meet our guest

Mike and I talked not long ago about if he might like taking a stab at guest blogging, so please welcome Mr. Blogmother......

A little while back after joining Weight Watchers and experiencing some pretty good success, Shannon asked me if I might like to guest blog a bit about my experiences and struggles as an overweight person. I told her that I would think about it and get back to her...that leads us to now.

Basically I decided a few weeks back that although I have really never written anything outside of a classroom for grading purposes, this might be a good time to try my hand at it...I always figured that the things I was thinking to myself sounded fairly good in my head, so maybe I would be able to write them down and have them sound good in print form too. Time will tell. I also figured that if things didn't sound quite right, Shannon would let me know and set me on the right path to the world of guest blogging.

Here's the thing though...I don't really feel like writing about my past struggles with weight, or my recent success with losing it, not tonight anyway, what's really on my mind lately is Maple Leaf Gardens....I know, this thing just took a wicked right turn and no one saw it coming, not even me really! but the fact of the matter is that I miss that place, like you can't even imagine, like I miss Ricky, my Grandma, the old Fairgrounds,or the days when life was simpler, and this from a guy who's life was never very complicated as a child...not counting the weight issues, my parents divorce, or the fact that I never got the GT sno racer, or the hollow chocolate Super Bunny that I wanted so bad for Easter.

But before we get going, I will give you a bit of back story as to why I'm wanting to write about MLG right now. Wanting to go back there and see the old girl is nothing new to me, but I really longed for the good old days early last week when a friend of mine showed me his platinum tickets to the Air Canada Centre for last night's tilt between the Leafs and Edmonton, He said he was all set to call me and see if I wanted to go, but at the last minute had to give the tickets away due to a technicality with who could or could not go...secondly, a new friend of mine who writes a blog about the Leafs, dusted off his old press pass and was going down for the game last night as well.(btw he stopped here on his way home and gave me all his press notes that they are given before game time...this may sound boring to you but I found them quite interesting.) Then I started "you tubing" MLG last night and found some pretty cool footage from a guy who had access to the building last fall, the footage was a bit shaky but very haunting to me none the less. These things really got me thinking about the old days there so let's get on with the story.

My love of Maple Leaf Gardens, started when I was about 15 or so...up until them I had never been a fan of the Leafs, or of hockey in general. I played as a kid for a few years between the ages of about 7 to 10, but didn't understand or enjoy the game, I only got one goal in those years and for that I got a "my first goal" trophy that now resides in Abby's room on her dresser. Then one night, around 1985, or 86 on a night when there was nothing else to do, I parked myself in front of the TV and after finding nothing else to watch, found a Leaf game and watched the whole thing. From then on I was hooked. I can't remember who they played or what the final score was, but I do remember that Rick Vaive had 2 goals if memory serves me. That night started my love (and sometimes hate) affair with the blue and white.

At this point I feel I should let you know that long before I started to love MLG I did go there one time to an open practice...I don't remember much about that day, but I do remember watching the practice, and then throwing myself into a crowd of people and jamming my autograph book out for some massive guy to sign, not even knowing who it was. Several years later after becoming enamored with the leafs and hockey in general, I dug out that old autograph book and managed to make out the signature...Mark Messier....unbelievable, I meet Mark Messier at a time when the Edmonton Oilers were in their hey day, and didn't even know it. Thank God it didn't say Wayne Gretzky or I might have gone mental.

My first trip to a hockey game at MLG never even happened. You see, both my Uncle and my Dad worked at International Harvester, Dad put in 34 years there, he was the maintenance foreman and as a result he used to get free tickets to leaf games from time to time from the various suppliers he dealt with there. One time he got a pair and couldn't go so he asked my Uncle to take me. I was on cloud nine...only one problem, a friend of my Uncles who was in town from some other country wanted to go to the game so it was decided to give him the ticket and not me. Not long after that the chance to go again came around and my Uncle and I were off to the game!!! We had a great dinner at a steak house on Yonge Street whose name eludes me now, then we wandered over to the Gardens...on that night and every other time I went there, you could tell there was a buzz on the street outside, scalpers hollering, crowds of people shoving their way by you and of course the amazing smell of the world famous Toronto "street meat" I could tell this was going to be just as great a night as I had always imagined it would be....and it was a night I would never forget, not because the game was stellar, in fact I believe the Leafs lost 3-2 to the visitors, but because for the first time since becoming a Leafs fan I was there for a game in MLG.

I couldn't believe the size of the building, and how you had to lean your head way back just to see the top of the ceiling, it looked to me like it was 20 stories up! I remember feeling like we were really a part of something when you were there for an NHL game, from the booming organ cranking out music during the intermission, to the sound of Paul Morris as he announced the goals and penalties in that monotone voice that he was so famous for ( if you know who I am referring to you are all hearing it in your head now) and lastly to the surge of power felt throughout the building as they cranked up the lights just before they went live coast to coast on Hockey Night in Canada. I was amazed that the ice could be so bright! Even at 37 the memories of the games I went to still play vividly in my mind more often than you can imagine.

Ed - Well who knew Mr. Blogmother had so much to say? Thanks my dear Michael for taking over the controls tonight. It left me free to panic and obsess over my real life bloggy meet up with Karen tomorrow.