Bye For Now

 

Unless things change, today was my last hockey broadcast until next season.

Sure, there could be any one of a number of things that could happen but, as of now, my schedule is clean effective tonight. Heck, my next scheduled broadcast of anything isn't until the end of March but I'd like to truly believe something will come up before then.

Like, hopefully, a lot of stuff will come up before then.

It ended on a good note, though, as Brunswick and Frederick Gunn went to overtime before Nike Cadaret won it with a top-shelf goal from the slot.

It's likely there will be Brunswick basketball, as the Bruins are the top seed in FAA and any games they play will most likely be at home.

But, like I said, nothing is scheduled for now.

I had a fan stop me as I was walking out of the rink tonight with Sean.

"I'm a Gunnery fan," she said, "and our fans were texting each other back and forth about you. We should hire you!"

Well, gosh. Keep in mind, Frederick Gunn (once called The Gunnery) was the opposition today. They lost to Brunswick in today's game. In overtime.

The pats on the back and thank yous and kind words are humbling. I've said it before: it gives me a boost when I get down about this business.

But now I sit in this uncertain zone. I'm not a fan.

I can only say I'll do road games so many times. I can only say I'll drive to Trinity-Pawling (hockey next Friday) or anywhere else before I feel like I'm banging my head on a wall.

Soon I begin having that "Taylor Swift" feeling, as in "I'm the problem, it's me."

So I depart the rink with my head high, proud of (most of) the work I did this season and await whatever is next.

Hockey was a sport that was thrust into my lap 23 years ago when a play-by-play man was needed. With much hesitation, I called that Greenwich/Ridgefield game expecting to take my lumps. I got that game just hours before the faceoff. I didn't have rosters or a scoresheet or anything.

But I made myself pull it together.

Then I went and simply did my best took my lumps. I learned from my mistakes.

It galvanized me to get better.

Somehow, I've been calling hockey ever since. Yes, basically a quarter of a century at this point. It was the first sport that terrified me to broadcast but taught me that I could learn and get better at it.

You can count lacrosse and soccer and field hockey and wrestling and others in this same department.

And, at least for tonight, this season has come to a close.

I hope not, of course. I'll be pulling my hair out until baseball and lacrosse come along toward the end of March.

Mostly, I'll be pulling my hair out over the uncertainty awaiting that next broadcast.

But, for tonight, I can hold my head high that I did an honorable job on Brunswick hockey for 2022-2033. I wish them well in the playoffs.

And, if anyone wants me, they know where I am.