September 26, 2004

Training camp truants trip up season's start

The brightest day in almost a month may have been Sunday Morning Road Hockey's darkest hour.

Only four roadsters reported for the opening of training camp Sunday, on a pristine Fall morning after one of the soggiest Septembers ever. It was the lowest turnout for a non-snow game in league history. And some of the players say the disappointing false start to the season may signal another rebuilding year after three straight seasons of record attendance and intense competition.

"Guys are taking the game for granted, they figure they can show up whenever they damn well please," says notorious gameshow host gone bad, Wink, who's endured all of the game's ups and downs through his long career. "Training camp is huge to set the tone for the season, and today we've got four guys here and it's garbage."

"It's extremely disappointing," says Beetle Boy, who reported despite battling a pre-season cold. "Training camp is where you get in shape to be able to keep up with everybody in the game; I think the question is now, keep up with who?"

"They've forgotten where the game is truly played," says Rudy of his truant teammates. "We had an amazing finish to the last season and we should continue it right away. This is gonna slow the start of the season down for sure."

It will delay the beginning of the regular season, says fellow founding father and ad hoc league commissioner, the Living Legend, who announced an additional two weeks of training camp beginning next Sunday. And players who opt to skip all of the exhibition games will be the first to be called upon to strap on the pads during any goalie crisis in the upcoming season.

But the disspirited players, who worked out the kinks of the off-season with a lackadasical hour-long scrimmage, may not be so forgiving.

"Emotionally, it's a setback because I may have to kill somebody at work instead of killing somebody at road hockey," says Wink.

"Anytime anybody tries to pull the weather card out on me this season, I'll have to pull out the training camp card," says Beetle Boy, who's often been chided by his fellow roadsters for staying away from games when the weather turns wet.

"I was ready to play today, whatever it took," says Rudy, who's still feeling the effects of an off-season leg injury. "You just wanna get your feel for the game back together, get that sense of comraderie back again.."

Posted by jaysuburb at September 26, 2004 05:56 PM
Comments

Anyone interested in being a ringette goalie on saturday late afternoons or sunday afternoons? There's lot's of 19-25 yrs old ladies looking for the right guy...let me know.

Posted by: Gump at September 28, 2004 01:45 PM

Wink enough with the lobsterporn

Posted by: lobsterboy at September 28, 2004 10:29 AM

No gatorade, beer only!!!!

Posted by: Gump at September 28, 2004 09:05 AM

I just buy the Lobster Chronicles for the articles...I don't care what anybody says...

Posted by: Wink at September 28, 2004 08:13 AM

Apparently it wouldn't take much to confuse a Lobster. Here's a quote from The Lobster Chronicles:

"A lobster's brain is smaller and simpler (in relation to its body mass) than that of nearly any other living thing in which some form of brain resides."

Posted by: LivingLegend at September 28, 2004 12:14 AM

Lobster with the keen eye caught a typo in my message. "Anomoly" should have been "Anomaly". Apologies. From this point forward I will spell check all postings. We wouldn't want a confused lobster on our hands. Dazed maybe, but not confused.

Posted by: The Colonel at September 27, 2004 11:40 PM

Sucks to hear about the poor turnout, that's a terrible start to the season. Guess I must have ESP because I did know about the training season game but I had family commitments on the Island last weekend. I won't be able to make it this week either due to out of town guests coming to visit, but I swear I'll be there next week. I'm totally itching to play.

Lobster you suck. What did you do with your old pads, throw them away in fear? And what's this about disappearing for the month of October again? That's such an old story, you tell us that every year. Be more original. Even having a baby isn't original since it's your second time around. Say, shouldn't your oldest be about ready to come help Gump serve the Gatorade Plus?

Posted by: Wendel at September 27, 2004 10:10 PM

Yeah, putting Gump in charge of liquid refreshment -- that's not a drunken brawl waiting for a place to happen.

Posted by: Wink at September 27, 2004 01:07 PM

Gump should come & serve Gatorade while he's recouping.

Posted by: Unabomber at September 27, 2004 12:39 PM

Good to hear the season will be starting again. I also was unclear to the official start and couple that with the remaining baseball fall season and I may miss a few more october sundays but will make a return soon.

Gump News - Broken hand from an Ultimate Frisbee Accident - may be sidelined 4-6 more weeks. Cowboy will be attending without his faithfull car pool buddy.

Posted by: Cowboy at September 27, 2004 11:13 AM

back next week, i dont have any pads, i will be away most of october, new baby coming in december, you suck elvis.

what is an anomoly, Colonel?

Posted by: lobsterboy at September 27, 2004 10:59 AM

Wedding on the Island. Sorry. Be there next week.

Posted by: elvis at September 27, 2004 10:28 AM

I have ESP, and I still didn't know about this supposed training camp game.

Posted by: Kid at September 27, 2004 08:24 AM

What the hey!?! I'm w/ PFG, I've been checking the site for weeks, expecting either an update/article or heaven's forbid an EMAIL. No esp on my end either.

Posted by: Unabomber at September 27, 2004 01:19 AM

Well, the Play On! tournament was sure fun this weekend.

This week's low turn-out shouldn't worry anyone - it was just a one-week anomoly. Everyone will be back in spades in the next couple of weeks.

PFF makes a good point though. It wasn't really clear when the season would be starting. In fact, I'm still not perfectly clear. When does the non-training camp season actually start? October 3rd, 10th, or 17th?

Posted by: The Colonel at September 26, 2004 10:52 PM

training camp? where was the notification? i suppose those of us who don't have esp have to just guess.
by the way, i am equiped with a bionic leg accessory, which can possibly facilitate my participation in hockey this year, strictly as pff. goalie is probably out for sure.
hope to see you next week, barring work.
if next week actually happens. those of you with esp, give me an email...

Posted by: pfg at September 26, 2004 10:31 PM

by the way it should read "start of a new season" not "star". The minimal turn-out today has put me in an emotional tailspin...I can't even write properly!

Posted by: Beetle Boy at September 26, 2004 07:45 PM

The best type of road-hockey weather, the star of a new season, and only 4 of us showed up...it truly was Road Hockey's darkest day...luckily Wink put the Legend on suicide watch so we called him every hour to make sure he was okay.

Where was everyone?!?!?!?!?!?!

Posted by: Beetle Boy at September 26, 2004 07:44 PM