Ron Washington, DFW Sports Figure of the Year?

A bit off topic, but today the Rangers continue their quest towards their first World Series Title in franchise history.   Many of you grew up on Rangers baseball, so you know how special this is.   We took the Cowboys for granted as they were possibly the best football team in the 90's winning three rings and selling out every single home game along the way.   Stars won the cup in 99, and came close in 98 and 2K.   Mavs turned things around with Cuban's appearance, and have been a strong team every year, going to the finals once before choking.   Now its the Rangers time to shine.   I think Ron Washington is the most interesting and successful sports figure of the year in the DFW area.   From his backwoods way of speaking to the media, to the cocaine allegations, to the 1970's haircut, to the division title, to the pennant, the guy is just plain interesting.   Will he be able to manage a win in one final series?  

I say Rangers take this thing in 6.   they go 1-1 in Frisco, 2-1 at home, and then close it out in game 6 back in Frisco.  Your thoughts...

What are the Brawling Rules now!?

So, in last Thursdays games, which started an hour late due to the two Keller High School games ending up in multiple 15+ penalties in both games, we were privileged to watch a fight between MIB and the Bandits when a hockey game broke out...

Number 58 on the Bandits lined up some small kid with an elbow to the face / head area and a small ruckus broke out, at which point the MIB goalie decided to leave his crease and jump on top of said small ruckus and start swinging with everything he had.

The end result of this was that both teams were ejected from the rink by the refs (good call!) and thankfully the games were now back on the time track...

So, what are the league / rink rules on this?

Both teams were ejected, yet two points were awarded to the Bandits for the win!!! Jeez, if this is a message to the other teams to ensure a win, start a fight and make sure you're not the instigator or last man in and you can get the win, this is totally the wrong message...!

As both teams were ejected, surely, both teams should suffer a loss 0-0, with no points awarded for a tie, or they both forfeit... Also then the people that were involved should then suffer the consequences of their actions as we have all been told!

Can I get comments as to what you all think should happen and if Chad is out there what the ruling on the field should be in this instance, so everyone has a very clear understanding of what the rules are...

Brahmas Opening Weekend

 Brahmas are set to kick off their fourth season at the Nytex Sports Centre this weekend.   Two games on tap one Friday vs Rio Grande @ 7:30, and then a big rivalry game vs. Bossier-Shreveport on Saturday at 7:30.   Brahmas will be backed by all time leading scorer Chad Woollard and 2009 Playoff MVP Jason Deitsch.  Tickets can be purchased at a discount by calling 817-336-4ICE and asking for the Bronze League special.  

New to the Arena this season is Big Barn BBQ.   No word yet on whether or not Chic-Fil-A is back or not yet.   Also new to the Nytex Sports Centre is the Nytex Sports Shop.   Formerly the Hockey Shop now under new management, the Nytex Sports Shop can handle anything you or your team might need.   They have an in house embroidery room, so if your team wants to class things up with some hats or windbreakers or whatever they can do that for you no problem.  

Bronze League Mid Season Report-Next season details

With the Bronze League set to split at the end of the season, lets take a look at where the teams stand.

Moving to the upper division or the true Bronze League is no doubt going to be MIB, Rampage, Bandits, and Puddle Jumpers.   Those four are at the tops of their divisions, and seemingly cruising into the playoffs.   A strong candidate to be the fifth of six teams in the upper division is the Keller Indians.   Keller sits at 1-2-1 this season, but considering that half their team plays in the Silver League, and at Nytex you can only play down one division, the Tribe would have to go to the upper division otherwise they might not be able to field a team.  

So now if form holds there really is only one spot up for grabs in the upper division next season.   Sens have had a slow start this season, but have pulled it back to 2-3.   Stingers who have five kegs are now sitting at a miserable 1-4 in the bottom of their division.   Joes and Whalers have shown flashes, but yet to really light a fire this season.   Spider Monkeys have won 40% of their games this season, which ammonts to only 2 wins, but considering they have averaged two wins a season for the past few years this is a good start.   Spider Monkeys have several players who play in Silver, so its just a matter of time before they light the league up and take it to the next level.   Jets have been a good team in the past, but lately have been struggling to score.  

The team who wins the lower division will have the option to move up to the upper division in their next season.   Doing this will force the team who finishes last in Bronze down to the lower division.   Also word on the street is that lower division teams are going to be allowed to have one Silver League captain on their squad as a player coach type person.  

W

And then there were 11

Kudos go out to Mayhem who are taking a big step and moving on up to the Silver League.   This drops the Bronze League down to 11 teams with 5 now in the Ranger Division.   Mayhem had been destroying teams in the Bronze, and when the Carswell Lightening left the Silver League for the DPSC in Euless, Mayhem agreed to step right in their place, and fill the void.  

Congrats to Mayhem, now the Keg is up for grabs again.  

Notes from the Uniform Czar

Silver League teams often get overlooked when it comes to the visits from the Uniform Czar.

Hornets jerseys look like a Stingers throwback.   Good solid black jersey with a yellow jacket on the front looking tough and menacing.

Ice Cracks have a unique thing going.   A dark and light set with crazy euro league style matching socks.

Ice Dogs have a simple, classic look.   Sporting both a dark and a white jersey, these guys are always on point.

Ice Kings have those old school purple Kings jerseys and socks, giving them a nice unified vibe.   The colors fit in well at Nytex, and quality of the jerseys is very high for an adult league team.

Keller Indians are like the Yankees, simple navy blue and a simple white, classic.   Uniform Czar would probably like to see some more original take on the Indians logo, but its a classic look.

Blazers bought the OKC blazers gear, and have quite the look going.   A white jersey with a burning B on the crest, and ronald mcdonald style striped sleaves.   The matching pants, gloves, and helmets are quite the scene too.

Lightening are a newcomer to the league, although rumor has it that they have left nytex for Euless.   Not sure if the whole team has their jersey or not yet, but those that do look sharp.   A very elaborate crest involving lightening bolts, and a whole lot of patriotic jazz make these jerseys pop.

Dirtbags are the only jerseys that the Uniform Czar has not seen.   Does anyone have a feeler on what these look like?   Solid Red?   Brown?   Or are they Allen Americans jerseys, since those guys are dirtbags?

In Bronze Uniform Czar has glowing comments about Bandits, Jets, Whalers, and Puddle Jumpers.   PJ's win the over the top award for the name plates.   MIB wins the confusion award.   Why name your team Men in Boats when you play a game on a frozen lake?   Wouldnt frozen pond be hard to get a boat on?   

Can we get some Silver League posters?

It looks like the Silver League has completely disapeared from this blog. I know a few of you play in Silver League, so lets hear some happenings with your Silver team.

On one note about that, i heard the great #98 finally lost what marbles he had left last weekend, and snapped on Knute during a game. Needless to say, i think/hope he is finally banished from this rink. Rumor is the Ice Kings are going to fold. We'll wait and see what happens with that.

Finals Preview???

Saturday Night we have what very well could be a finals preview in Mayhem vs the reigning Keg Holding MIB.   MIB played solid all season in their march to the Stanley Keg, and Mayhem has shown no signs of being slowed down this season.   These two titans will tustle tomorrow night at Nytex.   Whose cuisine will reign supreme?   My money is on Mayhem, I think they are going to be too strong for MIB.   MIB will more than likely have a deeper bench, but Mayhem will wear them down.

3-2 Mayhem...

Part of the Game

After reading the comments of this week, I see that a few of you want more recaps and less complaints about ringers and the other tired subjects that we beat into the ground. Well, I can't tell you everything that happened last week, but I can tell you what happened with the Whalers and the Jets.

The Jets stay with the Whalers through a scoreless first period, but eventually fall to the Whalers 4-1. The Whalers and the Jets are usually a pretty good match-up. Last season the Jets beat us in the regular season, but we won in the playoffs. Unfortunately, a very good game by both teams ended with a few sparks. In my opinion, neither guy involved was innocent, so I'm not about to point fingers or complain. It happens.

Unrelated to that episode, I wanted to bring up a few things for discussion. It's clear that the league consists of guys and girls with different levels of hockey experience. Some realize that there are certain times and places on the ice that result in rough play. If you are in front of my goalie, you might get leaned on, bumped, tapped on the pads or pushed around a bit. If you give that back, you'll probably get a little more next time. If you have a decent understanding of the game, you would skate away from that situation thinking, "that was fun and I did my job". If you were new to the game, you might be thinking, "I can't believe that idiot tried to push me down!" You would then scream at the ref about what a dirty player the other guy was and spend the rest of the game focused on him rather than winning the game. Are you following me? I'm wondering if some (not all) of the crap that happens on the ice is started when someone just doesn't get it. So, if you feel like you are getting roughed up or picked on, just think about it for a second. It might be part of the game... yes, even in Bronze League.