championship game

One of the things that I've been up to since moving to ABQ has been playing hockey. Friends will recognize that this sport has been something I've enjoyed for over a decade (not including living in places where there is no ice - such as Peru) and it brings me a lot of joy to be out on the ice. I am a goaltender and everyone says that goalies are a little strange for putting on the pads and standing in front of slapshots but there is nothing like it, at least in my mind. The challenge of stopping the opposition is what fires me up and the desire to do my best is what keeps me coming back season after season.

Since coming to ABQ, I've been playing in a rec league called NM Hockey. Its a bunch of guys and gals who get together to play some hockey and drink a beer afterwards. I was fortunate enough to play this previous season with some strong players and we made it to the championship game. Although the stakes are relatively low (it is a beer league in Albuquerque), I still got rather keyed up for the game, its not every day that you get to play for a championship and I wanted to lead my team to hoisting the cup in victory.

Before the game, I was a bit jumbled up. My stomach was queezy and I made several trips to the bathroom before I left the house. Once at the rink, I did my best to calm my nerves, making jokes and playful banter in the locker room with my teammates. It took until we were all dressed for us to admit that each and everyone of us felt the same, each with our own set of symptoms and each eager to do our best in the game. As we walked out of the locker room and filed on to the ice, each of us noted something a bit different about the arena - the fans in the stands. Eleven players on each team and each person probably brought 5 people to cheer them on. With over a hundred people watching, it was the biggest crowd I'd ever experience (aside from performing with the 110) and I was excited to give them a good show.

The game started out a bit less than spectacular. It seems as though the nerves affected our team in different ways and quickly we fell behind. Three minutes in, a goal on us; a few minutes later, the second. We got our heads about us but still managed to fall behind 3-0 in just the first period. I didn't want to lose like we did previously to this team (11-0, it was a nightmare) and I knew my team was better than this. Being as positive as I could be, I skated over to the bench during the intermission and calmly reminded my team that we had overcome deficits like this before and we could do that again. Put some traffic in front of the other goaltender and just keep playing hard.

The second period went a bit better. We got a goal back, making it 3-1 and flushing our nerves out. Second intermission, same pep talk. If nothing else, I was satisfied that it wasn't a shutout for the other goalie, now we just needed to step up and make the comeback. I knew we could, execution just needed to happen.

We come out strong in the 3rd and put a goal up on the board quickly, its now 3-2. I'm feeling confident and making saves, just hoping that my teammates will find a way to put in the equalizer and take the lead. I know I can post a shutout for the rest of the period, I can just feel it; its up to the offense now.

Our captain takes a time out with three minutes left in the game and we come up with a strategy. Shoot like crazy and I'll come off the ice with 90 seconds to go, giving us an extra attacker. Two minutes to go and we go on the man-advantage, a penalty against the other team. A few moments later, a mini-breakaway over the other goalie's shoulder ties it up. Now just to see who gets the game/championship winner...

Overtime works like this - five minutes of 4 vs. 4 and if it is still tied after that, a shootout. After scoring the tying goal and going to overtime, I'm confident that I can carry the team to victory and stop everything that comes my way. As we start playing, both teams are skating hard and trying to put it away as quickly as possible. We've all played enough to know that quirky goals can happen and no one wants to lose that way. The time ticks on and on, it looks like we are going to a shootout. Less than a minute to go and we are deep in their end, the puck squirts loose and the other team brings it down the ice. My defender goes into the corner with her man with less than 15 seconds to go. She ties him up despite giving up a foot of height and probably close to 60 pounds of weight. She pushes hard and he pushes hard back. The clock ticks closer and closer to the end of the overtime period. The other players know she has him and that a shootout is mere moments away. And then it happens - his longer reach allows him to push the puck past her and into open space. My other defender is thinking the game will go to a shootout and misses the pass to the other player. The opposition gets the puck with less than a second to go in OT and flicks a quick backhand towards the net. I drop to a butterfly position, like I have thousands of times, to stop the puck and send it to the next part of the game. Only problem is my timing. As my pads are dropping, the puck trickles underneath them and into the goal. I hear the horn sound and know that we've not made it to the shootout, the game winner is behind me. The season ends with me missing my last save opportunity, a championship lost.

The team is disappointed more with themselves than with me. Some players comment that they should have been down low to help out. Others that they were already thinking of the shootout and lolly-gagging around. No blame is placed on me - we won as a team all season and we lost as a team on the final shot. I'm sad to have missed it but know that I did everything I could to win it for us. My reactions just weren't fast enough this time - age must be getting to me. ;-)

click on picture for larger version

And as you can see, a photographer in the stands was able to catch the moment of defeat. The puck is going between my legs (hence why the footnote of going 5-hole by the photographer) and on its way to the back of the goal. While I'd like to have my pad in the right spot, I still think this is an amazing picture and give kudos to the photographer for having his finger on the shutter at the right moment. What can I say, I'd love to have taken this shot myself - the moment of victory.

Despite being a bit saddened by the loss, I am still grateful for the opportunity to play and being in the position that we were. I cherish the times I had with that team and the thrill of being in the moment. But the season is over and our team will be lumped in with the other teams as we are divided into new teams starting in January, the process beginning again. I look forward to making another drive towards another championship game, perhaps June will have me writing about the victory and not the defeat.

tired of the bashing

So I'm going to do my best and try to be as active as I can here on the blog. The last year hasn't been so good with staying up on my entries and I've even noticed that my main link to the page wasn't working (sorry folks!). If only I had logged on more frequently, I would have noticed that. Hopefully no one has issues with getting here. And just a note, this blog will be moving to blog.expatnomad.com here shortly.

My return to blogging has been predicated by the recent events that Republicans have been bitching about. I'm not mad at them but I'm a little pissed at the lack of patience they are having at this point in time. My parents are off at "tea-parties" and friends of mine are posting crap on Facebook about how this time will be known as the "Obama Misery". Frankly, I'm just a bit annoyed with all of it for a couple of reasons.

First - give the guy a frackin' chance to do his job. Nobody went after either one of the Bush boys when they had only been in office for six months, they understood that it was a time to grow and learn about how to be the President. Heck, Bush Jr didn't do crap until he was forced into action post 9/11. Obama has been in office for half of a year and Republicans are jumping down his throat saying that he is going to destroy the economy and wreak the health care program of the country. My take on those thoughts - give the guy a chance to do the job that he was elected for!

Second - over half the country voted for Obama (66M to 58M votes) and McCain/Palin lost, get over it. Protests were starting to be formed by Republican pundits almost as soon as he took office. Does the phrase "sore losers" come to mind? My parents listen to Rush Limbaugh and he was on his pulpit from the day after the election about how bad Obama was going to be. Some people are never going to be happy and that fat man is one who would only be happy if we ran the country as a fascist regime.

Third - during the campaigning, both parties claimed to be for change and now is the time that the change is going into effect. Obama is moving towards invigorating the economy by trying to inject some stimulus, just like Bush Jr did. Would McCain have just sat on his thumbs and done nothing? I doubt it; he was a proponent of change as well. If he just let things go and the economy didn't rebound, would they be the first to rally against him? Republicans are complaining about how Social Security & Medicare/aid costs are rising and Obama is going to drive the country into bankruptcy with his ideas. Excuse me but haven't analysts been telling us since the 2nd Reagan Administration that the program was going to go broke because of all the baby-boomers retiring? That was 20 years ago folks and no one, Republican or Democrat, has come up with a solution for it (aside from making the buggers work until they die). Obama won the election and is now trying to deal with the fiscal problem of paying for a program that was known to be a bust since the 80's. What would McCain do? He's currently in the Senate and no new legislation is in place to be voted upon to correct the problem - why hasn't he done that? If he was such an advocate for change, where is the help for the solution? Nowhere, people just want someone to blame.

I'm not a Democrat (although my Republican friends think so) and I'm not a Republican (although my Democratic friends think so), I'm actually right in the middle of the two sides. I agree with certain issues on both sides and what that means is that I'm willing to see both sides of the political spectrum and not shut out the other. I do occasionally watch Fox News and occasionally watch CNN to see how both sides of the media portray events. I understand that to be polarized towards one side or the other means you are closing off your mind to someone else's opinion and being disrespectful. When people are too centered on themselves, they fail to understand the greater picture and what we as a country can and must do. We are a union of two countries at the moment, fiercely divided on political lines. Right now the minority is pissed as hell that they lost the election and is doing everything they can to tell the world just how mad they are (and honestly, the rest of the world doesn't care, they're just glad to have Bush out of office). They're not even giving Obama a chance to do anything without putting up a huge fight, a sign of a poor loser. What I think they should do is this - show just how good they are without the bitterness. And here's how.

Republicans have long said that the goal of government is to govern as little as possible and let the people work it out - a good point to follow. In fact, hasn't Obama adopted this policy in some way by telling Americans not to wait for Washington to make their lives better but to do it on their own? How many times has the Commander-in-Chief come out and say 'don't wait for the government to solve your problems, make it happen yourself'? This message wasn't intended just for Democrats and their Green Agenda, it was put out there for the whole country to go out and be the instrument of change. Stop waiting for the government to tell you what to do, just go do it and be the example. Ride your bike to work because you know its good for reducing our dependence on foreign oil - don't wait for a stimulus package to be put into place for bicycle commuters, take that responsibility. Become more physically active so you are in better health because you know its good for lowering long-term health care costs - don't wait for a bill to go to Congress that will pay for your obese ass to get treatment, take that responsibility. Take an active role in your children's education because you know that parents are supposed to be integral in teaching the next generation how to act - don't hope that a law called "No Child Left Behind" will solve the educational issues our country has, take that responsibility. In other words, be a Republican and get big government out of your life and take a personal responsibility for your life and your actions - just like the Democratic leader told you to.

Stop the bashing of Democratic and Republican ideas and do the right thing - be a responsible citizen first and see what problems disappear. You might be surprised what the sides have common instead of what they differ on. I learned something a LONG time ago that serves me well to this day and maybe others should try it as well. 3 things to help you in life - 1. Ask questions 2. Keep an open mind 3. Trust your fellow man. I'd like to add a fourth, take responsibility for your life. Maybe if we all tried to be a little more open to ideas we'd not be as divided as we are. So give it a shot, try to not play the 'blame game' and see what good you can do on an individual basis. I think you'll be surprised. :-)

dance train revolution

I know its been forever since I posted and while I have the greatest intentions to put something up, there just isn't the time today (or most days for that matter). So with the promise that I'll get something up soon (aside from this video), here's something I found on Yahoo! that was filmed in the Antwerp train station in Belgium. Funny, this never happened when I was there...

Sound of Music Train Station @ Yahoo! Video

FINISHED!!!

FINISHED!!!
Originally uploaded by Expat Nomad

Here's a copy of a picture that Pipes took when I finished the Austin 3M Half Marathon. Read the entry entitled 13.1 (below) for the story.

13.1

I first started running because I was dared by a certain Romanian P.E. teacher to do a 10K in Lima. There were a lot of teachers from school signed up (mostly women) and the challenge was set down to complete the task. So I ran my first 10K back in November 2007 and in doing so, proved to myself that I could indeed be a runner and all those years of not doing it because of a knee injury were a thing of the past. It was after I completed that 10K that the thought of doing something a little farther entered my mind and after a bit of research, I found a half marathon in Austin, TX to satisfy my curiosity.

The plans were in my head for the better part of 8 months although the training regimen was not. When I first moved to ABQ, the altitude was a butt-kicker and I was off the wagon for a while. As the months went on and the day of the race drew closer, I started to feel a sense of dread. I left for Austin last Thursday night with my longest run to date being 7 miles in the thin air of the Sandia Mountains. Lucky for me, Austin is a lot lower in elevation and the thicker air would help my run. So on Sunday, January 25th, I tied my shoes up snug and walked on to the race course, not really sure what I had gotten myself into but with the determination to complete the 13.1 miles (22K) no matter what. The front of my shirt accurately reflected what was going through my mind. It read - "This seemed like a good idea 3 months ago."

The morning was cold, 38 F (3 C) to start the race and my friends and I were bundled for the race. Waiting at the start area was surreal at times, I knew I was there but didn't know what to expect. In some ways, it was like waiting for a plane to leave and take you to another country - you have no idea what to expect as you venture forward. So we traded bad jokes and guarded smiles as not one of the three of us felt prepared. The starting gun snapped us all into the reality of the situation and from there, we just took it one step at a time.

Our first few miles were easy. My friends from Lima and I took it at an easy pace, being sure to not over do it in the first few miles of the race. I was happy to be with them; they were something familiar in a very unfamiliar environment. The small talk we traded was enough to keep us going but we all knew that there was a decently sized challenge ahead of us. Eventually the chatter died down as the miles progressed; partly due to fitness, partly due to mental uneasiness. I ran with my two friends for the first 5 miles but then I felt like I had it in me to go faster and left them behind (we would meet at the finish hours later). I picked up the pace and started running how I felt comfortable and with 8 miles to go, I ventured out on my own to see what I could do.

My normal running pace for distance is somewhere around 10:30/mile but that had only been tested when I was running less than 7 miles. I was pleased to feel my feet finding a comfortable rhythm at my normal pace and I ran the next several miles at that tempo. Silly me, I stopped for water at mile 8 and felt that comfort disappear. My body finally realized that I had run farther than I ever had before and told my legs that same idea - you've not trained for this and you're going to pay for your stupidity. I walked for a bit, reassuring my legs that with a little rest, they could indeed go the rest of the distance and shortly thereafter, I started back to pounding the pavement toward the finish line.

My legs were numb and if ever there was an upside to that, it meant that I couldn't feel what I was inflicting upon my calves during the run. My head started to clear of thoughts and I just concentrated on the rhythm of my feet. Zen and the Punishment of Road Racing is going to be the title of my first book, I think. But I pushed on and my legs responded. "Just keep running, don't stop." I said over and over in my head. The power of gentle persuasion...

Mile 12 was a wonderful sign to see and I wish I could say that I enjoyed the last 1.1 miles of my journey. Truth be told, mile 12 was the most difficult of the race and I swear the part of the U of Texas campus we ran through was uphill (even though that part was in a valley). The lactic acid in my legs and arms gave me a painful reminder of what I was doing and I am very grateful to 2 young ladies from the UT cycling team who cheered me on that last half of a mile to the finish with their simple words - "You're looking strong and you're not going to quit now, right?!" Damn straight girls, damn straight.

I came around a curve and saw two policemen blockading the road. "You're almost there, can you see the finish line?" Yes officer, I can and thank you for those wonderful words. At that moment the throbbing of my feet went away, the burning of the lactic acid subsided, and a warm, soothing feeling filled me from top to bottom - a sense of accomplishment. With the finish line in sight, I knew I had to finish strong. The people along the side of the road egging me on, "Push it hard to the finish, you're looking great!"; it elevated me to run harder and faster. I crossed the finish line in my best sprint, smiling as the announcer called out my name and my girlfriend took a picture. It wasn't the greatest of times (2 hours 38 minutes) but that didn't matter, it was the simple fact of accomplishment that made it special for me.

The numbness in my legs soon subsided and my calves and quads have been reminding me ever since of what I did on Sunday. I waited at the finish line for my friends who crossed a bit later but it wasn't until Pipes and I retraced the race course later that night in our rental car that it really hit me with what I had done. 13.1 miles is not a huge distance but it is a satisfying one and that's all that matters to me.

a new hope

Like millions of Americans and millions more around the world, I tuned in today for the Inauguration of President Obama. I started off on NBC and was watching coverage there but soon got fed up with the constant babbling by the commentator and switched over to FOX. I was happy to watch coverage and appreciated the fact that Shepard Smith didn't talk all the time and frequently said, "Let's listen in and hear what's going on." Thanks Shep - sometimes its good just to live in the moment and not clutter it up with mindless background information on Nancy Pelosi...

This election was a strange event for me. Unlike many of my friends who knew exactly whom they wanted to vote for from the beginning, I took my time and it wasn't until 40 hours before the election that I figured out who I wanted to vote for. I didn't want to "drink the Obama kool-aid" just because he was a black man and I didn't want to vote for McCain just because he was a P.O.W. who has a hot wife. I took my time and weighed the pros and cons of each, eventually making my decision that I wanted the change that Obama promised and I wanted the possibility of a new, strong leader in the White House.

So today, Obama took the reigns from Dubya and I watched my TV as hundreds of millions of others did on this planet. The swearing in was fun - especially with both Chief Justice John Roberts and Barak Obama flubbing the oath - giving the situation a bit of levity. But what I really wanted to hear was President Obama's speech. I listened and was filled with hope as he said many things that I agreed with and I appreciated his ideas for how to make our country a better place. The "speech analyst" on FOX didn't think that his words said anything spectacular. I totally disagree - they spoke to the country and to the world about what America can do to be better.

I loved that Barak told us that it would be hard and difficult to make America a better place. The government isn't here to make our lives better; if you want a better life, do it for yourself. Don't look to the government for the 'easy life', do some hard work and follow in the footsteps that this country was founded upon. America is still seen as the place where anyone can be anything they want to be. Just ask the former bodybuilder who now runs the world's 4th largest economy in California.

The part of his speech that tickled me the most was his call for Americans to have a greater sense of responsibility. For far too long we, as a country, have relied on others to be our oversight and with morals constantly being shirked for the quick buck, we find ourselves in the situation we are in. Responsibility is something I try endlessly to get my students to understand and hopefully this new president will get a lot of other Americans to realize that we are all responsible for who we are as a country. Americans have seen been witness to plenty of our leaders not take responsibility for their actions; from Tricky Dick's "I am not a crook" to Slick Willy's "I did not have sexual relations", our role models have not exactly been worth following. I hope that Barak Obama's ideal of being responsible catches on - it certainly would set a great example, especially since America is the 'light on a hill' that many hold in high regard.

After the speech I came away with a sense of hope. I understand his message - its not going to be easy or quick but we all can make the United States a better place, if we all do our part in society. Unemployment may go up, the stock market down, war fronts move side to side. Old enemies may be new friends and new enemies may come from places we don't expect but we must remain true to our founding ideals. Nothing good ever came easy and make America a better place is going to be very hard but if everyone pitches in, we can all make this country what we want it to be.

And yes, I cried during the speech as I was filled with joy. Someone said that which I thought and didn't pull punches when he did so. He wasn't playing to a partisan crowd or trying to say the politically correct thing. For once, a politician came forth and laid out the truth for us to hear and I wasn't afraid. I know what my role ahead is and I am drinking the kool-aid that Obama is preaching. Now if only I can get another 300 million Americans to do the same... ;-)