Sunday morning homily VI

In little less than 90 minutes, Colin begins his hockey career, taking part in his first game. Granted, it may be in a recreational league in Clearwater, but that doesn't mean a thing. It's his first game. And, to be honest, I don't know who's more jacked up about it: me or him.

After 10 months of skating and hockey lessons, bumps and bruises, and Herbies and crossovers, he'll get to experience the joy that anyone who has ever played the game will know. The breeze hitting your face as you skate. The sound of a puck clanging off of a goalpost. The camaraderie that comes with being on a team.

Where will today take us? I don't know. But I'd be lying if I didn't dream of hearing his name called some June day in 2019. In fact, I can look on the wall above our computer and see a mock Boston Herald newspaper commemorating his birth that carries a headline: "NHL teams will have to wait for 2019 draft."

Really, though, all I want is for Colin to enjoy the sport and to remember that hockey, no matter how long he plays and how far it takes him, is a game. A game to be loved. A game to be respected. A game, I hope, that will forever bond a father and son. Which, as Colin just told me, always will.

One more win

After spending the baseball season living and dying with the Tampa Bay Rays, it all comes down to today's Game 7 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.

As someone who cried when the Red Sox won the World Series in 2004, it would be easy to suggest that I'm in a no-lose situation. That's not the case, though. Even with this team surpassing most preseason predictions (I would've settled for a .500 season), it'll be sad for this magical season to come to an end without the team making the World Series.

Besides, who really wants to be associated with the obnoxious group known as Red Sox Nation? Really, folks, there's a reason why a good number of Bay Staters, past and present, are known as M***holes.

5 Big Sigs

It'll be another two hounding trips this week, meaning we hope to add these to the collection:

~ Atlanta's Eric Perrin on a game-used stick from his Lightning days;
~ Atlanta's Tobias Enstrom, Slava Kozlov, Kari Lehtonen and Brian Little on a Thrashers team stick previously signed by Ilya Kovalchuk;
~ San Jose's Joey Thornton on a Sharks puck;
~ San Jose's Patrick Marleau on a Sharks puck; and
~ San Jose's Jeremy Roenick on Sharks, Kings and Coyotes pucks.