Friday, October 20, 2006

 

Car... Game On!

I can't handle the space between these games. It's killing me. Whatever happened to the old "every two days" schedule? First it was six days, now four. I'm dying for some Oilers hockey here, people! Speaking of, does anyone play in a league requiring a body? Ice, street, ball, tabletop...any hockey will do (street hockey is my personal fave, I must say). I just want to start playing regularly again. So if anyone needs a completely out of shape, arrogant loud mouth with a dynamic combination of upper body strength and low centre of gravity on their team, just let me know.



Sub-question: isn't street hockey the game's purest form, now that pond hockey has pretty much disappeared? There must be a dissertation in there somewhere, on the transformation of Canada from an agrarian to an urban society, based on the demise of pond/outdoor hockey and the rise of the suburb/indoor hockey.

Comments:

There's a correlation in there; but as with most social science, causation is a more interesting question. An interesting dissertation would posit that the desire by more people to play hockey led Canadians to abandon pond hockey for street hockey resulting in the transformation of Canadian society from agrarian to urban.
Fact.
 


Fact.

Brilliant.

But wouldn't that mean more people should be playing outdoor rink hockey, as well? I think less Canadians are playing hockey now than ever, per capita wise.
 


i'm not sure any form of hockey not involving ice can be called "pure". Any hockey without skates is just a bastardized version. Still good, still hockey, but not hockey in its purest form.
 


I dunno, I think street hockey with roller blades comes awfully close.

I haven't played street hockey in years. That was a sunrise-til-sunset activity for my entire cul-de-sac (Hunts Place in Drumheller). I remember using my Dad's cut-down sticks, and he was a left-handed shot, despite being naturally right-handed. My wrist shot was crap, but I swear I had the best backhander in town. Good times, good times.
 


I know you are right, Julian. But I love street hockey because it is so egalitarian. You need a stick, and that is it. It's like our version of stickball. Plus, you can play it whenever, or wherever you want.

Man, I really miss street hockey.
 


My friends and I used to play in an outdoor street-hockey rink. Really only big enough to play 3 on 3, about half the size of a regulation rink, but it was a great place to play. Especially because goalies didn't need blades (I can't skate). Amazing what some plywood and 2x4s can do on concrete.

I don't have any of my old gear (and if I did, none of it would fit anymore), but if anybody wants to try setting up a weekly street-hockey game in Edmonton, reasonably accessible by transit, I'm in.
 


What happened to pond hockey? I played all the time back home.
 


What happened to pond hockey? I played all the time back home.

On what, the Thompson River?

People stay play it, but it's not exactly the most common form of play.
 


if anybody wants to try setting up a weekly street-hockey game in Edmonton

I've always thought this would be a cool thing to do. But it's like going on a blind date. What if we all loathe each other? I can barely tolerate the people I do know who comment on here...

Now if it was a Oilers/Flames fan thing, I'd be in, because I could then feel at ease with the hate.
 


Now if it was a Oilers/Flames fan thing, I'd be in, because I could then feel at ease with the hate.

So, games in Red Deer?
 


On what, the Thompson River?

Aw, common Grabby — you don't live that far away from there.

The Thompson is two rivers, the North and South Thompson, and its far too large a body of water to freeze over in the winter. Get your head in the game!

It just sounded odd that a guy in Edmonton's saying people don't play pond hockey any more!
 


I like the street hockey idea. E-mail me (my e-mail is up over at CinO) if you happen to be interested in such an undertaking.
 


I can't play worth a dime, but I'm in, and I bet I could get another couple guys in.

what if we all loathe each other?

Beer.
 


I'm thinking global warming might have destroyed pond hockey.

We weren't rich enough to afford nets so we used flower pots instead.
 


I think an Oilogosphere street hockey game would be a blast, though it's kinda shitty weather for it right now. And if it matters any, I think Ender's cool.
 


This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
 


Mudcrutch!

*In my best Joe McGrath voice*

You can't put a bounty on a man's head!
 


You know what's sad?

Our beloved city here in BC, has banned road hockey.

Sad eh?

What do you expect though from a province that sickenly cheers for s third rate hockey team
 


Our beloved city here in BC, has banned road hockey.

Unbelievable. You should run for office based solely on overturning it, Crazycoach.

I'm kicking ass in the T. with the cool part of the Oilogosphere

The fact that it is Toronto automatically voids its ability to be cool. Shame on you, MC. You should know better. You've been there too long, already.
 


I honestly believe that I was one of the top street hockey goaltenders of my generation (perhaps all-time).

I used rolled up Simpsons Sears catalogs stuffed into sweat socks for pads, a plastic Canadian Tire "leather" baseball glove, and a Wayne Gretzky Titan (lefty) stick. The secret, though, was that I would sing "Knees up Mother Brown" under my breath, which just totally got me into the zone.

Knees up Mother Brown
Knees up Mother Brown
Knees up, knees up,
Never let your knees up,
Knees up Mother Brown.
 


Isn't that a soccer song?
 


I was the Roman Cechmanek of my street-hockey generation.

That crazy, eh?
 


Gump Worsley cuts down the angle.
 


It just sounded odd that a guy in Edmonton's saying people don't play pond hockey any more!

Well, the biggest pond in my neighbourhood dried up in the 1920s and then became houses.
 


the biggest pond in my neighbourhood dried up in the 1920s and then became houses.

You must have been devastated.
 


I had no idea there was a pond in Mckernan. Where exactly was it?
 


Oh please, don't you guys have neighbourhood rinks at all? I mean, not to turn this into a Toronto bitchfest, but in TO (not that I actually live there) there are outdoor rinks scattered all over the city, which are supposedly good to be used in temperatures up to +12C. In Kitchener-Waterloo, there are little outdoor shinny rinks all over the city, though last winter they were limited to December thanks to the previously mentioned global warming (again, not to start a different debate).

But seriously, if you can't find outdoor ice (in Edmonton nonetheless) in January, you're just not looking.


If I weren't moving to the other side of the world in a week or two, I'd suggest a TO area Oilogosphere shinny game sometime this winter.
 


crap, that last post was me, just so you don't think some anonymous wiener is trying to lure you all into a game of shinny and then taunt you from behind a mask or something.
 


Venue-wise, there's a old tennis rink by the Catalyst/Yardbird Suite that gets used for ball hockey, though I'm not sure the Community League Gestapo allows untermenchen from the general public to use it. Alternately, there's always Churchill Square. Why not put the biggest vacant chunk of concrete in town to some use?
 

Post a Comment

<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?