Lone Star state of mind
If there is one place I know better than any other when it comes to the roller hockey season it would be here in Denton, TX. The old days of coming down here three to four times a season are gone but the hockey that is left is still good. I have some down time right now as we are in the midst of the State Wars/TORHS2Hot4Ice joint regional and State Wars tryouts are ongoing.
For the first time this year, I am in a city that has given back some good weather. I'm sick of the cold so I'm glad mother nature decided to cooperate this weekend. The sun is shining bright and we are ready for a good day of hockey. The adult divisions got started last night and I always look forward to that down here. The variety of adult teams has always been interesting. There are twelve adult teams playing here at Lone Star. Eight bronze/silver teams and four gold. The most exciting part is going to be hashing it out later tonight and making our way toward the playoffs. Every player is having fun so far and the games have definitely been pretty intense. Jill Marsh got her team (Monsters Ink) going last night as Brian and Logan High are both rostered there. Brian has always been a TORHS2Hot4Ice supporter since the early days and now with the 99s playing as bantams its awesome to see these kids play after seeing them grow for so many years. His Ankle Bender team can play! They've got all the names you would recognize from down here. I mentioned Logan earlier, but names like Tristan Brewer, Kimball Johnson and goalie Josh Henson have that team playing very well. They are playing gold as well and lost a 4-1 game last night to Stefan Skinner's Team Fisher Price. They stayed in the game keeping it 1-1 for most of the game, but then the likes of Jason Cotton and Thomas Aldsworth began to take over the game. Gold is going to be fun as JP Kellogg and Tim Duggan have their Goon Squad gang in the mix as well. Mike Browne is on his way in with the Houston Venom to round out that division.
Going back to the bronze/silver division, its good to see Joe Catalano here from Houston Indoor sports. He has made the trip up here and will be at nationals for a second straight year this year and is trying to get the Houston market going again. We will do everything in our power to help him do that, so it will be good to sit down and get the low down on Houston from him.
Brian and Jill have worked tremendously to keep the squirts involved here and the midget division will play later as well as Jim Bovaird has come thru with a couple teams.
The market down here has been booming in the past and the adult divisions down here now are what have filled tournaments as the younger players (who use to pack the tournaments out years ago) are now all grown up. Texas has just got to regroup and get the youth going. I think the right people are in place to do that with Jill Marsh, here at Lone Star and Joe Catalano in Houston.
Well..State Wars tryouts are almost over here in Texas so I have to get back on the ball and get the tourny up and running again!
It's a big sports day as the Rangers evened the series against the Caps, the NFL Draft continues, The Kentucky Derby is set to begin, and the nightcap of Mayweather v. Pacquiao will round out the night and I'll keep you updated from Denton. Talk to you guys later tonight. Stay tuned to the website for updated scores and the A Team (Ronnie B and myself) will keep you up to date from Denton as the B+ boys are holding down the fort in Pitt.!