Life gives you one "do over"

[over the mountain]

hockey chamionships. im the star player on my team and really the league. had something like 41 goals 42 assists that year in 20 something games. i carried my team.

OT shootout for the chamionship. good size crowd down in reston. im deciding whether to do the youngblood move where i skate by the puck at center ice and kick it with my back skate to get started. i decide not to.

i come down the ice, im left handed in hockey, pull the puck to my right then back to my left, goalie moves to his right opening his legs (i think 5 hole but pass on it), i then pull the puck back to the right, goalie is frozen he cant move back to his left, i got a fairly open net, on my backhand . . .DOH! didnt put the puck in the net, put it wide off the boards. didnt concentrate and watch the open net and watch the puck go in the net.

earlier that game i scored just inside the blue line with a wicked shot that hit the upper right corner perfectly. i could put that puck anywhere anytime. when i skated off the ice i had the churchill coach waiting, wanting me to play for them since i was going to churchill next year.

that or not switching and trusting my left hand shot in lacrosse when we were playing west virginia.

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by over the mountain

hockey chamionships. im the star player on my team and really the league. had something like 41 goals 42 assists that year in 20 something games. i carried my team.

OT shootout for the chamionship. good size crowd down in reston. im deciding whether to do the youngblood move where i skate by the puck at center ice and kick it with my back skate to get started. i decide not to.

i come down the ice, im left handed in hockey, pull the puck to my right then back to my left, goalie moves to his right opening his legs (i think 5 hole but pass on it), i then pull the puck back to the right, goalie is frozen he cant move back to his left, i got a fairly open net, on my backhand . . .DOH! didnt put the puck in the net, put it wide off the boards. didnt concentrate and watch the open net and watch the puck go in the net.

earlier that game i scored just inside the blue line with a wicked shot that hit the upper right corner perfectly. i could put that puck anywhere anytime. when i skated off the ice i had the churchill coach waiting, wanting me to play for them since i was going to churchill next year.

that or not switching and trusting my left hand shot in lacrosse when we were playing west virginia.

In a similar vein-high school baseball. What turns out to be the last game of my career. I'm the starting pitcher, we're playing our rivals at their new stadium under the lights. I'm tossing a no-hitter but it's 0-0 at the bottom of the final inning. Walk, error, error, hits batsmen (I hit his damn shoe!). Winning run walks home we lose 1-0, our playoff hopes dashed...I'd like that final pitch back

[over the mountain]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

In a similar vein-high school baseball. What turns out to be the last game of my career. I'm the starting pitcher, we're playing our rivals at their new stadium under the lights. I'm tossing a no-hitter but it's 0-0 at the bottom of the final inning. Walk, error, error, hits batsmen (I hit his damn shoe!). Winning run walks home we lose 1-0, our playoff hopes dashed...I'd like that final pitch back

dang man a no no going into the 9th, thats brutal. concentration. its easy to lose concentration when your doing the same thing youve done a zillion times. ive taken a billion shots on goal and concentrated on where i wanted to put the puck.

i really blame our coaches. they were horrible. with young guys they should have pulled us aside and calmed us down and gave us pointers and thoughts like . . . put the puck on net. dont skate in too fast, etc...

funny how sports moments and thier details stay with you. i can replay that shot and a ton of other sports moments like i have it saved on video or something.

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by over the mountain

dang man a no no going into the 9th, thats brutal. concentration. its easy to lose concentration when your doing the same thing youve done a zillion times. ive taken a billion shots on goal and concentrated on where i wanted to put the puck.

i really blame our coaches. they were horrible. with young guys they should have pulled us aside and calmed us down and gave us pointers and thoughts like . . . put the puck on net. dont skate in too fast, etc...

funny how sports moments and thier details stay with you. i can replay that shot and a ton of other sports moments like i have it saved on video or something.

Technically, the games were only 7 innings in High School. So no no going into the 7th.

I rarely got the start. I was usually the closer. But because our starters had pitched their max innings for the week, I got the start.