Hockey Grandpa

OK, now that's a role I did not see coming.  But where the grandkids lead, we follow.

I spent last weekend at the State Tournament.  That sounds impressive, but actually youth hockey has lots of state tournaments.  There are Divisions, so large communities and small don't go head to head.  That's fair, some of those Milwaukee suburbs have buckets of money to spend on ice time and so forth.  There's age groups.  These have various names such as Pee Wee, Squirt, Microbe etc.  We are in the 10 and under cohort.  Gotta say, put these kids on skates and add various protective kit and some of them look like they oughta be shaving already.  (Disclaimer, a couple of the larger players with flowing Fabio style hair dos did turn out to be girls.*  So shaving unlikely).  And there are A and B classes.  This seems a bit flexible, and the politics of how kids are put here or there are byzantine.

But it is high quality play, and contrary to popular misconceptions all the Hockey People we've encountered are civilized.  Intense at times, but civilized.  A few random images and thoughts....

One thing I had not encountered before are the Big Heads.  Also referred to as Fatheads after a company that pioneered the concept...and may I say, the name choice was audacious.  Now you can have them made locally, and pretty much every player has one.  They provide much potential for creative photography.

On the ice action is impossible to show with a still photo, its all about the sudden turns of the player, the bounce of the puck, the reaching just that last inch to poke away a shot that would turn the tide of the game.  But to prove I was there...

I'm learning many new traditions of this little subculture.  Vehicles going to State need to be decorated.  Usually with a name and jersey number but sometimes with a broader theme:

Even at this level there are injuries during a game, or more likely collisions where a player is shaken up.  The refs immediately whistle to halt time and both teams get down on a knee where ever they were.

A coach comes out, and after a moment - likely a long moment for that player's family, he or she is helped off the ice.  Both teams then stand and rattle their sticks on the ice in a salute.  

The weekend had entries in both the W and L column, but the grandson's team finished with a hard fought win in which both teams played well.  End of hockey season.  On to baseball.  Oh, and soccer concurrently.  And fishing.

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* My observation is that the girls while few in number did seem to draw penalties out of proportion to said numbers.  Make of that what you will.

On the March

Many people know that the months of the year have a rather distinctive Roman flair.  Thanks, Julio-Claudian calendar!  March is a particularly interesting month.  Meteorologically, sure.  Also Etymologically.  

The oldest words out there are from the oldest human experiences.  Which sadly include war.

The name comes from the Latin Martius meaning Month of Mars.  Mars of course was the God of War, no doubt getting the name from the blood red color of Mars, the planet this time, in the night sky.  Various other words spin off.  Martial, as in military or fighting generally such as martial arts.  But neither Martini the drink nor Martini the rifle trace back to Mars.  Those stories are...complicated.

But what about Marching?  Surely the most martial of activities?

Well, not exactly.  It seems to come from the French word marche, meaning boundary.  Prior to that it goes back to Frankish times, when French and Germans were kindred peoples and languages.  The sense of a boundary is preserved to some extent.  For instance the ill defined area where England adjoins those pesky Welch is referred to as The Welch Marches.

That of course is exactly the sort of place your army would have to visit regularly and sometimes in haste.  So by the early 15th century the French had another word marcher, meaning to "stride, march, to trample underfoot".  It's probably derived from marche, but neither Mars nor his Red Planet have anything to do with it.

Although in keeping in the spirit of things, the official symbol of Wales is a Red Dragon, with the color likely influenced by the long, bloody wars along the Welch Marches.