Breaking Up Is Hard to Do

I said I was going to quit doing this. I put away my legal pad and decided not to have anything beside me when I started to look up who won last night in the juniors.

Not to far along in this process, I looked for a pad to scribble some scores, notes to myself, I said. And the next thing I new, I was back in my daily relationship with hockey agate. I cannot give it up.

Part of it is trying to keep track of who is where, in terms of prospects and suspects. And it's just another passion that has moved from print to digital. Getting up and checking out the box scores.

Just like many of you, I learned as a child that this was the morning ritual of adults who went out and made sure the bills were paid. My father left for his job at the slaughterhouse at 6 am. My mother left for her job at the fishhook plant at 6:45. After that, it was just me, my Rose Bowl of cereal, Hughes Rudd on the CBS Morning News, the radio and the agate pages of the Rocky Mountain News.

Hughes Rudd (and, for a very short time, his partner Sally Quinn) on TV would eventually give way to rock-n-roll on AM 950 KIMN out of Denver. I had solid block of time for music, weather and my sports page to get me ready for the morning commute, an 16-block walk to Franklin Elementary. School started at 9 am. Plenty of time.

The music/sports cocktail had me ready for the day. So what if the teachers at Franklin were there to beat down my spirit, feed me with facts that now smell particularly fishy, and then send me back home with a note saying: Mark thinks he knows more than the teacher, Mark talks to much about sports and rock music, blah, blah, blah.

My mother would give me a worried look. My father would give me an angry look -- as long as my mother was in the room. Once she left, my dad would ask me what we were covering in school and then tell me why my behavior report from school told him I was headed down the right road, albeit a more bumpy one.

He's still right about that. It's been worth the trip. My relationship with sports agate was established way back. I guess I shouldn't turn my back on it now.

Monday's Leftovers
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Boston 3, New Jersey 0
At Buffalo 4, Vancouver 3 OT
At Philadelphia 5, Ottawa 1
N.Y. Rangers 3, at Pittsburgh 2 OT
At Colorado 6, St. Louis 3
At San Jose 6, Los Angeles 3
Roundup is here.
Summaries are here.
Standings are here.
Three stars by Puck Daddy.

WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE
Portland 6, at Moose Jaw 3
Brandon 5, at Regina 2
Roundup is here.
Summaries are here.
Standings are here.