Strikeout ALS

"Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. ... I might have been given a bad break, but I've got an awful lot to live for."

We are 75 years on from the iconic words of Lou Gehrig with little change.

For at least the last week and a half I have done little with my days. I sit on Twitter, on the couch, and watch Criminal Minds. I have also sat on Facebook watching ice bucket challenge after ice bucket challenge from an array of individuals: professional athletes, high-profile sportscasters, former teammates, and the total stranger. I laugh, I smile, I move on. Now, before you start bahumbuging me as someone with no heart, I tend to favour my donations towards the Kay Yow Cancer Fund as she was my mother's boss at NC State, whom through I have learnt a great deal of life lessons from.

More so recently, I have watched both sides state their case (as what always happens with anything this day and age of technology), that, "The Ice Bucket Challenge's intentions are self-motivated; not everyone is donating. They're just doing it to be x and y". On the other hand, the Ice Bucket Challenge is serving it's desired purpose as the ALS Association has seen a, "Major Surge in donations", raising $168,000 (£100,050) online nationally this past week alone, according to the Association's president, Barbara Newhouse.

That kind of change is pretty special. You can't deny results. Me? I was unsure myself until I read a few stories. Boston Herald writer, Steve Buckley, had one that stood out the most as he is someone close to the situation. That first hand account was enough.

Take it as you wish. A gimmick. A clever ruse -- for apparent "self-recognition".

But when you think of the latter, try and remember why this phenomenon started: Pete Frates. A man, himself, suffering with Lou Gehrig's disease. Already he has sought tirelessly to bring awareness to his own condition, which he was diagnosed with in 2012. Frates' commitment whilst limited only to his wheelchair is admirable. He hasn't given up. And this past week, he's not been alone -- whether you agree with his challenge or not, he has you talking. Success achieved.

I donated to Team Gleason, a foundation that represents former NFLer Steve Gleason.

And then there's this because, after all, the Frates family requested smiles.
Note: I am not a public speaker. I am too shy, so I forgot half of what I was supposed to say.
#icebucketchallenge #strikeoutals

Tommy Gunn with Matt Nathanson

I like to think I have the best brother possible. There are things that do confirm this notion -- immaterial and occasionally material. The immaterial are those brotherly moments you can't write. Most of the times, only things we get. Tommy goes out of his way to ensure Lil' Man is looked after and I appreciate that wholeheartedly.

Last night he got to see Matt Nathanson again, again, again, again. Maybe one more again? I couldn't be there as Tommy didn't realise he was at the House of Blues in Myrtle Beach so soon. So make that another time I've missed an opportunity to see Nathanson live. The last being when my parents visited me in March and my mother goes, "Oh! Matt Nathanson was just here..." Crestfallen.

It's a fact that anything Matt Nathanson get's my brother hype.  I was flooded with texts during and after the show: "I told him I first saw him live in '06 at Westfield State. He flipped. Then I told him I took MA to his first sold out show in NoHo. He flipped again." Poor Tommy only got a photo... but he gets to see him. I have to stick to YouTube and his Deep Rock performance from 2008, one of our favourites.

The next chapter in my brother's dialogues with Matt Nathanson is legendary:

THOMAS: "My brother couldn't make it tonight and he loves 'Detroit Waves' so I was wondering if you could give him a shoutout saying something about it?"

MATT: "F*** yeah! Where does he live?"

THOMAS: "Well he lives in England..."

MATT: "I was just there! What's his name?"

THOMAS: "Allen."

MATT: "Alright, let's do it, you ready?!"

[Thanks for the shoutout.]

Sat at Home Sport Rant

Edit note: No intentions of trying to call the game into disrepute…

----

I was watching the USA blue-white scrimmage last night and witnessed Paul George’s nasty injury—I won’t even take the time to say which tib/fib break was worse: his or Kevin Ware’s, but boy, it made me light-headed. I couldn’t look away… To be fair, I’m not totally fazed by seeing sports injuries. Sounds dark, yes? Eh, my entire childhood of school holidays was spent inside my mother’s classrooms at UNC-Greensboro and Westfield State. I was typically doing one of two things: trying to memorise gigantic words to impress my friends with or inside the training room sneaking crushed ice from the machine to munch on from an official Powerade cup (they just don’t make ice like that anywhere else in the world).

I would also be that kid in the back of the classroom yelling that he wanted Napoleon McCallum’s injury replayed again for the class. I remember my mother pausing the video after Dan Patrick said, "This would be his final play of the night and maybe his final play for sometime". She stated, “No, that would be the injury that ended his career”.

I digress.

Any injury I see, it reinforces why I constantly tell people, “I don’t care how many goals I score or how many plays I make – I just want to be able to skate off that ice on my own”. At times, I do put myself in precarious situations mainly because I am a competitor, but I go to university. That’s job one, whether I see it as such, or not. I just happen to continue playing ice hockey for fun alongside it. What am I trying to get at? Look, it’s quite obvious I’m not compensated for my play. In actuality, I’m probably in the red because of my addiction. £15 per game adds up, but I shell out because I love it. I’m earning a degree; I don’t have $20 mil sat in my bank account. The only bread I’m currently putting on the table is Kingsmill 50/50. I don’t go home to Gisele Bundchen, although to be fair, Ken MacKinnon was a pretty good substitute when I had my concussion. You should see him topless, eh? Well known that the ticket lady at Southampton couldn't contain her wandering eyes. Lastly, if I get hurt, I could be sat in A&E for hours and hours until I’m seen – I probably don’t have enough money to even prank call Dr Andrews.

All I know is, there are some folks who, in the heat of the moment, forget we are all students and faculty who have to get up the next day and go to work. Our livelihoods are away from the rink as much as we might hate to accept it. I encounter two types of individuals: those who cannot take a hit and those who cannot properly hit. Both are equally dangerous. There needs to be a trust between yourself and your opponent. I won't sugarcoat it. I don't always get that sense with everyone. Some folks just aren't ready to take the next step safely. I’m not going to call out individuals, but the BUIHA and rec hockey are never going to be the place to try and make yourself “look tough” – you look stupid; don’t be a bonehead. It’s not cute. Play the game. Cos breh, if we going into the corner at full speed, we’ll battle it out for the loose puck, but I’m never going to stuff your neck into the boards just because you said something about my mama. She could easily beat us both up with her pinky.

Likewise, I cannot count the number of times we’ve shown up to a game and the referee has come up to me and gone, “I’m still learning all the rules”, “This is my first official game”, or “Is this game checking? I’ve never refereed a checking game before”. It’s kind of strange, and haunting. Playing ice hockey in the UK is one of the most gratifying things I do as an international student. The Cup Competition set up is very “British” and it makes me chuckle – the home/away legs, “fixtures” instead of schedule/games. It’s cute. It wouldn't be the BUIHA without it's quirky characteristics. It needs to be protected.

All I know is, Manchester Metros A were decimated by injuries this year and one in particular always sticks out as one that could have been avoidable. Shayner, as I roll with, sustained an injury to ligaments in his knee because a player on the opposing team decided it would be great to pre-drink before the game. Now, I’m all for having fun, that’s what the BUIHA is about, but at the end of the day, when it jeopardises another’s safety, that’s when it becomes a bit ridiculous. Shayne’s got to go into work, take care of his kids, et cetera.

That’s all I’m saying.

Sports tread such a fine line and that’s why I go out and compete. It’s fragile. You can’t script it – unless it’s the 1919 World Series I guess, so that’s not totally true, but for the sake of my point, go with it.

Let’s be safe, boys and girls.

Countdown to the new BUIHA season? Anyone know?