Sunday's event was promoted as "Skate with the Bulldogs". What a great opportunity for two young hockey players who already seem to be bleeding maroon and gold (and not for my alma mater's team, the Gophers.)
But then it got a little awkward, because AJ - not know we were already thinking of doing this - brought home a hand-written slip of paper announcing the event, and said that it was an invitation to a birthday party for a girl in his class who I've never heard him mention before. And her party was going to be at this event. Now,I appreciate those parents who want to include everyone, but it makes it tough for the other parents to decide is it a real invitation, or just a courtesy one. I've made that mistake before and AJ's ended up as the only boy at a female classmate's party.
We decided we would go skating as a family. AJ could skate with any classmates he saw, but would not be joining them in the party room.
And then it got really awkward because we ran into the girl and her mom as we were walking in and AJ told her that he wouldn't be going to her party because his mom didn't buy a gift, but it was okay because everyone could skate. It was a public event.
Lovely!
And then another interesting development came along. AJ told me later, (I'm not sure what transpired for him to learn this) that it wasn't the girl's birthday party after all. It was her brother's birthday, and her parents had suggested she could invited friends to skate with her so she wouldn't be bored.
I'm so glad I didn't buy a present!
So all that drama aside, we finally made it on the ice:
There were lots of Bulldogs there, all with Sharpies in hand. I have to credit the marketing wizards at the college. They did this well. They had pre-printed posters, listing the names and numbers of all the players, so we just had to move around the ice in search of the guys with matching numbers on their jerseys to collect their autographs.
I quickly realized I needed to adjust my position when taking photos. This guy could turn out to be famous some day, and you'd never know we once stood this close to him. (Based on the partial 5 on his jersey and the spot on the poster where's he signing, I'm pretty sure it's Justin Crandall.)
So here we've got a face and a clearly visible jersey number. That's #18, Joe Basaraba, don't you know?
And everybody knows who the next guy is. Sydney was quite proud she got the autographs of Champ, as well as one of the cheerleaders (who signed her name with a big heart on the back of the poster.)
I finally caught up to AJ, who had been racing from player to player. This is Charlie Sampair (who I've never heard of.)
Jeff had been following with AJ and managed to snap a couple of great photos. Except once again, with no jersey number visible, we have no idea who the player is.
Wait! The guy in the photo below looks an awful lot like the guy I photographed with Sydney. I bet that's Basaraba again. (And he is one of the key players this year. I've heard his name called out for scoring goals numerous times.)
Once the kids were done finding players (I joked with a few that I was going to yell Bingo when we filled up our card) we at last started to skate. AJ was a little bored no being able to have a hockey stick and puck. But Sydney loved it. She's race by us shouting "Woo Woo!" in hopes we would chase her.
It also was a bit concerning to see what a flirt she can be. She told player #6 that six was her favorite number and she's #6 on her team. She also told two players that she sang the national anthem for their game a few weeks ago. (And then she beamed when one of the players responded, "That was you? You did a great job!")
While snuggling at bedtime she commented to me, "I wonder if my husband will be a Bulldog. Or maybe a handy man."
Nice to know she's considering all her options.
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