Sorry for repeating this....

although it has been a long time since I wrote about it so you probably haven't heard it.

I coached football for some 15 years? When I began I couldn't wait until my son reached the age to play and I could coach him.

When that time came I was VERY excited..... and then one day son came up to me said, "I want to play Ice Hockey, not football". I was dumbfounded. I replied, "ICE HOCKEY? What the hell are you going to do? Travel to Canada every night for practices and games? This is central California... we don't have any ice".

I knew next to nothing about Ice Hockey at that time..... didn't know Fresno, (about 35 miles from my home), had an ice arena. My son had gone with his friends family to skate at the Fresno Ice Rink and that day they had a "Fresno Youth Hockey" game which he saw.... and he was sold. It became his life's ambition.

So I'll keep this short... we entered the ice hockey world. I think about 12 years of it? We traveled all over Calif and even a few neighboring states.... ice hockey became 'our' world.... and we became passionate about it. I think we won two state championships... but, ummmm, that's Calif.... had we played a Canadian team we'd have lost 50 to zip.

Over those 12 years we met many ice hockey families... and no few professional players.

My grandsons all play football now... or did, two have finally gone one... the other 4 still play. And I love it with all my heart.... but at the same time..... there is NOTHING like the smell of that ice when you enter a Hockey arena. The sound of crashing into the boards, the puck hitting the plexiglass. I miss it..... and I miss it dearly..... it gave me some of the best memories of my life. - JamesJM