Its Rivalry Wednesday

All sports have great rivalries. Packers vs Bears, Yankees vs Red Sox, Valley vs Dowling, Canucks & Maple Leafs....the list goes on and on. Our ABC League is no different. The match ups this week are some of the longest running rivalries in sports history.

The picture you see shows Red Alert playing Yankee Doodle Dandy in field hockey. This epic battle back in July 2003 went a record 36 periods and lasted 16 hours. Finally, Tod Dunn of Red Alert (pictured in red shooting), fired the game winning shot as Ron Ambrose of YDD (in blue lunging forward to block) attempted a last second trip. All this as a stunned Ross Possgate of YDD looks on in the background.

So this week is no different. Fierce longstanding traditions continue and here they go:

Kryptonite & Irwins

Back when Chris Hill of Kryptonite was 8 years old playing in the mite league of youth hockey, another kid was chasing him to prevent him from scoring. Chris shot the puck and did score. Chris celebrated by autographing the puck and giving it to the kid he burned (that's right, it wasn't T.O. who came up with that idea first). Til this day, that kid has saved that puck as a memory of what he would never let happen again. Everyone knows how good of a player Chris Hill has become but what ever happened to that other boy? After hopping around from adult league to adult league, he landed a spot on the Irwin's team. That's right, that scrawny, pathetic, worthless defenseman who got burned by Hill as a kid is none other than Irwin's very own Pete Anthan. And he still carries that puck with him to every game in hopes of getting another chance at redemption. And now you know the rest of the story. Anthan gets his revenge and Irwins wins by 1.

Alien Vegas & Puck Hawgs

So the Sindelar brothers on the Puck Hawgs are very close. They play hockey together, live together, work at the same drive thru coffee shop and even have bunk beds. This inseparable duo have a great bond that cannot be broken. About 4 years ago, they got a call that they had another brother. They were not aware of this brother, for he had wondered off at the mall one day when they were all very young and was never seen again. A reunion was coordinated for them all to meet. When the missing brother saw his 2 brothers he immediately sobbed. The resemblance was remarkable and he was overcome with joy. Unfortunately, the reaction from Terry & Nick was not the same. They felt that this "stranger" would ruin their connection and a 3rd bunk beds not an option in a room with 8 foot ceilings. They scowled at the "found" brother and told him to go on his merry way. Once the lost brother saw what was happening, he vowed to be better than them in every way. He started playing hockey but was even cast out of D League for his poor abilities. One day, Mike Fascian of Alien came into the locker room and said he found a stray player on the street. He convinced his teammates that this stray was left out in the cold with no team that wanted him and that if the Alien team did not take him, he would most likely have the unthinkable happen....he would have to play soccer. The Alien guys took the vagrant in, cleaned him up and taught him how to play. Now the match up this Wednesday will finally allow that kid to get revenge on his brothers. That sad, dirty, nonathletic little player is none other than the now beloved Matt Haynes. Alien by 2.

YDD Tattoo & Red Alert

As stated earlier in this posting, the YDD & Alert teams are no strangers to each other. Their teams have not only faced each other in ice & field hockey, but have joined a plethora of other activities. From Cub Scout pine wood derby racing to the Quadathalon (the 4 events of checkers, fencing, pie eating & line dancing), these teams are always battling. Dave Swift & Rod Bragg teamed up to to win Red Alerts first ever title of Potato Sack Racing. This title was previously held for 11 years by the YDD tandem of Nick Dawson & Dan Toomey. When Kristen Zorich of YDD pinned Joe Henson of Alert in the 2007 Galactic Roman Greco Championships , the sports world was rocked. Tattoo Dan has even tattooed "Red Alert = Dead Alert" on all his players across their shoulder blades (except for Mark Loverude who already had "My Little Pony" across his back). This should be the closest game of the night and toughest for me to pick. Alert with a shoot-out win.