Yes, even after the Oklahoma - Oregon game today, I love college football.

The game in and of itself was exciting. This post will, however, be short. Why, you may ask? Because I am feeling less than cordial and if I go on and on I may say something I will regret. My usual game analysis will follow in a day or so. As most of you know I am a huge Oklahoma fan. Today, OU went into Oregon and go back home with a 34-33 defeat on their hands. Neither team played great all day and neither team played poorly all day. All in all the game was fun to watch. EXCEPT THE LAST 1:06.

One thing college football does is open things up for questions.

Why is the BCS so screwed up? Why don't they have a playoff in college football? I have been involved as a player, as a spectator, and as a coach in some very questionable games in my day. I have had issues with officiating in the past, especially when the outcome is not decided by the play on the field. While I have had issues in the past, I rarely bring them forward. However, the last 1:06 of the OU - UO game was, at best, horribly officiated, on the field and in the booth. Therefore, here is my question. In a non-conference contest between two ranked teams, why is the officiating crew from the home teams conference? If this game had been played in Norman, OK and Oregon had been at the receiving end of this mess of officiating I would still ask the same question. Again, in a non-conference contest between two ranked teams, why is the officiting crew from the home teams conference?

Most of the nation saw this game according to ABC's regional map of their telecast.

After Oregon scored to make it a 33-26 game the obvious on side kick followed. The ball has to go 10 yards before it can be touched by the kicking team. Oregon kicks off and comes up with the ball. About 100 replays showed that the ball was touched by an Oregon player before it was touched by an OU player and before it had gone 10 yards. They reviewed it. The call was that the ball was touched by an Oklahoma player first. Wrong, horribly wrong. Ensuing possession, Oregon QB throws a ball that was deflected by C.J. Ayou of Oklahoma defense, changing flight of ball. Receiver reaches back for ball, minimal contact at best on receiver by OU defender. Flag for interference against OU. First of all, ball was tipped negating interference, and secondly, and announcer picked this up almost right away, there was no interference.

Again, Oregon played well and OU played well most of the afternoon.

What is really sad is that the officials needed to get involved too much. And if you are going to waste the time reviewing plays, then for cryin' out loud, make the right call. Again, why in a non-conference contest between two ranked teams is the officiating crew from the home teams conference? Another game where the outcome was not decided by the players. Perhaps, neutral officials should be working these types of games. At the very least the other team wouldn't feel like they got "homered" which is the feeling I have today. Stoops will be more diplomatic but he shouldn't be. This was horrible.

Nooch, congrats on your Ducks winning this afternoon. Good luck to them this year.

Later, and ya'all have a good day, ya hear!

Theres the snap, Thompson drops back, he steps right and throws, Kelly is wide open, SOONER touchdown from 35 yards out.

Alright, already. Two months ago the Oklahoma Sooners were being spoken about in the same breath as Ohio State, Texas, Notre Dame and Auburn. Their QB gets caught doing bad things, gets booted from the team, and everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, puckers up on the Sooners like you do when you get that really freakin' sour lemon drop. You know, the one that tastes just like the lemon. And it isn't like Rhett "Mr. Selfish" Bomar was the answer to the Sooners football puzzle. He was a kid who had a ton of potential, but who hadn't exactly realized it, yet. So the Sooners go to the one place that may make their QB picture a bit more comfortable. On the bench they have a young man who has been their QB before. They have a young man who played wide receiver in their offense last year. They have a young man who backed up Heisman Trophy winner Jason White. They have Paul Thompson.

Sooner Head Coach Bob Stoops called Thompson in and asked the young man if he would be willing to go back to QB.

Thompson tells Stoops he would like to think about it. He tells the coach he would like to talk things over with his family. The next day he tells Stoops that it all boils down to one thing. That is, "being on this field and making plays for this team." Thompson steps back into the roll amid all of the controversy and among the cynics who are puckering up like they all eat packs of sourballs for lunch. He goes into a month long routine of guided throwing. He goes through a month long regimine of working with receivers and new Offensive Coordinator Kevin Wilson. He gets a new QB Coach in Josh Heupel, who won OU's last National Championship. And then the season starts.

UAB is the first opponent and Thompson is not the problem for OU on this day.

Thompson is neither a standout or a nightmare against UAB. He throws 2 TD passes and 2 interceptions. One of the interceptions was on a tipped pass. The other was on a poorly thrown ball behind a receiver. He was 14-24 for 227 yards. The problems on this day were with the OU defense and the fact that Adrian Peterson had a limited number of touches as Wilson wanted to "set things up" instead of just hammering Peterson at them all day long. The Sooners win 24-17 and although Thompson didn't do anything great, he didn't cost OU anything, either.

Washington comes in, OU covers spread with 37-20 victory, and still Thompson gets less than positive reviews.

 Who is watching these games? Sooner coach Bob Stoops gives game ball to, Paul Thompson. Wait a minute. Adrian Peterson carried the ball 32 times for 165 yards and 2 touchdowns. Why in the world would you NOT give Peterson the game ball? He is, after all, your Heisman Trophy candidate. Well, lets see. Thompson was a paltry 21-33 for 272 yards 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. Oh, and for the record he also fumbled one time. Thompson gets less than positive reviews from everyone except his teammates, coaches and, with each game, some opponents. Stoops praised the way his QB remained calm against pressure from a Washington team that was geared up to stop Peterson. Peterson commented on his QB, "As you can see, Thompson got better from the last game." And Washington defensive back C.J. Wallace said, "We wanted Thompson to throw the ball. We wanted to come in concentrating on the run and make them a one-dimensional team. But the quarterback throwing the ball, it made it kind of hard on us."

He is not the guy OU wanted as their QB to start the year.

But since he has been pushed and ramrodded into it, he has performed fairly well. Against Washington he engineered 7 scoring drives. The Sooners also converted all 5 of their opportunities inside the red zone for points. After 2 games his numbers look like this. He is, 35-57 for 499 yards, 61.4% completion percentage, 8.8 yards an attempt and 14.3 yards a completion for 4 touchdowns with 3 interceptions. His QB rating is 147.6. For not being the guy they wanted taking snaps, he ain't doing bad.

The biggest problem is the DEFENSE.

Bob Stoops went into the year saying this could be the best defense he has had since he has been at OU. Yea, that got all our hearts a flutter. He has had some pretty darn good defenses since he came to OU. Bob, I love ya man and I love the job you do, but if the D is the best you have had since coming to OU, well...well...O....K...if...you...say...so. This team doesn't have an interception yet. It tackles like they don't know how to tackle. D.J. Wolfe has been burned on three long passing plays that cost the Sooners points and one that would have except that the receiver dropped the ball. Rufus Alexander is the heart and soul of this defense and he comes to play every down. He broke up 2 passes and had 11 tackles for the Sooners. He is the only one. It has gotten to the point that Stoops has seen enough. Thankfully Stoops is not afraid to make changes when they need to be made. Wolfe is now on the bench. Safety Keenan Clayton was benched for missing tackles in the first quarter. His replacement, Jason Carter, dropped a couple of interceptions in the fourth quarter but blocked a punt and was in on 6 tackles. Reggie Smith had a sack on a third and goal play, had a 62 yard punt return and caught a 12 yard pass. Big things are expected from this sophomore.

When the dust clears and all is said and done, what will you have?

Paul Thompson is quickly giving the Sooners another ingredient to their offense besides Adrian Peterson. He gives them some balance. He is not the greatest QB the Sooners have had but he is improving constantly. Adrian Peterson is Adrian Peterson. Stoops said last week that Peterson needs the ball. He had 24 touches in the first game against UAB. He had 34 touches against Washington. He has 4 touchdowns on the year and 304 yards rushing in 2 games. The offensive line is inconsistent. Malcolm Kelly has quickly become Thompson's key guy. The Sooners also have an effective tight end in Joe Jon Finley. The bottom line is that this vaunted defense, possibly the best one Stoops has ever had OU, needs to play like they are hungry. They need to play with passion. So far they have been horrible against the rush on the year. With Adrian Peterson in the lineup, the Sooners were outrushed 204-181 by Washington. This ain't good. They have given up plays of more then 50 yards through the air at least 4 times so far this year in 2 games. The offense is bailing them out. If the defense doesn't start contributing this team won't stand a chance against Oregon and Texas, not to mention Texas A& M and Oklahoma State.

Speaking of Oregon.

Nooch, your boys struggled a bit against Fresno State. I commented on hogfans blog that with the way our teams play defense 100 points + combined is not out of the question. It should be one heck of a game though. We'll see if the changes Stoops is making help out the defense. That is what they make the big bucks for, all those personnel decisions. I loved the fake field goal. It really gives us something to think about now. Like we didn't already have our hands full with that offense. I'm looking for a great game, unlike the Texas-Ohio State game.

I loved it and I hated it.

Obviously, being a huge Sooner fan, I thouroughly enjoyed the butt-whipping Ohio State laid on Texas on Saturday night. Mack Brown commented a couple of days before the game that it would show them who they were as a football team. Well, Mack, you good ol' boys got some work to do. The sad thing is, maybe they don't have to do a lot more than other Big 12 South teams do. But it gives us Sooner fans hope. If the D comes around and Thompson keeps improving, well, that Red River Shoot-out might be real interesting this year. As much as I loved it I hated it. I am not a Ohio State fan. I am not a Big 10 fan. I live in Minnesota and get Big 10 crammed down my throat all year long. Glen Mason with his scheduling irritates the heck out of me. California came back strong against the Golden Gophers, eh! The only thing golden for the Gophers was the pee running down their legs all day long. Mason said that after 10 years his football team is in a developing stage. Yea, your studs graduated or left and you have never had a defense. It is constanly developing.

 AP Poll joke of the week.

Florida State plays the mighty Troy on Saturday and has to get 2 touchdowns in the last 6 minutes to pull out a victory. Troy? The Seminoles started at #9, needed the previously mentioned 2 touchdowns in the final 6 minutes to win and STAYED at #9. Texas loses to the #1 team in the country and drops 7 spots to #8. Florida State must be living on the "come from behind" victory against Miami in week one (Miami #17 this week) to have remained unscathed by their performance against the Mighty Troy. And you can't use the argument that they won and Texas didn't. OU won the week before and fell 5 spots. By the way, Sooners didn't gain ground but didn't lose any either in latest version of AP poll.

Quotes and stats for this piece were gathered from OU site at FoxSports.com.

Vikings and somebody are playing now so I guess I'll go turn on the TV to "Two and a Half Men" and drop in on Vikes now and then.

Ya'll have a good day now, ya hear!!!

The atmosphere at a college football game is awesome. As I have been able to do for the past few years I made the trip to Oklahoma City and then to Norman on Saturday to watch the Sooners play the UAB Blazers. Last year the Sooners got dumped by TCU. Hey, this year they won 24-17. And promptly fell 5 places in the polls. You got to love it. More on the game in a minute. But first the touch of atmosphere.

I love college football and a lot of the reason for that is ATMOSPHERE. I love going to Norman, OK for a Sooners game. Walking around the campus with 85,000 people who want the same thing you do. Watching the band warm up and march through the campus on the way to the stadium. Watching all of the Sooner fans tailgating. Seeing the OU logo or the word Sooners stretched out over just about anything that moves, from the extremely curvy to the mechanical. And the history  just adds to the excitement. Saturday they revealed a statue to honor Steve Owens, the 1969 Heisman Trophy winner. Next year they reveal the statues for Billy Sims and Jason White at Heisman Corner. But that just sets you up for going into the stadium.

When we got to our seats the Sooners were going through their warm-up. My dad said his hellos to people who he goes months without seeing or talking to and within seconds they are chattering away like great friends. These people constitute those who sit three rows in front of him and three rows behind him and  5 to 7 seats around his seat in every direction at every game year in and year out. After a few years now as a regular they even include me in the conversation, even though, to them, I am from Minnesota. "Hayyylll, its cold up there.!" We talk Sooner football with giddy anticipation of the blowout we are sure to see tonight. We talk about how stupid Bomar is but, hey, don't sell Thompson short...yet. And after all the chatter the Sooners are preparing to take the field (my god, how did we miss them leaving it after their warm-up?). But before they do we look up at the big screen and watch the introduction. It is a video of players present and players past recognizing each other. It is Adrian Peterson saying there is only one Steve Owens followed by Steve Owens saying there is only one Adrian Peterson. There is Bob Stoops saying there is only one Barry Switzer with Switzer saying the same about Stoops. This goes on for a minute and then it is Brian Bosworth saying, "There is only one..Oklahoma! And man, if you are living with the Crimson and Cream you get chills, I mean chills. It is ATMOSPHERE, man, pure ATMOSPHERE! And when Bosworth says that this years edition of the OKlahoma Sooners, ranked 10th in the country, comes flying out of the tunnel followed by their coach, Bob Stoops. And we continue standing and cheering them on through the opening kickoff and first couple of possessions before we even think about sitting down. AND NOBODY YELLS SIT DOWN! Because everyone is up! ATMOSPHERE!!!

And then we sit through some interesting football. We watch Peterson get 9 touches in the first half. We watch a defense that Stoops has said has the potential to be the best he has had since he came to Oklahoma over pursue and tackle like 12 year olds most of the night. The defensive ends contain nothing and are out of position a lot. And they are part of the strong points of the defense. One of our corners gets burned on two huge pass plays and then gets lucky that a wide open receiver couldn't handle another long pass. Rufus Alexander and Zach Latimer come to play but even they are not what we expect out of our linebackers on this night. We expect the defense to be strong and solid and we expect that Adrian Peterson will have the game in control by half way through the second quarter. Our biggest concern is at QB. Paul Thompson is back at QB after losing his job to Rhett "Mr. Selfish" Bomar last year. Bomar is ousted for violating team and NCAA rules so Thompson steps back in the fold. Our biggest question mark was our brightest point in the first half. The score is tied at halftime at 7's.

Then, apparently, Stoops made a point at halftime. Peterson touches ball 11 of 12 plays and scores. Defense can't do much and soon we are tied again at 14's. OU turnovers, 2 ints and 2 fumbles and then we are down 17-14. Spread offense gets Peterson the ball on a pass and 69 yards later another touchdown. OU up 21-17, add a field goal later for 24-17 final. Defense tightens up in 4th quarter and makes some big plays to stall a couple of UAB drives and Sooners leave with a victory. It ain't pretty but it is a win. And the Sooners drop 5 places with it. They didn't drop that far at one time when they lost their opener last year. YOU GOT TO LOVE IT!

There is no question that the Sooners have a lot of work to do. Kevin Wilson, their new Offensive Coordinator, called Peterson out after the game saying he needs to not be so tentative and just play the game. Limited touches make him want to bust the big play instead of doing what he does best.  Stoops says he needs to have the ball, no doubt about it. Then give it to him. UAB's coach said he is quite possibly the best player he has ever seen. When he took the ball on the quick pitch and turned the corner he was awesome to see. And if a safety or corner came up on him he put his shoulder down and flat busted them. He came with speed and power. He touched the ball 24 times on Saturday night. He needs to see it another 10-15 times a game. He did it 2 years ago and says he can do it again. The local papers are all a buzz about his work ethic and what kind of shape he is in. Let everybody see it.

Thompson passed his first test. He wasn't great but he wasn't that bad, either. He finished 14-24 for 227 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. One interception was tipped and the other was a poorly thrown ball. His receivers dropped some balls and he made a couple of bad throws, especially missing Malcolm Kelly who was wide open on scoring attempt. But, hey, for a guy who stepped in because, as he told Stoops, "Bottom line it is an opportunity to be on this field and make plays for this team", he did a decent job. It will get tougher, no doubt, but for an opener he did alright. And keep throwin the ball to Joe John Finley.

The defense needs to pick it up...BIG TIME. This is a group that Stoops has said could very well be the best defense he has had at OU. If I was Calamus, Lehman, Dvoracek, Williams, etc., etc. I would be a tad upset. Outside of Rufus Alexander, Zach Latimer and Reggie Smith they weren't anything special. D.J. Wolfe cannot continue to get burned on deep routes or continue to blow coverages. The entire group has to tackle. And I mean tackle. You cannot arm tackle in college football these days, even if you are playing UAB. This defense is missing the same thing OU defense's have missed since Mike Stoops went to Arizona. INTENSITY. A get all over the ball mentality and do it like you freakin' mean it. Brent Venables does a good job or it is my guess he wouldn't be where he is today. But Mike Stoops said stick them or I'll stick you and his players played hard. And this defense better find it and they better find it soon.

Washington and Oregon are next on the Sooners schedule. Here, for us Sooner fans, is to hoping Adrian sees the ball 35-40 times, and to hoping Paul Thompson improves over last week, every week, and to hoping the defense finds some intensity and crush the opponent mentality. And, as Stoops said in his post game, "you won't many games with 4 turnovers." There is a ton of talent there. We just need to play smart and do the little things that make good teams great.

And as long as I am rambling on, UAB did a pretty good job on both sides of the ball. They may have found a QB in Sam Hunt . Their game plan was good and they executed it pretty well. I think OU has superior athletes and ultimately that is what was the difference and that is to be expected when you look at the history of each program. It is not a slam to UAB. I was as impressed with them as I was unimpressed with OU. But I get to do that because I am still, first and foremost, a Sooner born, and a Sooner bred, and when I die, I'll be a Sooner dead!!!

You win and you still drop 5 places in the polls. Polls suck! Fortunately, as a coach, I know that todays poll is tomorrows bird cage liner. Let's play 'em on the field boys!!!

Ya'll have a good now, ya hear!!!

I have been extremely busy this summer getting my house ready for the always exciting adventure of selling it! Painting, remodeling, rebuilding, landscaping and all of the fun stuff that go into the prize presentation house to get top dollar for my property. That is why I have not been heard from much here this summer. Some of you may wish I had stayed in the yard. But, alas, something has happened that pulled me by the hairs of my goatee to the keyboard. A college athlete in a high profile program has been suspended for the year!

As my short biography states I am a Oklahoma Sooners fan. I am not your "jump on the bandwagon" type of fan. I live OU and breath OU. I am a "Sooner born and a Sooner bred and when I die I will be a Sooner dead." I live in Minnesota, fly an OU flag on the flag pole directly below the U.S. Flag and I own a ton of OU football stuff. A couple of years ago my wife had an artist come in and copy a picture of one of my high school hockey players on a wall in our basement and then put him in an OU uniform. This was perfect because it took my sport and my team and combined them.  On a road trip last year a couple of the other coaches took my OU shower shoes and OU t-shirts and placed them in the garbage, in the ceiling tiles of our hotel, etc., etc. Later, the two coaches in question found their beds short sheeted with crushed pretzels in their sheets and pillow cases watered down. Do you see my point?

Today I go to FoxSports and I am greeted by the news that Rhett Bomar, OU's starting QB, has been suspended this year by the team for violating NCAA rules about accepting excess payments for a summer job. And I look at myself, a man whose competitive playing days are over for any sport. A man who is still extremely competitive and fills the passion by coaching. A man who would do almost anything to play again and be as successful as I once was between the lines. The huff and puff men's league fuels some competitive spirit but not like back in the day. As a football player I would have given my left nut to play for OU, and, maybe even my right nut! I'm sure there are those of you out there who feel my pain, if even for another team!

And along come players who spit in the face of that and are so incredibly selfish that the pride they should have for competing and playing for one of the most highly touted programs of all times is crushed by their selfish interests elsewhere. This latest incident from a player who has already been confronted by his head coach for behaviors that were questionable for an athlete in his position.

Oklahoma confirmed that two players had been dismissed by the team but did not identify them. The school said in a statement that the players violated NCAA rules by working at a private business and taking "payment over an extended period of time in excess of time actually worked."

"We spend a considerable amount of time addressing our players regarding their personal conduct and the NCAA rules," head coach Bob Stoops said in a statement. "They know exactly what we expect from them. Ultimately, they have to make right decisions. The same holds true for our boosters. When they do not, the consequences are serious, and we will not tolerate this behavior.

"Our team and university actions are necessary because of the intentional participation and knowledge of the student athletes in these violations," Stoops said.

"I firmly believe that our program is stronger than any individual player and that a championship program cannot compromise its values," Stoops said in the statement.

The comments italicized above are from the article on FoxSports.com. Bomar was identified by an Oklahoma City television station and that was confrimed by a call to the biggest OU fan I know, my dad. Apparently, Bomar was well aware of what the NCAA allowed. Apparently, Bomar was well aware of what the University expects of him. And yet he intentionally broke the rules to make a little extra dough-ray-me in the off-season. How selfish is that?

OU is poised to return to National Championship picture this season after falling from that picture last year. Bomar had moved into the position of experienced leader at QB that is so critical to returning to that status. With Adrian Peterson and a revamped offensive line, experience on defense and a learned Bomar at QB things were looking up for the Sooners. Now, because of his selfish actions, OU must face another year with an inexperienced player at QB and with a month to go before the season opener that appears to be a big hit to OU. His off season actions became more important to him than the success of the program. SELFISH! 

Bomar is obviously not the first college player whose selfish actions have hampered his teams goals. He most likely will not be the last. But I am lost in the big picture and the actions of players like this and boosters who know the rules and break them anyway. Rhett apparently is not aware of how letting unacceptable behaviors go can destroy a program (see OU late 80's and 1990's). He apparently doesn't understand that Bob Stoops is trying to run a program that can win a National Championship and still tow the line on NCAA rules. Ask Dusty Dvoracek what Stoops will do to preserve said values. My hat is off to Stoops! My only advice to him would be to let Bomar keep on walking. Take the selfish act on the road.

September 2nd OU opens the season. I will be there sitting next to my dad cheering the Sooners on just as I was last year when TCU upset us at home. I can only hope that Bomar's selfish actions don't open the door for another home opener upset. I know Texas fans are happy about this development.

***And sadly this and actions even worse are becoming common place in todays athletic world. Players cheating, lying, getting shot, getting stabbed, letting someone pay for an apartment or home for their parents, blah, blah, blah! I'm afraid it ain't ever going to end.***

Ya'll have a good day!

His mother knew that I had been a goaltender when I played. But after several knee injuries and retiring from the game I love I walked away clean. No skating. I didn't watch much on television (except for the old North Stars vs. Blackhawks playoff series) and pretty much stayed away from it. For almost 10 years my involvment in hockey was minimal, at best, until her son told her he wanted to be a goalie. She asked me if I would be willing to help him out a little. After a lot of thought I agreed on the stipulation that it was alright with his Squirt coach.

I actually worked with his Squirt coach so one day at lunch I walked over and explained the situation to him. He was all for it as long as I would work with his other goaltender as well. I agreed and that is basically the story of how I was re-introduced to the game of hockey and to coaching it. We had a lot of fun that year, my two goaltenders and myself, and the game began to mean more to me than just as a former player. I could impart knowledge and experience and kids listened. Well at least this one did.

We practiced stance (nothing happens for a goaltender without the proper stance) and we practiced skating drills. We worked on save moves and recoveries. We worked on rebound control and covering pucks. Over the next few years we worked on all aspects of goaltending. As I instructed and explained the why or why nots or maybe so's of goaltending to him he worked his butt off and he was becomming quite a good little goalie. He was having a lot of success at his age level and his mom and step-dad asked me what was next. I told them he should consider a camp where he might get some exposure and learn a little bit more about the position from someone other than me. Get a different perspective.

They found a camp and it was being run by Vladislav Tretiak. For those of you not familiar with hockey, Tretiak was the goaltender on the Russina Red Army team that waltzed through International competition and hammered NHL All-Star teams more than a few times. He is the goalie who was benched in the 1980 United States game after giving up a goal in the last second of the first period to enable the U.S. to go into the intermission tied. The U.S. eventually won that game. The movie "Miracle" with Kurt Russell is based on ths story. Tretiak ran a great camp. The mom and step-dad asked if I would go with the young boy to this camp and I did. And after on ice sessions and video sessions we would talk about what he was learning. For me, I got to meet the great Tretiak which was an immense honor to me.

The following summer this young man returned to that camp with a goal in mind. He wanted to try out for a team that went to Norway to compete in a series of hockey games there. At the end of the camp, which also served as a tryout for this team, this youngster had made the team. He competed 30 other goaltenders in his age group and was selected in the top two. Quite an accomplishment. His parents, and I were very proud of him. My wife and I. always wanting to make a trip to Norway as her mom was from there, accepted an invitation to accompany this young man, his mom, and his sister to Norway. Of course, we paid our own way but we got to do what each of us wanted to do. I got to watch a lot of hockey and she got to see where her mom was from. The hockey team and the young goalie had a successful trip and we enjoyed Oslo, Furuset and a couple of other Norwegian towns. The following summer the young goalie made a return trip to Norway and a series of events happened that altered this relationship.

His mom and step-dad kept asking what he should do to keep getting better. I told them that at some point in time he should get out of his comfort zone, where he was incredibly successful, and play against tougher competition. Try out for teams in the summer where he was going to be challenged. Quit playing on teams where he is alweays the number one goalie going in. Get him somewhere that he would be challenged and forced to increase his skills by competition. Their first move was to send him back to Tretiak's camp where he went to Norway for a third time. They then bought a conversion van and fitted the back of it with a bed. Not for any hanky panky but so thae young goalie had somewhere to lay his head when they went to Tretiak's Elite Goalie Camp in Toronto (invite only don't you know!) But he wasn't getting better.

About this time I was called at home one evening by the new head coach at the high school. He wanted to buy me dinner and talk to me about a position on his staff. We had talked a couple of times before but at dinner we really got into talking hockey, philosphies, goaltending and families and had a great dinner. He offered me a position on his staff wherein my main responsibilities would be the goalies. I told him I need to speak to my wife because if I couldn't commit fully to it he should find someone else as that would be fairest to the kids. But after a lengthy conversation with her I called him up and accepted (we go into our 10th season this year) his offer. My next task was to speak with this young goalie and his family because he would be entering the high school program at the same time I did. I explained to them that my role in the relationship would change because I now had youth goalies to work with still and now had the high school goalies, ALL OF THEM, to be responsible for. They were just glad I was going to be around.

He played J.V. that year and that is when the issues started. He started pouting about playing J.V. and telling people he was good enough to be the varsity starter. We took a team that had a senior goaltender with one period of varsity of experience as our starter on varsity, a sophomore with incredible athleticism as our varsity back-up, and went to the state tournament for the first time in years at ths school. The mom, step-dad and young man were angry that we did not include him on our tournament roster. Even after talking and explaining to them that he was young and was not, contrary to their beliefs, ready to step in and face varsity competiton. We explained to them again that during the summer he should tryout for a team that will sharpen his skills and prepare him for that kind of competiton.  That summer he played in a Bantam elite program. Bantams come before J.V. hockey. It is not somoething you play in if you are going to get ready to compete for a starting job as a varsity hockey player.

However, after tryouts for the high school team in his sophomore year he made the varsity squad as the back-up. Backing up varsity hockey as a sophomore is no small feat in itself so I felt he was right where he neede to be. As the back-up to varsity and to stay sharp in case he needs to play I have my varsity backup play a lot of J.V. games. This did not sit well with the parents who started rumbling that their child was getting screwed. The mom went to the Athletic Director, clearly against the policy we have where we want the kid to talk to us about things if they have issues. He never did. We had to have a meeting with the A.D. and the parents to explain our situation and where we saw him at that time. All appropriate and above board. We again explained that he neede to play J.V. and control those games. We were informed that he couldn't play J.V. games because there was no one in the stands. We told her that people in the stands should be the last concern for her and her son. He needed to show the coaching staff he could be called on to do the job if need be. We left the meeting just as we went in and told mom that he was starting the J.V. game the next night.

The following night the J.V. game started and was about 1/2 over when this player came into the building. I didn't speak to him as I was watching the other goalie play. He dressed and went out for varsity warm-ups but I also dressed the young goalie that did play the J.V. game. As luck would have it, our opponent that night hammered us. A couple of minutes into the third period we changed goalies. My head coach told me to make a decision. I looked down the bench and there were 18 sets of eyes looking at me. I put in the kid who played the J.V. game. Immediately you could hear a scream from the stands, some swearing and yelling, and I knew it was going to get worse after the game. After the game I told this young man that I was disappointed but that I would speak to him about it before practice the next day. The 24 hour rule.

When I walked into the locker room the kids asked me where his equipment was. I obviously had no idea and went about getting ready for practice. As I was wlking out to the rink this player and his brother in-law were walking up to me. He told me he quit and walked out of the building as I was asking him to talk about it. I couldn't pursue him as I was on skates and he was on concrete floor and I had a practice to get to. They timed it well. That evening I called his home several times only to get the answering machine. I left message after message with no reply. A few days later I was informed that we were being sued by the parents for discriminating against their son. This was eventually tossed out before it gathered much speed by a local judge who chastized their attorney for wasting court time.

He transferred to another school, sat out the rst of his sophomore year and played varsity for the other school the next two years. He backed up his entire junior season at the new school and was their starter when he was a senior. A little sick humor here. We never won a game against him. He beat us twice in his senior season. His step-dad would sit up in the stands and everytime he made a big save he would scream at our bench and call us a lot of names. Were I related to them I would have been extremely embarrassed. What a wacked twist that would be.

Wait a minute! I am related to them. The mom here is my sister. The young man is my nephew. A lot of his freinds stayed with our program and played for us. Through them I learned what I had long suspected. Whenever my nephew had a less than stellar performance his step-dad ripped him.  When ever he didn't want to go to this camp or that camp he was told that all of the oney they put into his hockey wasn't going to go to waste. For a long time I thought I had done something really wrong here and I struggled with it. Eventually I accepted the fact that it wasn't so much me but them. His new coach confirmed ths to me when he said he didn't feel right about putting my nephew up for all conference because he really didn't deserve it but if he didn't my sister would be all over him. I told him that I felt for him but it wasn't my problem anymore.

The sad thing about all of this is that it has gone way beyond hockey. My sister, nephew and niece talk to me only when someone is very ill or has died in my family. Then they act like everything is great between us for the benefit of toher family members. It has gotten to the point that I just tell them to quit it. It is hypocritical and almost all of the family knows there are issues. I tried for a long time to reconcile this situation but have met with resistence by them and now I just go about my business. He quit playing hockey right after high school. His buddies tell me he hates the game and that saddens me. Hopefully one day he will find it and return to it as I did. His parents lost perspective and the pressure they put on the son was horrible. I have searched my conscience, weighed my responsibilites to family and program and feel I approached things in a calm, civil and professional manner. Maybe one day all will see that and maybe they will not. Maybe we will all reconcile one day and maybe we won't. What a sad twist!

Coaching is what I love to do. With kids who are success stories or with kids who are not, bottom line, end of the day, I try my best. Sometimes the rewards are sweet and at other times it leaves a bitter pill to swallow. But I love it and I want to keep doing it as long as I can.