Putting things in perspective

[gman 0]

I really couldn't get how people did it "just for fun"... because my fun, my great, good joy came out of the hours of training, preparation and elite competition.

If there is one thing that I am really struggling with right now, it would be that.

Playing AAA hockey my whole life, I have been conditioned to go all-out at all times. I have been trained to finish my checks, drop infront of shots and get a bit chippy when need be. To me, that is the way the game was meant to be played - that is the game I fell in love with. I want to play in a game that feels like it actually means something. I take the game very, very seriously and I don't think I would be at all "content" in a setting in which I was constantly bring told to "settle down" as I fear I may be once I feel healthy enough to get myself into a beer league.

This has become a very interesting thread. First let me say that the guy in the link in the original post is a complete clown and a poser. He has done OK in small regional competitions. He has not gone national or international. If he were really any good, he would be dominating his region and would have promoters of larger events knocking down his door. He has way too much head for his body. I cannot believe someone who is so mediocre could be so intense and at the same time clueless as to reality. He sees himself as a Ronnie Coleman or the next Schwanzenegger, or Benedikt Magnusson or Magnus Ver Magnusson. I really feel sorry for his kid. He will have a very hard time in life when he cannot fulfill his dad's ambitions.

Lkpt, Hockeymom,

I can really empathise with you. From the age of five, my life was tennis. I know how obsessed I was, and I imagine you and I were prety close in that department. I was absolutely bent on making it to the pro's. I did EVERYTHING necessary to make it. Then I went to college in California. That was my first dose of reality. I went from being a very big fish in a very small pond to being a guppy in the ocean. I went from number one in the state of Wyoming to scratching to play number six on the JV.

My game improved tremendously that year and I thought I may still have some chance. I managed to play another two and a half years on the varsity for a nationally ranked team but then got injured. My arm basically fell apart. I was icing before and after practice. I was taking ibuprofen my the gram (not miligram) and was just plain miserable. I had to quit, my body simply would not take it any more.

I went through several months of accute dipression. All sorts of crazy thoughts swirled around in my head. But my wife (girl friend at the time) helped me through it. I also took up competitive cycling, weight lifting, scuba diving, freediving, Aikido and a few other things over the years. It was 10 years before I could even think about watching tennis on TV again. It took another two before I could think about playing again. I had to find my racquets in the pit of the storage shed. I played a few times and have had a pretty OK time.

I played a few local very low keyed tournaments and won them, but the fun was short lived. The pain in my arm came back. So I changed my game a little to get around it. Then I started getting mad with my performance. Before long the rage was back and all the old competitiveness had invaded my head. It was no longer fun. I have actually avoided teaching my sons tennis due to my bad life experiences with it. I am sorry for that as I think it is a great sport that can be played in to old age. My view of it, though, is forever warped.

Now I am playing inline hockey as is my eldest son. My youngest is swimming. We are all having a great time learning and competing in these new sports. I will actually be very resistant to either of my boys taking any sport too seriously. It has to be fun, or it is nothing.

I agree with Salming 100%. I would not trade a second of my life for any sort of athletic gift or success. It is so meaningless when compared to the rest of life. I am not as old as Jason :P , but I am catching up :D . I really hope the younger folk on this forum can keep things in persepctive. It is good to have something in your life to center around and it is good to have goals. But part of growing up is learning to put things in order and in perspective. The bodybuilder/powerlifter in the article never learned it.

[TCsnipes9 0]

Lkpt i (at least somewhat) understand where youre coming from. like you, since i can ever remember hockey has been my entire life. Luckily for me, my parents had season tickets to the Minnesota North Stars for 15 years, and i went to every game since i was just a baby. I literally grew up at the Met Center.

As soon as i was able to walk, i started bringing my mini-goalie stick with me to every game. At that point, i idolized Jon Casey, so my parents had my stick signed, and bought me a Casey jersey for X-mass one year. I would have my family, their friends, and any other person crush their paper cup, and shoot on me and act as if i were him.

Quickly i grew out of wanting to be a goalie, and decided i wanted to score goals instead. like many of you have said, i did seemingly everything i could to improve my game. Playing in MN, hockey is huge, and i was extremely proud to have been a fairly well-known player in such a hockey state. That lasted through Squirts, Pee-wees, and Bantams.

Fast forward to my Soph year. Another concussion (number 4 or 5) in the summer put me out a week, but that would just be the begining of my struggles. eventually a shoulder, then a dislocated knee would put my training, my attitude, and my pride in a different place.

Since then ive struggled to get my game back to where i desire. After a terrible year last season (Jr year) i will have to put together a pretty good campaign to get back on the JR A radar. i just hate the thought that this might be my last year of what i consider "meaningfull hockey." Losing the dream is something that is un-thinkable as a kid, and a scary feeling as you begin to approach it.

great thread.