Thoughts While Helping my Blind Mother.

I would like all of you out there to sing the theme from "Welcome Back Kotter" While reading this. Having said that let me explain a few things.

First off, my mother isn’t really blind. She had some eye surgery yesterday, and her vision is compromised. I have to help her around and give her eye drops. She is tough as nails, and will be ready for Camp this fall.

Second. My prolonged absence. I have been unbelievably busy at work, and haven’t been home much, therefore, I have not been able to write. Dave is right though, getting some New York Times press was inspirational, and I will try to write more. Who cares if my productivity drops off? MOL doesn’t have expensive taste in anything….are you picking up the sarcasm? I should hope so, because I am laying it on pretty thick. OK, it’s time to drop em again!

You may be asking yourself what I have been up to. Glad you asked. Like I said work has been nuts. It’s crazy what happens when you actually try. I did have a lovely trip to Bridgeport to see Lowell a couple weekends ago. If you remember an earlier post, Bridgeport, and Lowell had a near bench clearing brawl some time ago started by Smart Mouth Keith Aucoin. Well, I was going to be in The Nutmeg State anyway to visit my brother, his wife, my niece Olivia, and future first rounder Nephew Thomas. The Monsters were playing Friday night, so I thought it would be cool to leave Mother and MOL with my brother’s wife, and the kids, and we’d go off and do manly stuff. Everyone agreed my plan was good, a first actually, and it was set in motion.

Brother Dave rounded up some of the UConn Huskies, Scotty, Dave, and Pat. Brother Dave, Pat and I had dinner and beers at 5:30 at Joe’s. Scotty and Dave trickled in up until leaving at 7:30 for a 7:30 faceoff. Nothing ever happens in the first few minutes anyway right? Especially when Lowell is involved. So, we get in to the arena, get some beers, and get our seats. Right away, it was apparent this was not to be Lowell’s night. First off they suck, and they can not find a way to beat the Sound Tigers. The boys were wondering aloud and often how I could sit through 41 games a year of this poor hockey. I really had no answers. If you are a fan of dominating performances by one team over another, this was your game. Bridgeport KILLED Lowell. It wasn’t even as close as the 7-2 score. Jeff Hamilton scored a beauty for BST (tired of typing either Bridgeport, or Sound Tigers. They are now BST.) that is one of the best goals I have seen all year. He put a toe drag move on Chris Hajt, the worst player in the "A", think Hal Gill, only smaller. And Worse. And roofed a beautiful wrister labeled for the top shelf. Just a pretty play. Great hands. Great goal.

The highlight of the game for me, was the fight between Johnny Boychuck (LOW) and Ryan Caldwell (BST). It happened after BST’s 4th or 5th goal. I can’t remember. Maybe because of the 412 beers I drank that night, or maybe because it was two weeks ago. Anyway, Lowell changed goalies, and after the delay, Caldwell, and Boychuck dropped em right off the faceoff. I have been impressed with Boychuck at times this year, and others, wondered aloud if he was better suited as a plumber. If he hits you, he cleans you out. Often times he misses, and takes himself out of the play. While he likes to play physical, he doesn’t play mean enough. I think the fight with Caldwell was only his second of the year. When I got back into town, I spoke to Monsters radio voice, Ryan Johnson, and apparently Coach Rowe called him out to that effect. Well, Big Number 3 got the message. The puck dropped and the boys dropped the buckets. I was very impressed with Boychuck in the fight. He hung on to Caldwell a little, but was giving him quick jabs to the face while having a fist full of jersey. Caldwell for his part did well also. The boys traded a couple then held on some, switched hands, and traded a few more. It was a spirited fight on both sides. If I had to call it, I’d say win Boychuck, but I may be being a homer. Either way, JB got the message from the Coach, and tried to put some emotion into his teammates. Didn’t work. As they were announcing the fighting majors, BST scored again. So much for the emotion.

After the game, the Huskies and I went to another bar. The plan was to have a couple and call it a night. Yeah, that worked. We played the One More game until last call, told some old hockey stories, and had a lot of laughs. I was in a very bad way the next day. Including having to take myself out of the game for a nap as my niece made brownies because the smell of food was making me sick. All in all, I give the weekend a solid 9.5 out of 10. Minus points for hurling in my brother’s bathroom…..sorry bro.