The Stove on Fire
Its always great to kick off the season (for me) in New Jersey, at one of our favorite venues, Choice Inline, home of Mike (the Stove) Stoever. Joe, George, and myself come in a day early so we can hang out with Mike, who we can always count on for comic relief, and as usual, "the Stove" did not disappoint, although Philly was a little dead on Thursday compared to the action we have found in Atlantic City in past years. Young Mike Rosmini caught up with us and added more entertainment, offering one of the dish washers at the bar a job at the tournament selling merchandise.
Last night, as we pulled into our hotel, we witnessed 6 cruisers out front while a drunk lady was being escorted from the hotel. The front desk manager quickly settled a discussion George and Joe were having about whether the Buffalo Bills would be a playoff team if they were in another division. The look on his face as was priceless as he discounted the notion with a resounding "no" and "how is that even a question?" It rendered George speechless, which we all know is hard to do.
As for the tournament, our schedule is a little more relaxed than our colleagues out in Cali this weekend. (guess we drew the longer straws). The action is just getting going, now that Vio is in the house. Jason Muro was distraught about not being able to take his teams down this weekend, and is certainly missed.
So far, the South Jersey Beast is looking strong in the Squirt Division, and we are happy to hear that they will be attending Nationals in Kalamazoo. They should get a good test with their upcoming matchup with the Roadrunners.
We'll report back as the other divisions heat up.