Distracted

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Every team that I have followed this year has had at least one off-game.  Today was mine.  Preoccupied with trying to provide announcing and music for several games, I did not manage to see much of any of the games, much less take any notes during my time in and out of the pressbox.

Numerous technical issues cropped up, some even my own fault… but they should be addressed for next week’s slate of games where I hope to provide as entertaining a product off the ice as is seen regularly on the ice. One of the biggest difficulties encountered today was my inability to receive the scoring and penalty information from the timekeepers.  At first, they were unable to reach the telephone as the arena staff had not unlocked that compartment, and then once it was unlocked, I still only received a busy signal when trying to call down for the information.  Whatever the issue is, I hope to have it corrected for next week.  My apologies to all for a less than satisfactory dry run of things this afternoon.  It did not help that I was feeling a little under the weather as well…

There was a lot of things I witnessed today that upset me early on that distressed me for the rest of the day.  Normally, I can handle anything that comes along, but seeing the same official ref four games this week that all got out of hand, and saw kids injured as a result of his incompetence, is more than I can tolerate.  Even though I know that my indignation is futile to change things, I can’t but help speak about it.  Please bear with me…

Having been around hockey most, if not all of my nearly 31 years, I know that criticizing officials is commonplace, yet rarely justified when you look at the whole picture.  I still contend, however, that each association usually has one or two officials who give all of the others a bad reputation by overstaying their welcome and continuing to referee games that are beyond their abilities.  My own association is presently going through some turmoil dealing with senior officials who do the majority of games while the more recent, less experienced officials wait in the wings for their shot.  Ideally, someone would be smart enough to put a succession plan in place and pair the younger officials with the senior officials to mentor them along and prepare for the time, not so far off, when the older officials will wish to retire or cut back on their amount of games, or the levels at which they officiate.

One other incident that bothered me, related to the poor officiating, was the mini-brawl that broke out at the end of the Minor Bantam AAA game I attended today.  From my vantage point, it certainly appeared that two of the Welland players had major roles in instigating this incident.  I am both angered and disappointed.  I know that there were likely circumstances of which I am not aware that lead to this behaviour, but this is one of several incidents that have occurred this week alone, and I am very frustrated with what I am seeing lately.  If I want to see boxing or wrestling, I can always stay home and watch them on television.  I come to the rink to see hockey, and yes, even physical hockey, when it is appropriate.  What I have seen recently, however, has been embarrassing to both my town and the sport of hockey in general.

I know certain centres have reputations, regarding coaching tactics or unruly fans, that are detrimental to the game.  In all my years around my home centre, I can say honestly that I haven’t had any cause to believe that we are one of the “problem” centres, however, lately we seem to be copying some of the behaviours of the centres that we condemn or look down upon.  Every parent needs to take a hard look at their own behaviour.  Are you sure that you are teaching your kids the right things with your actions as well as your words?  Personally I rarely comment on other centres.  I usually only see the away teams once or twice per year, so I don’t feel I can accurately assess them in that time period.  My home teams, however, that I see in games and practices each week, are a different story.  I do treat them a little more harshly because I know what to expect from them, and when they fail to meet my expectations, I’m going to say so.

From my independent perspective, I’ve seen behaviour from the stands that rivals anything that I have seen displayed on the ice.  Poor play or poor officiating (whatever sets you off in a particular game…) doesn’t give you license to say whatever comes into your head.  The old advice, think twice, speak once seems to apply here.  Feel free to cheer and encourage all you want, but please try to keep your negative comments to a minimum.

Rant over.  Everyone please enjoy your week at and away from the rinks as you prepare for the Holiday and Tournament Seasons ahead…Happy Holidays and Good Luck To All!

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