Why do I like it ? What’s the appeal ?
When it comes to sports in our region, I love it because it’s all ours, and it’s real, far more real the cosmetic world of big time pro sports.
Here’s what I mean.
The Hanover Barons and the Walkerton Hawks are staging a tremendous hockey series for the Western Junior C Championship.
Hanover leads the best of 7; 3 games to 2, heading to Game 6 tomorrow afternoon in Durham.
There’s reality check # 1, the Barons have to play all of their games outside of Hanover while the community constructs a new facility, not a corporate castle, more significantly, a venue for sports and recreation & leisure for all the people of Hanover and area.
But back to the Barons & Hawks.
Four of the 5 games in this series have been decided by 1 goal
Three of the 5 games have gone to overtime including Walkerton’s come from behind win in game 5 to keep them alive.
After game 5, an overtime affair that likely ended around midnight or later, I tried to contact the two coaches for their thoughts on the series, starting around 7:30 am.
Walkerton’s Steve Barrett was already gone to work, his wife told me, but she graciously gave me a cell phone number and I caught Steve at a gas pump or drive-thru, I couldn’t tell which.
In Hanover, Neil Simpson’s mother explained I had the wrong number, but she gave the right number where Simpson’s wife, caring for a toddler, told me me Neil was away on a course, but I could catch him early the next morning.
And that’s why I love it.
Real people in our communities, hard working people, balancing work and family responsibilities and also caught up in a tremendous hockey series that continues tomorrow afternoon at 3 pm in Durham.
I’m Fred Wallace