Well it's over, the season that began with such great potential has come crashing down around us. (Insert tasteless poland joke here...too soon?) However as I enter this limbo period between Blues hockey and camp, I am forced to reflect upon what happened during this season and at least try to find some real highlights from the 09-10 campaign. So here they are, accompanied by a few extra musings and stories, all of it is meatspin free...I promise

Highlights

1) Sweden

I know some of you have claimed that our European vacation ended up cursing our beloved team, but for me that was a seriously awesome weekend. I'm sure some of you remember my unhinged ranting when I found out that the Blues would play at home against Detroit on my birthday, except it would be played on another continent. (I'm actually still seriously annoyed by this and will make a point to mention it to JD when he comes after me for putting a potato through his bedroom window) Since my parents refused to send me to Sweden for my birthday, I coped by heading up to Kirksville for the weekend and throwing a truly wonderful birthday bash at my future home. Things I remember from that weekend, running down a dorm hall cheering after the Blues first win over Detroit, leaning out of a car window and shouting 'Fuck Detroit' after the second, unprecedented win over those bastards and going 12-0 in beer pong. Things I don't remember from that weekend, apparently I got hit by a car....whoops. All that aside, the Blues trip to Sweden will definitely remain a highlight of the season to me.

2) Physics

I'm don't win a whole lot of things anymore that aren't completely trivial and pointless, (See floor hockey against campers) so when Brad and Sean announced the Whats Wrong with The Blues article contest, I figured I'd give it a shot. Of course then I realized I could use this chance to combine my two loves, Physics and Blues hockey and BOOM I produced something actually worth reading for once. Yea I know that it was a one time deal in a hockey fan paper, but I am damn proud to be published just once in it, even if the article contained a whole heap of grammatical errors that a third grader could fix. I was proud enough to show anybody who would listen, even my parents who questioned my math when I called Paul Kariya a 'pussy' (I checked, I was right). I'd post a link to the article here, but I'm gonna finally let it go and just remember it as a massive highlight.

3) Spring Break

This one is very loosely related to the Blues, in fact the game they played during my break was one of those god awful games against Colorado. However on one day I wore my 'Whatever it Takes' shirt out on the beach in PCB and not only ran into multiple Blues fans from multiple states, but it also got me free beer from an unbelievably nice group of guys from Tennessee. (Guess the child predators just didnt cut it for them) In my book, anytime the Blues earn me free anything, its a highlight.

4) Saying Goodbye to Big Walt

Yea it was a bittersweet moment, and the air conditioning hit everybody in Drink Scotch just right so that it set of their allergies, but that night was beyond awesome. Not only did I finally get to see a game this year where we won, but we also scored five goals, allowing me to finally enjoy a free big mac. (I still want tacos) Oh and did I mention that I brought along a wonderful girl who had never been to a hockey game before? Yea she's hooked big time now, but she better return my autographed jersey damn soon or I'm gonna start bustin heads. (Seriously that thing has Bobby P and Brent 'Led Zep' Johnsons autographs on it) So yea, good game with pretty girl = highlight

Other Stuff

The time Carnie Almost Came to Camp

So a while back when I was still a daily contributer to the GDT's, me and WillSTL convinced Carnie to apply to Camp Lakewood. (and you though me working there was a bad idea...) So she did and then came the phone interview, which I only heard about because during the interview, my boss asked how she knew me since she had mentioned me on the application. All Carnie apparently said in response to that question was "He's my internet friend..". This promptly caused my boss to call me and ask if I was trying to get on 'To Catch a Predator' and to remind me that my appearance on such a show would result in me being instantly fired and humiliated. In fact today when I was working the Lakewood Open House, he asked me if I had any more 'Internet buddies' that wanted to work at camp. So props to Carnie for being able to mess with me at camp with out ever stepping foot on the property.

And Now for something completely similar...

I know a lot of you guys have kids (jesus you complain constantly about it...man up) and this is my plea for you to send them to camp this summer. Now I'm not saying you have to send them to the camp I work at (though it is one of the premiere camps in the midwest...YMCA Camp Lakewood, check it out) but camp is an experience is something that I truly believe every child should experience at least once. Camp is a great learning experience for kids helps them build social skills and independence. Now I know everybody hears horror stories about camps, but it's a lot like hearing about defense men, you only hear about them when they suck, not when they've been doing everything right for the entire season. Summer camp is great, send your kids....and if they end up with me at lakewood and in floor hockey clinic, well lets just hope they never mention STLGT. (I'm totally kidding about that last part, I really am a standup kind of guy)