Off-season Blues

My dear little reporter that wrote for me in my editing days, whom I affectionately referred to as "Skippy" tweeted today about how hockey bloggers are starting to fight amongst themselves on what number Commie is going to wear, followed by the hashtag #takeavacationguys

While August is typically the most useless month when you're a sports reporter, it's only July and this is killing me. So, this begs the question, what can I do with my off-season?

I'm not a big baseball fan, though many of my hockey friends are. My summer sport is CFL, and I'm a dedicated Edmonton Eskimos fan. The games only come on once a week, so it's not a huge commitment. Pick a team to cheer for, watch their game once a week, pretty standard. (If you're a little confused by the rules of football, it's a great opportunity to ask a boy to head to a game with you and "explain the rules" ... or go with a girlfriend and check out the tight spandex pants. Just don't look at the offensive linemen.)

I try to do pretty well every hockey-related thing that comes my way - last week, I headed to the Toronto Maple Leafs development camp where I saw some youngsters who were recent draft picks and signees, including my buddies' newest beer-league goalie, Mark "in the Park" Owuya, fresh from Sweden. Before you choke on your beer as you're reading this, it's not what you think. The Leafs didn't sign a beer-league goalie, it's the other way around. He's here playing beer league, working out and training because he's a Leafs prospect. He got his nickname from when he appeared on a Swedish talent television show similar to Canadian Idol. His rapper name is "Mark in the Park."

Which leads to my next activity -- I was always strongly against attending any type of beer league unless I was being forced due to work. This, however, is a horse of a different colour. A number of players in the league my buddies play in are professional players. The team I go watch every week has at least two AHL players and an NHL player, and other teams in the league have guys who play in the NHL, AHL, ECHL and some minor pro leagues as well as NHL prospects such as Mississauga St. Mike's Major Smith-Pelly. There are plenty of Memorial Cup rings, Royal Bank Cup rings, OHL league championship rings amongst the group and while backchecking is nearly non-existent, it's always cool to see one of the NHL boys make an awe-inspiring drop-pass to his AHL linemate who was waiting in the slot, take a shot and then have the rebound picked up for a high glove-side goal with the man-advantage.

After the games, everyone goes outside and tailgates in the parking lot ... it's like a man buffet! No joke. Eye candy everywhere. The boys are always friendly, offer a beer and are full of gossip and stories. Last week, my favourite boy asked me if I would bring some goodies next week. it's tomorrow. Eep. I thought maybe I'd bring something as one of the guys recently had a birthday and his NHL team traded him to a better team, but unfortunately that little bunny is on a strict regimine from his trainers for the summer and no cake allowed :( I may whip up something, however, since I can't resist a request for baked goods. Their team colours are black and green, so I was thinking of doing something in those colours. We'll see.

I've pretty well had it with those know-nothing tiresome American bitches at the Puck Bunny board I've been reading, so I think I'll ditch them soon. I'm also undercover at the moment in a virtual dressing room, I'm just soaking up what a bunch of hockey players talk about amongst themselves (they think I'm a boy) ... mostly training, hockey, drinking, and girls haha

Oh. And I was able to meet up with one of my HPs last week, which was always a pleasure of course. That's one thing I don't mind at all about summer -- everyone is home!

What have you been up to this off-season?