Labor Day Super Series

Labor Day Weekend opens our Hockey Season.   Some may recall that a certain rule - delineated by the Potomac River - determines which team our kids can play on this year.  So, this past weekend, north and south (TeamMaryland {TM} and Washington Little Caps {WLC}) met at the preseason opener in our old home rink with our boys facing off against each other for the first time.

 

New teams mean new guidelines, including dress codes.  Team Maryland is required to show up in “appropriate attire” which The Maven finds a bit silly and translates to Z-E-R-O when it comes to the actual playing of the game.  But hey, go along to get along.  The Maves’ husband got his Breezers in a bunch about the requirement and thundered:   “If I wanted to send my son to charm school, well, I’D A' DONE THAT!”

Thankfully the code doesn’t extend to headwear.  An Ohio team showed up looking to successorize in black berets.  Now, it’s one thing when you have fully grown men with stern looks, chiseled jaws and broad shoulders wearing berets in the Special Forces…but 11 year olds with soft-skinned faces and boyish grins in varying stages of orthodontic treatment?  Well, they look more like they’re from the Renoir School of Hockey.

Not. Cool.

Anyhoo, this weekend was less about the hockey and more about the socializing.  Sadly, Miller Mom and The Mave totally dropped the ball when it came to battle readiness.  To be honest, The Mave experienced great discomfiture when a certain email circulated before the weekend discussing “rules” regarding alcohol consumption on Rink property.  Call it a guilty conscience if you will, but at first glance The Mave thought the email was sent only to Her and cc’d to the rest of the team.

Luckily none of the WLC parents received that email.   And lemme tell you what.  

THEY CAME PREPARED.

Chairs and tents are a tipoff for a solid tailgate organization but the Washington Little Caps parents have established the new rubric.  The Maven arrived to the triturating hum of this:

Hell yeah!

Busily building a batch of Margaritas is a dad whom we’ll call, um, “Mr. Cuervo.”  His portable machine crushes ice with the power of an Asplundh wood chipper and whirls up a smooth consistency drink every time.  The Mave's convinced it's hooked up to a car battery.

And while Mr. Cuervo is on beverage duty another WLC dad is tending the BBQ…but not your run-of-the-mill-portable-tailgate-jobber.  Nuh-uh.  “Mr. Kingsford” is lovingly tending his sirloin tips on one of these:

Yup.  That’s a permanent hitch to his pickup.

Now, I don’t care who you are or where you come from, that there demonstrates a whole other level of tailgate commitment.  

The partying did much to soothe the, still open, flesh wounds leftover from the River rules’ separation of our once unified team.  And it’s certainly a life-affirming experience to know that good friends remain good friends even when you’re not on the same roster.

So, Major Props to our pals on the other side of the Potomac.  Yallz brought the true meaning of Christmas to us this weekend with your amazing whiz-bang-gizmo-tailgating-gear!  See you at the Rinks!!

xo

The Mave