Friends

This picture makes me think of my favorite old joke.

What is the difference between a good friend and a great friend?

A good friend will come bail you out of jail.

A great friend is sitting next to you saying, "Dude, that was freakin' awesome!"


Which reminds me of another story and how I scared our great friends, the Lewis'.

We would often joke that we carry shovels in our trunks just in case our good friends get into too much trouble and we have to help them bury the evidence.

Early one morning, I had to call them for some help. The only message I left on their machine was, "remember how we always joke about carrying shovels in our trunks?".

They called back within five minutes ready to bury a body. I then explained I needed their horsepower to help pull down a tree.

But it worked!

Great friends....

Cheeseburgers and sushi

My personal experiment of dropping soda has been successful. I have not had a soda since the beginning of January.

However, Jeffy showed up with four cases of Moxie. I have decided Moxie does not qualify as soda, it is medicine. So while my meager supply lasts, I'll allow myself to have a Moxie now and again. Otherwise, still no soda pop for me.

One other thing...Miss Mayhem owes me a sushi dinner. We haven't had time to meet for a sushi dinner but she owes it to me nonetheless.

A difficult weekend

I've had some tough weekends. The one that comes to mind most recently was when my appendix burst. All the fun and shenanigans associated with that operation (not to mention the sales meeting I was helping run) were pretty painful and dreary.

But this weekend tops the bill.

Diagnosed with the flu on Friday, I was told in no uncertain terms by our pediatrician that passing it along to Emiko could be deadly.

That's an eye opener.

Now tie it in with the fact that Hopey had her Master's class all weekend long. Who in the hell is going to look after the kid? Gibson?

I've been sequestered in my room, subjected to the harangue of my father and brother (who rolled into town on Thursday night) and tortured by the sound of her cries. This has easily been the most painful place I've ever had to be: listening to her grief throughout each day and not being able to go to her side. Not being able to walk over and make her laugh. Finding tears of my own forming when I could hear how unhappy she was. I've worn a little surgical mask (courtesy of Cheryl) every time I've left my prison. I've washed my hands religiously (even before going to the bathroom). But I've kept my distance from her at all times.

Through all of this, I've been blessed with my father and brother's presence. Cheryl came over on Friday night to help them out since they had arrived with no expectation of being put on babysitting trial. Let's just say they passed with flying colors.

Dad has been a trooper throughout. He has fed her, changed diapers and held her through her squalling. He has been so endearing to her that, on Saturday night after Hopey got home, Emi held her arms out to him so he could pick her up! This has made me smile, cry and laugh all at the same time (though I try not to laugh because it makes me cough like I'm losing a lung).

Jeffy to has been a huge help. He's looked after Gibson, helped around the house and, here's the big one, even changed a diaper! He swore he was never, ever going to change a diaper...at least not until he had to change one for his own child. But Emi found a way to convince him!

A huge thanks to all for what they have done for my family this weekend. I really don't know what we would have done if they had so fortuitously been here in Colorado.

I've also learned something by this forced and necessary exile. I've learned a little something about fatherhood. Each time Emi cried, I wanted to rush to her side. But I learned that my father hasn't forgotten what it takes to comfort a teary child. He still has it. I realized that my standing over him wearing a mask could possibly just make him nervous as I would have tried to offer hints or suggestions while he held a frantic baby. I realized that he would figure it out on his own; she's not that different from any other child that came before or will come after.

And I can see how applicable this is for Emi in the days and years to come when she is learning something new that I think is just second nature. She will figure it out. I won't need to stand over her because she will eventually get it the same way the rest of us did. I remember how my father taught me that too.

My Dad is a hockey deity in central Maine. Everyone knew who he was when I was growing up. He played, he coached, he taught power skating and he ran the rink. When I played, he stood in the far corner of the stands and watched. Just watched. When he met me in the lobby, we'd walk to the car and I'd put my gear in the back before we began our 45 minute drive home. And he never once offered to speak first about the game. He always waited until I asked. He let me figure it out on my own and he knew that if I wanted his help, I would ask.

And so, while this has been the most difficult and painful weekend I have in memory, I plan to cherish it for all that I have learned and look back upon it happily for years to come.

The end of the season

It's funny how this happens every year. The end of the season sneaks up on me and I suddenly realize that I have both a great deal of joy and a great deal of sadness that it's here.

I enjoy working with good friends. In fact, as we discussed tonight after a CHL game, it's not really work at all when we are out there with the good guys. We make the calls, we giggle, we flap our arms around like a flock of sea gulls. We take some grief, we make tough calls and we always learn just a little bit more about this game we love.

Being out there on the ice with our buddies is a joy. For those few minutes, some of which can feel like days, there is nothing else in our world other than the game of hockey. We watch each other's backs, cover each other's lines and work our butts off for those sixty minutes of hockey.

We are students of the game. We expect to learn a little bit each game. We learn each other's working traits, we learn the player's idiosyncrasies and habits and we learn about our judgement of the calls we make. We are often our own toughest critics. We watch game tapes to see what we missed, how we could better position ourselves and where our vision on the ice is lacking. We discuss those tough calls and non-calls in the locker room between periods or on the ice during breaks. We learn to adjust for each game.

At the same time, despite the fun we have every game, I look forward to the end of the season for time at home with Hope, Emi and Gibson. Hockey takes me away from my family, it makes me miss certain moments at home and it sometimes gives me long drives in the car by myself.

Would I prefer to stay home with my family or go work a game? Every time I get scheduled, it's an honor that I am working at this elite level. And I say yes to the games. Every time I leave the house or skip going home all together and leave from my office, I miss precious time with my wife and daughter. I certainly hope that the time away, doing a job that I love, is acceptable to my family.

Hope understands and is more than willing to work with me on my schedule. But I fear that Emi would somehow grow to resent the sport that pulls her father away from her a few nights a week. I want her to appreciate what hockey means to me, I would love to see her play but most of all I hope that she inherits at least a little of the drive toward athleticism that I have, whatever the sport.

It's late. My family is now asleep. I worked a game that was played brilliantly by the two teams and was lucky enough to work with my mentor and great friend. I got to work with an up and coming referee that I hope to see to go on to the next levels of officiating. I got to have fun. And I appreciate that I get to work in this great league with great friend who are great officials.

Good night, I apologize for the rambling-ness of this posting tonight. Forgive me my sentimentality, my grammatical errors and any mispellings.

One last video

I promise...this is the last video for a while. But well worth watching.

My boss in the CHL

Wayne Bonney is one of the greatest linesman to ever work the NHL. I am lucky to actually get to speak with him and learn from him in the CHL. Keep an eye on him as he disappears into the scrum. And be aware that Kordic was huge and strong...Wayne really wakes him up!

Sorry for multiple video postings today...it's just one of those days!

Umm...yeah

This is worth a giggle or two.

From the Coen brothers....

The Alumni Fund

Many, many moons ago, I worked for the Middlebury Alumni Fund while I was a student at said college. I made many calls, plead for a great deal of money and ended up calling some of my friends who had graduated ahead of me.

KT got one of these calls yesterday and she quickly wrote me an email wishing it had been a call from me. So I put together what I thought would be a good script in order to get a pledge out my fellow Alums.

It is as follows:

KT, I'm calling you today on behalf of Middlebury. You remember Middlebury, right? We educated you, housed you and fed you well for the four years you attended.

Well, I hate to tell you this, but Middlebury is in a bit of a pickle these days. Our endowment is not quite as large as some other private colleges. Plus, with the downturn in the economy, we are now facing a bit of a shortfall with our budget for the next eleven years.

We know you are in a position to donate at least $25 dollars to Middlebury this year. We have your financial records for the past ten years, your tax records for the past five years and your police records for the past four years. You really are not in a position to say no to a $50 dollar donation but we don't want you to feel like we are trying to extort money from you. That little incident that occurred in Pittsburgh two years ago really is worth at least a $75 dollar donation, especially if you don't want your family and best college friends to find out. I mean, really, getting busted plagiarizing on your report for why cock fighting really isn't an inhumane treatment of animals is a little over the top, don't you think?

Don't forget that your donation goes a long way for current students at Middlebury. They will continue to be coddled, graded on a curve, and given close in parking spaces in order to cut down on the long commute from their dorms to the student fitness center. These are all incredible reasons to donate $100 this year. Not to mention that your donation of $150 will help the school continue to place quite high in national rankings due to graduate satisfaction.

Shall we go ahead and ring up a $200 donation on your credit card tonight? We have that number too, you should know.

Did I mention we need to build a new practice rink for our National Championship hockey teams? KT, your name would go quite nicely over the door to the rink. That little international incident you had in Finland would be all but forgotten should this become the KT Ice Arena.

Let's get that donation going.

Seth
Middlebury College
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