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I decided to put the entire tournament on one page, rather than one for each game, because there just isn't that much to report
on. The Ventura Mariners Bantams played more like slightly annoying fruit flies than killer bees. The team went 0-3-1 and
were outscored 16-3. That doesn't mean the whole weekend was a total wash-out, but from hockey standpoint it certainly was.
2/13/08 - vs. Tuscon Stampede
The first
game of the tournament started out pretty good. The Mariners came out flying and it was clear they had an edge in both skill
and intensity over their Arizona opponents. Towards the end of the first period, Jason Hart got his team on the board with
a beautiful one-timer. The boys kept pressing but couldn't build on the lead. On the defensive side of things, Blake Burlew
was extra fiesta, punishing dudes in the corners. Goalie Mark Becica made some great saves. I wish I could report the number
of stops he made, but they don't keep track of that kind of thing in San Diego. They don't even list which goalie was in net.
Early in the third, there was a defensive breakdown and the Stampede scored to tie the game up. The Mariners continued to
press, but couldn't get another one. They would have to settle for a 1-1 tie in a game that they dominated.
2/14/08 - @ Santa Clara Blackhawks
The
second game of the tournament was against an "A" team that for some reason was allowed to drop down into a "B" tournament.
The "St. Valentines Day Massacre" saw our kids getting battered and bruised by the bigger faster team from up North. The only
thing that kept this one from being a total blow-out was Gianluca Allen's outstanding play in net. It wasn't until the third
period that the Mariners finally had enough. Josh and Patrick started taking their frustrations out on the Blackhawks. Jason
and Conor Gleason cranked it up and generated some prime scoring chances. Luke Tickle and Brian Zacchia also flung some quality
rubber on net. The defensive core of Tom Dobrokhot, Cameron Torres, and JB Lovelace shut things down. The Mariners were unable
to break the shut-out, but they did play at least one great period. They lost 5-0 but there was a glimmer of hope, based on
the inspired play of the third period.
2/15/08 - @ Stockton Colts
Sunday's
contest will forever be remembered as the worst officiated game in Killer Bees history. From the very beginning, it was obvious
that the referee was completely incompetent. TJ took a vicious hit from behind, but there was no call. Killian Anderson came
in to even things up, but only #40 got a trip to the box. It went like this all game long. The trailer trash from Stockton
slashed, beat, punched and boarded our kids and never got in trouble. In fact, when they cheap-shotted us, we were assessed the
penalty. The ref was not only unfamiliar with the rules of the game, but also complete unprofessional in that he wouldn't
even offer an explanation to the coaches. Despite the officials handing the game to the Colt's, the Mariners hung in there.
In the second period, Brian Z. made a beautiful pass to Killian, who faked the goalie off balance and put one in over the
blocker. Unfortunately, that would be the only goal the boys would get. The officiating would get worse from there. Jason
got elbowed in the head and dropped his stick. The sucker-puncher, then stepped on the loose stick and fell. Jason got the
tripping penalty. Two Colt players collided with each other and we joked that we'd probably get a penalty for that. It must
have been a really good joke, because we did get a penalty. Killian took a two-handed slash right in front of the linesman,
again no call. Feeling that he couldn't rely on the officals to keep the game safe or enforce the rules, Killian went after
the kid and smashed him face first into the glass, breaking the cage off of his helmet. The boys lost this crap-fest 6-1.
2/16/08 - @ Valencia Express
By
the time the last game rolled around, the kids seemed worn out. It was the end of a long weekend and the final game meant
nothing. It looked like the boys used up everything they had in the first few minutes. The scoresheet says Conor scored off
of a Jason pass, but I'm pretty sure it was the other way around. After taking the 1-0 lead, the Mariners just fell asleep.
They weren't skating. The passing was lazy and the hitting was non-existent. It was driving us nuts because the Valencia parents
were so obnoxious. They were even cheering and laughing when our kids got hurt from dirty hits and elbows to the head. We
just wanted the boys to do something to shut those jerks up. To be fair, I thought Josh and TJ were playing hard, but everyone
else was either injured or just didn't care. The Express reeled off 4 unanswered goals to take this one 4-1.
Bittersweet
This was a
weird weekend. I definitely had fun hanging with the team, but the hockey was kind of depressing. I felt helpless watching
the boys struggle and it was made worse by the fact that I couldn't offer any easy solutions to the team's problems. I'm sure
most of you felt the same way. As an interesting side note: did you notice that for 3 of the 4 games we were the road team?
These reports aren't supposed to bum people out, so let's end on a happy note. Let's remember all of the fun times. I've compiled
a list of some of our wacky antics:
1.
Spit - There was a reoccurring theme of falling saliva. Josh was the first victim to get a loogie from the upper deck
but the funniest one goes to John Lovelace. He was walking on the lower level when a glob of spit landed right in his morning
coffee.
2. Pain - Jason was in the
parking lot riding TJ's skateboard when he decided to flip it up. The board came up and cracked him right in the doo-dads.
BTW TJ has this on video so look for it on youtube. Also, in the pain category is Tom Dobrokhot who was walking down the hallway
when, for some reason, his feet gave out and he hit the ground with a splat. Come to think of it, I got some too. Killian
shot me at point-blank range in the nipple with a plastic BB. It felt like I got tweaked with jumper cables.
3. Studs - We all know Luke and Brian have an eye for the ladies.
On the second night, the boys spent hours in the hot tub with a couple of large gals. Despite insinuating that they were whales,
the boys did manage to get their phone numbers. Sunday night, the junior Casanovas found a sign from some dating service that
read: Single? They walked around TGI Fridays hitting on every female in the joint. There were no takers.
4. Bad Ice - No, I'm not talking about the conditions at the rink.
It would appear as if the ice cubes in San Diego are not up to the standards we are used to in LA. Lucky for me, I stuck to
drinking beer. However, poor Tanya twice got ahold of a bad ice cube and was unable to attend the games the next morning.
I think she may have an allergy. I hope she can get in to see the specialist.
5. Balls - It started out with a simple tennis ball but soon transformed into multiple footballs.
We were chucking these things from the upper decks of the hotel into the pool and back. They were bouncing off cars in the
parking lot and taking out guests trying to eat breakfast. Tom D., and Blake got nailed in the head. Jere made an awesome billiards shot
from the second level. He put it off the third floor balcony and it went right to his youngest boy Jake in the pool. However,
JB outdid his coach. He threw a football from the pool to the second tier. It went through three sets of hands and made a
direct hit on a bag of chips, destroying them.
6. Wife Swap - You know how when you're partying and you come up with something that sounds great at the time,
but inevitably seems stupid the next day? Us parents have bucked that trend. We decided to have Craig's dating service re-couple
the entire team. Man, I hope I end up with Julie. She always has plenty of beer.
7. Crash - After the torch lighting ceremony on the aircraft carrier, the team got to try
out the flight simulators. The boys got a chance to engage in dogfights and to take out strategic ground targets. Mark's little
sister Bridget made a daring assault on Sea World. Killian and Josh pulled off some breath-taking maneuvers. Everybody did
great with one notable exception. I was watching the monitor when George and Jere went. They spent their three minutes in
a constant state of crashing. I estimate they cost the military over a billion dollars in lost aircraft. They tried to blame
it on faulty controls, but Jake and Luke used the same simulator and did just fine. Interestingly, Captain Steve didn't take
a turn. What's he trying to hide?
The boys didn't medal in the tournament, but we did take the gold
in obnoxiousness. I love hanging out with this team. We're like some demented traveling circus. The only thing that really
sucked was not having Steve and Toni with us. We all wish Toni a speedy recovery.
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