It was Senior Night at Marathon Park last night. The final hockey game for 5 players at the rink where most of them learned to skate…where they played countless games and practiced for hours to get better. This scenario has played out and will play out at countless rinks and gyms in the next couple of weeks. You enter high school as a freshman and it seems that your sports career will last forever…and it's gone in the blink of an eye. As least it seems that way for the parents of the players. Because its not only the players who have spent a big chunk of their lives at the rink and on the road. As someone who went through the experience I can tell you it's wrenching. I have the bumper of still being involved as a broadcaster and a summer coach. There has always been another season and although the players are not my kids anymore…it somewhat leavened the sting. The other thing that makes Senior Night special is the fact that you, as a player have finished the race. You have put in the time, suffered the injuries, fought through the losses (and for some there have been many losses) & celebrated the wins. And hopefully you have learned that it's about alot more than the wins. A wise man once said, “enjoy the journey because we are all headed to the same destination”. I would tell these players and all players whose athletic careers may be ending this month, that you have just been through a journey that will stick with you forever. You will rarely, if ever, feel this way again. And that's not a bad thing. It gives you something to remember when your adult life may throw you some curves. You're 18 and everything seems possible. When the potholes of life start you swerving, remember back to the time your team went 2-22 and yet you didnt quit…you didnt say screw it and walk away…you kept up the good fight with your teammates with little hope for reward. That is a reward in itself…one that will grow more valuable with time.
Lots of hoops for you tonight. I'll be at the East gym for a boys/girls doubleheader…the boys first at 6pm…then it's the DC Everest boys at Marshfield as the 3rd part of the tripleheader on Foxsports Radio AM1390 & FM 93.9 and streamd at foxsportswausau.com.
I'll also have an East boys basketball game for you on Saturday. The Lumberjacks head to Neenah for a 5:30 matchup.
The Bucks beat the Wizards last night and enter the all-star break 5 1/2 games out of the final playoff spot in the East. They have alot of home games left down the stretch. Can they make a run?
Songs Of The Day (two very different songs about the weekend)
Saturday Night-Bay City Rollers (1974) as I was walking down the street in London in the fall of 1976 I noticed a large group of teenage girls in front of a big building. I asked one of them what was happening and she said, “It's the Rollers don't ya know”. Yeah before, there were the Backstreet Boys and N'Sync there was Eric, Les, Alan, Derek and Woody…and this infectious single that took them to the top
