig the O.
They like the D too
Solid
Same here. Life is what happens between plans, eh?
Machining (and mathematics) porn
I like that. I’m not artistic, but I dig THAT.
Well, SXM has screwed the goose again. Xmas music is relegated to the nether regions, while they run thirty one flavors of Tik tok/Pandora/whatever the kids are using and other assorted dreck. Used to be they’d put the seasonal stuff up front. Meanwhile, even something like Holiday Traditions is getting shafted. Rather than running actual classics entirely, they’re injecting modernist garbage like Lisa Addeo. Screw you pal! *shakes fist at clouds*
Here you go, they have about five Xmas music stations, all totally free 24/7. I love the soul one.
https://somafm.com/
Happy birthday, TOK! Nice write-up, love the look behind the scenes.
I really enjoyed the NJ tourney last weekend – recommend this to anyone if you get a chance. My only regret was missing the fight in the game that preceded TOK’s. Yes, it is real hockey.
Lol I know the guy who got ejected. We both played for Alaska in s tournament this summer. He’s from California.
Chinks huh? I haven’t been able to keep up so I am catching up.
I am guessing the name was tongue-in-cheek. Also, the Mrs. probably had some affection or romantic notions about Peking or Chinese culture thus chose that name.
Y’know, people didnt always take themselves so seriously, at least most of ’em. The wokety woke wokesters are nothing if not self-absorbed and humorless so of course they wouldn’t get it.
I think I do, but I could be wrong.
*Disclaimer: I am never wrong.
Ugh…I actually liked Cowboy Bebop live action. It’s not mind blowing, bit enjoyed it…until Ed…at last 1 minute of final episode.
So… watch it but stop before that?
I am on episode 3. No spoilers please.
If you separate what you know and just enjoy it, it is fun. Think…Firefly with a less cohesive group.
I’ve played the Cowboy Bebop pachinko machine. 90% of what I know of Anime and Manga came that way.
Australia when it was good!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQluGs2SFRs&list=RDMM&index=8
Coworker: Got my second booster and I felt terrible for a couple days. How about you?
Me: Nope.
Sometimes it’s more about what you don’t say.
I haven’t had so much as a sniffle in years. I’m going to get the super-killer mu or nu variant, aren’t I?
A client of my wife’s today told her she developed some disease right after the booster shot. Sure, it may just happened and it wouldn’t be associated with the booster and we may never know because the word is out…do not associate anything to the shots.
Any problems from your contract companies? Hearing from some others that some companies are leaning on their regular directly employed employees as an expectation that they will get injected, in that usual Japanese strong arm corporate culture manner.
Not yet.
https://archive.md/e161f/4395ad9773060e3da7900692236ce06ff3ee5f03.jpg
NSFW.
https://archive.md/HVUgj/3bc9bfd169446abc1e3428a25b34c4a3bd767b7b.jpg
NSFW.
https://archive.md/YCurp/fe47c0c5d9c1f31939edde28f0639e430eaa7a0f.jpg
NSFW.
https://archive.md/FnBTQ/8ecbb8092efe0b52fd92d6d5894ca34e47178bbe.jpg
NSFW.
I haven’t physically seen my oldest for 2 years and I do not want to go to bed.
suh’ fam
yo whats goody
Thread fayul
But Im hammered. Totally polluted.
At least you’re not comatose… yet.
Am I the only one
workingat work?I dont go in till tonight. But Im with you in spirit.
Well, I’ll be going to work shortly…
Then, 4 day weekend. Yippee!
I’m making it a 6-day weekend. We’ll be celebrating our marital bliss. And by celebrating, I mean trying to avoid a major pissing contest.
“major pissing contest.”
some people pay extra for that.
This helps explain why I’m not retired yet.
“trying to avoid a major pissing contest”
So you’re NOT german ?
Only half, so I just prefer to watch.
Sooo…about Australia…
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/11/killing-us-killing-people-aboriginal-elder-screams-facebook-rant-australian-military-reportedly-holds-people-shoots-vaccine-video/
From the comments:
If this is so, it isn’t going to turn out the way they expect.
I would like confirmation of this from… elsewhere, first.
You think the Gateway Pundit would report rumor and accusation without confirmation?
Well, not as much as the NYT, but they’re no saints.
I will agree with this.
https://www.nj.com/politics/2021/11/murphy-leaves-nj-to-celebrate-thanksgiving-with-family-in-florida.html
“White supremacist goes to his Mecca to catch covid. ”
Seriously, why are Dems going to FL? Aren’t they supposed to be boycotting that state?
This could work. If he gets the ‘vid, is he forbidden from re-entering NJ?
https://ktla.com/news/local-news/mistake-or-promotion-45-cent-gas-draws-line-of-cars-to-whittier-gas-station/
?
https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/deltona-man-caught-filming-up-skirt-of-undercover-agent-deputies-say
I’m not even sure how to snark on this one. Need moar coffee.
Decriminalize prostitution so sad men can get sex and whores can profit. Problem
solvedreduced.Who are the “authorities” in that story?
And the “undercover agent” is with what agency ?
“Undercover agent”
Why was she wearing a skirt to bed? Sounds kinky
Why does this asshole, elected public official, get roads shut down for his little cop parade ?
Funeral procession route announced for Greene County Sheriff Gene Fischer
Maybe DeRINO is attending. It IS his home county.
Good morning, homey, TARDy, Sean, & rhy!
suh’ pimp-juice
Just so you know, Rally’s > Wendy’s. Ask me how I know.
I love Rally’s fries, but are where are the nearest ones? Is there still the one on Salem (near Gettysburg, not Grand,) and should I be carrying if I go?
The Wendy’s on Main would never have any salads left the last few times I tried to get dinner there.
And do I really want to know how you know?
$2 delivery, and great wings.
There is one on near us w/o doxxing our secret location.
Have you ever seen a Checkers/Rally’s get installed? It’s pretty neat. There is a factory in Tampa where all the restaurants are pre-fabricated, then helicoptered to the prepared jobsite and bolted to the foundation. Plumbers, electricians, and glaziers swarm over the place on day 1, installers with equipment on day 2, finish carpenters and final electric on day 3, inspections on day 4, staffing up and training on day 5. They have the process down tight.
No doubt mexicans. Other than the helicopter pilot.
GT – did you get my email from around midnight?
I did! I remember the beginning of this story, but I don’t remember how far along it was in the last draft you sent. Thanks!
I don’t remember either. I do know I wrote a few page in the past two days, so there’s something new in there.
In the spirit of Thanksgiving….
Why do native Americans hate snow?
Its white and settles on their land.
/shows myself out
Getting enough of those beers or is another trip to the store in the offing? I ask this as the second-hardest drinking Glib. “Oh captain, my Captain…”
Whites were unique in that respect. Until they came along the injuns were all living in harmony with nature and with each other.
You rock, TOK! Sledge Hockey. It’s not just a job, it’s an adventure! *cues patriotic tune*
Oh, Canada.
This was played during play stoppages and between periods.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YS3GQverRiQ
Nice. Was there a sing-along?
You are not wrong.
Just as an aside, I’ve always wondered why the Paralympics didn’t run first as a sort of run-up to the Olympic games. That way they’d get more exposure for their efforts instead of being a sort of tail-end affair that most people not directly involved either discount or ignore. Makes no sense to this erstwhile sports fan. The ratings would be much better, thus $. Do I have to think of everything?
Yes, someone has to do the hard work.
Mornin’ all. In four years at this job I have never been paged for an overnight issue. This morning’s alert makes it three times this week. Thank $deity for Covfefe.
My $diety is TEA! WE WILL PUSH YOU INTO THE SEA, INFIDEL!
Oh my. Someone is over-caffeinated.
That’s alright, could have been bhang or coca leaves then the fur would fly.
not possible
Sure, now that all the lakes are frizzed up. You can have my coffee when you can take…Oh, oh, someone at the door.
NOBODY’S HOME, COME BACK LATER!
#Fail
Watch that first step, Doc! She a LuLu!
Exactly how many gymnasts are in that leotard?
None.
https://www.thecollegefix.com/survey-34-of-white-college-applicants-lied-about-their-race-to-improve-chances-of-getting-accepted/
Lulz.
Freckles are a kinda-sorta melanin…
JFC:
https://www.foxnews.com/us/waukesha-parade-left-wing-district-attorneys-bail-reform
“John Chisholm, the left-wing DA from Milwaukee, announced Tuesday that his office was opening an internal investigation into its own bail recommendation for Brooks earlier this month. The assistant district attorney on the case requested a $1,000 sum despite Brooks’ staggering criminal past and an outstanding warrant in Nevada for bail jumping. The court granted it.
“The state’s bail recommendation in this case was inappropriately low in light of the nature of the recent charges and the pending charges against Mr. Brooks,” Chisholm’s office said in a statement announcing the investigation. “The bail recommendation in this case is not consistent with the approach of the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office toward matters involving violent crime.”
Earlier this year, another judge had to release Brooks for just $500 due to court scheduling backlogs that would have violated his constitutional right to a speedy trial, Chisholm’s office said Monday.
Chisholm’s counterpart in nearby Waukesha took a different approach in her bail request against Brooks Tuesday, making good on her pledge to seek something so high he would have no chance of paying it.
She sought and received $5 million bail on five charges of first-degree intentional homicide, Wisconsin’s equivalent of first-degree murder. If convicted on all counts, the longtime felon would face five consecutive life sentences. A sixth charge is expected following the death of another victim, this one a child, who had been hospitalized for two days.
Police identified the five adults killed Sunday as Virginia Sorenson, 79, LeAnna Owen, 71, Tamara Durand, 52, Jane Kulich, 52, and Wilhelm Hospel, 81.
Mike Padden, a Minnesota-based defense attorney who also practices in Wisconsin, called the fact that Brooks had been freed just three weeks ago “pitiful.”
“He never should have been let out [earlier this month] because of the warrant from Nevada, but even if there wasn’t a warrant in Nevada, the bail should have been sufficient,” he said. “This could easily fall in the category of attempted murder.”
In that case, Brooks allegedly punched a woman in the face, stole her cellphone and ran her over with the same SUV he’s accused of plowing through dozens of people at the parade Sunday evening.”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10235869/Waukesha-suspect-shared-social-media-posts-promoting-violence-white-people.html
Don’t expect to see this on CNN:
Also, a 6th person has died from the attack.
It was a six year-old child. I’ve seen the videos (once). He aimed at people. I can’t fathom that depth of malevolence. The sheer hatred to try to kill Grandmas and children when they are enjoying the most fun together that they will ever know. That dude deserves the boats.
Just tack on “illegal parading” and you can hold him indefinitely.
He wasn’t wearing the proper attire. Dreadlocks and avowed racism are not the same as side-shaves and tiki torches. This is known, Khaleesi.
*Mainstream media’s response* “Pay no attention to that lumpy carpet! Shall I take your coat and hat?” They have no shame.
Speaking of no shame:
https://www.lawenforcementtoday.com/gofundme-allows-bail-fundraiser-for-suspect-in-parade-massacre/
OFFS! Who the fuck would defend him? Everyone saw what happened. Suthen is right. They hate us and they want us dead. I feel gutted right now. Not just for the innocents, people like us or the dead and maimed. I feel sad for the ones that cheer on these horrific acts. There will be a reckoning.
https://twitter.com/ElectionWiz/status/1463488130032484360
Stock up on everything.
We would have also accepted “Fuck no,” and “Lets go Brandon”
Yeah, the levees broke up here and we’ll be a week or two behind until February. When I left the plant last night there were still four trailers out in the yard waiting to be off-loaded. I suppose that Mom and Dad will be giving pictures of Xmas presents this year and blaming the Brownshirts for the delay. Kinda like the time when I was about 4 and all of my favorite ratty toys never made the transition and was told that the movers lost them. Dang those Movers!
Railroads going down shortly…
Foreseeable consequences are not unintended. Keep that in mind.
I’m blathering on but I must say that Q’s links tonight are much like tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. Hit the spot!
*breaks out old tired joke*
Wife: “You’d leave me for that woman, wouldn’t you?”
Me: “Honey, I’d kill you for that woman!”
Glad this is dedthread.
I laughed!