Fall Classic

Up early. Make coffee. Get the paper. Wake up Jessica. She makes herself some breakfast. One owner of Summers End comes downstairs and finds his morning routine disrupted considerably. Dad takes it pretty well...He usually makes the coffee, then he usually gets the paper. He's reading the paper as the large equipment bag rolls by. We are out of there before 8:00 a.m. Gramm and Bubba will see us at the game.

Etobicoke downs Brampton 2-1 in the opening game. The team heads to Summers End for brunch. We have a lot of time until the next game. The players are taken care of thanks to Laura, Barb and Lorraine and Mom. I'm running meds. Mark is inspecting the construction of the century-home. The team goes out to kill some more time. Later, while they're at dinner, I run some saline for hydration and meet them back at the arena. Etobicoke shuts out Vaughn in game 2 and racks up another shut-out against Aurora in game 3.

The team finishes first in their division and advances to the semi-finals. We never expected to make it to the semi-finals! There are several hours until the puck drops. The players want to see a movie. I had an allergic reaction at the arena and agree to sleep in the theater as their chaperone to Jackass Number 2. The girls agree that there will be no shenanigans, like forgetting to wake me up when the film is finished.

Etobicoke falls to the stronger Durham West 2-1 in the win-or-go-home semi-final contest. Nobody's disappointed with the showing at the tournament. It's a fun weekend for the team. There is a point when fans have mixed emotions: they cheer for the team to win, but would be happy to have it over, too. Tournaments are tests of endurance: long days, a lot of down-time for parents/fans, lots of hockey for the players and coaches.

We stay the night at Summers End. On Sunday, I consider heading to the Run in Kingston since I'm almost half-way there already. In the end I determine it will be too much. We head home.