Off-Topic Forum

Road team won 8-0.  That makes for a fun night.

JV, thanks Ranford. Making Varsity in Freshman year would be crazy. We did have a Freshman who made Varsity though. He’s going places, wouldn’t be surprised to see him drafted out of HS.

High School sports up here (on the praries anyway) are way different. With most schools seperated by groupings of K-6, 7-9 and 10-12 there is no JV or varsity. There is no organized sports per say in Middle School (Jr High). Sure there is Track and Basketball, then the Golf club, curling club, etc but nothing overly crazy. No softball, baseball, hockey, football. Then once you get to HS there is football, plus the others mentioned before. But still no hockey, softball, baseball. I would imagine that places like Toronto, Vancouver, etc it is likely way different.

Interesting to see no hockey. We don’t have middle school sports here either. Most public schools have JV and Varsity, but most private schools also have a Freshman team.

In Canada all hockey goes through Hockey Canada (i am pretty sure) so all of it is organized outside of the schools. There are private school teams as well but I think they still compete inside HC rules and guidelines.

This is getting more interesting now. Here in central NC, elementary school is K-5, middle school is 6-8 and high school is 9-12. Some of the far-western (mountains) and far-eastern (sea-side) counties don't have a middle school and put 6th grade into elementary and 7th/8th into high school. It's purely based on the population though. In my area, middle school and high school both have teams in many sports. In high school, the 11th and 12th grade athletes mostly make up the Varsity team, but a 9th/10th grader CAN make the team if they are good enough (I think there is also a state-requirement for age though). I know that when I was a junior (11th grade), a 9th grader made it as a starter on the Varsity basketball team. He was REALLY good and played all 4 years on the Varsity team. I never really figured out why because he was very short for a basketball player! Still makes me wish I had tried to be on the team. I was good, but I didn't care enough about basketball then, so I never tried out for the team. Even after some of the JV starters told me to try-out for the JV team, I didn't do it. I really should have. I had gym class with them and I was right there with them in skills. At about 5'10" then, I could consistently block shots from our 6'6" center. I still don't know how I could do that then. I guess it's b/c he wouldn't jump to shoot. I couldn't dunk the ball (ever), but if someone isn't going to jump to shoot over me, I had that ball going the other way. I was also faster than most of my classmates. When we had gym class running around the track way outside of the football field (not quite cross-country, but much larger than track-and-field), I'd usually beat all of the "athletes" around the track.

I did try-outs for the baseball teams in 7th through 9th grade, but I didn't make any of the final cuts to 24 players. I had the speed and defense, but I didn't have the batting skills. With very little chances to practice batting outside of neighborhood games, I just couldn't get a handle on 75+ MPH pitches. My 9th grade practice ended with me hitting 3 of 10 pitches. The 1st went straight up and over the backstop. My 2nd hit went right to the 3rd baseman. My final hit dropped behind the 2nd baseman and allowed me to get to first base. The next guy sucked and I didn't get a chance to show speed on the basepaths.

I did try-out for a Pony League team the next year. I was guaranteed a spot as the starting center fielder until a technicality came into play. My birthday is on July 7th and the cutoff for that age was after August 1st. So I was disqualified from the team for the age requirement. After that, I never tried to play a team sport again. I guess that I still could have tried, but I just didn't want to anymore. Then I tore up my knee pretty good in a pick-up game of basketball in my 11th Grade year!

Ian, try to make the most of your opportunity! We are all rooting for you here on TCDB.

Well T-minus here folks, my big day in the city. My token one NHL game for the year, Oilers vs Minnesota. I think it was all covered above, it should be televised on both sides of the border. I am in the lower bowl to the right of the benches if seen on TV. I will be wearing my McDavid jersey .............. oh wait ................. =)

I will try to get some pics of me and my Tee with NHL palyers in the background, the wife will help me pose. I need to get my award back from Billy!! =D

Will report back in tomorrow.

Have fun Darrell!!

Have fun Ranfordfan! My first scrimmage is on Monday.

I couldn't find the game- was it a matinee? I was out buying cards this afternoon. Took a trip to my local Toys R Us for one last trip down memory lane, (used to be a weekly trip, then a monthly trip, then about 1 time a year lately, if that much) and lo and behold, they had a good selection of cards, including blasters of hockey cards from before I started collecting that sport- from as far back as 2010-11! I didn't expect to bring home a big bag, but I did...and if the $150 I spent can keep them in buisness, all the better! Now I don't have anything else to spend on the hobby for the rest of the month, but it was worth it!