Possible ABC Lockout?

As we prepare for the start of our 2012-13 ABC League at Bucs Arena, we read about a possible NHL lockout.  As adult rec league players, you would think we would be immune from any of this types of issues, but you would be dead wrong.

As commissioner of the league, my roles of coordinating the league, refs, registration & schedule are only a minor part of my duties.  The bigger challenge is that of mediating between the captains and players.  Currently there are some big issues dividing the group that could possibly delay our season.

Here are the player's demands:
- Opportunity to choose to skip a shift if they are busy talking to someone on bench
- A dedicated equipment manager to get gear picked up after game
- Sponsored team massages
- On-site skate sharpening available between periods
- Team buses
- Catered meals after game

Here are the captain's demands:
- Players pitch in to pay the captain's league fee
- Private locker room for captain
- All players call captains "Sir"
- 3 practices per week by team (captain exempt)

Although it appears the two sides are far away, I believe we will come together to get an equitable deal done.

Closing Ceremony Starts Countdown

As I watch the closing ceremonies of the Olympics, I realize we are 30 days from our own opening ceremonies for the ABC League.

Although we won't have the same size venue, we'll still have some great things to showcase.  Here is just a sneak peek of some of the great items during our opening presentations.

Replacing the lighting of the torch, we will have the "Filling of the Pitcher".  Approximately 6 months ago, Brendan McCallum from Team Alien flew out to New Mexico and started the "Pitcher Run".  The tradition is that a member of the championship team has to find their "team beer" and have pitcher poured and run it back to Des Moines.  He had a pitcher of Alien Amber Ale poured and started on his way.

As he ran through the states on his way to Bucs Arena, he passed the pitcher to a member of each team for each to run a portion of the leg before finally arriving on Sept 12, to pour it into a Bucs Lounge pitcher to signify the start of our season.  All was almost lost when Gugat from Kryptonite attempted to drink the beer during his leg of the run before being foiled by his captain Johnson.

The national anthem will be sung by Voodoo's very own Todd Bentzen.  His hit single "I'm just a rusty cage" sold over 11 copies in Des Moines and he took time from his world tour to do our event.

With the retirement of Irwin's Dane Maxwell, a short ceremony retiring his jersey will take place.  His number can't be retired since it was unknown what his number actually was.  A combination of his poor attendance and his speed when he was here made his number almost invisible.   A new addition to Irwins this year was caught on tape showing his reaction to Dane's departure.  This video will be aired at the ceremony in Dane's honor, but you can see it it advance here.

Lastly, this season has had the great fortune of adding 2 new expansion teams to the league.  In traditional ABC League fashion, a representative from each expansion team must do the "Slide of Sacrifice" prior to the league's first game.  The Puckheads have chosen John Coffie, while Team Dayton will have their captain Jeff Dayton make the dive.  The dive consists of the chosen player doing a full slide on their belly wearing nothing more than their skates, jock and hockey gloves.

The presentation of events will be nothing short of spectacular which is the expectation of our league.  Thanks to all for making the league a success and we'll see you in 30 days!!!