Wow...I'm not often at a loss for words but returning from my long awaited blogging hiatus... I don't know where to start.
Firstly, I'm glad to see that everyone shared their opinions during my absence. This is an open space and I wanted to make it a free-forum to gain different perspectives from EVERYONE in the hockey community. However, what's with all the hate ladies?! I created this blog to be an inclusive space for all women who live in this hockey world, whether they are a wife, super-fan, fan, stripper, mother or female hockey player. Where has the sisterhood gone? I’m not asking you to agree, approve, or support the opinions or lifestyles of others just to practice compassion and to keep an open heart. We all can add value here...we just have to read between the lines sometimes to understand the writer’s perspective. On that note, let’s all try our best to learn from one and other and practice compassion while keeping an open mind. This site is not meant to be a blame game for the woes’ of the hockey life. Each instance is independent from the next. It was meant to be an online community for women to come together and talk about issues and hardships that effect them in the hockey world. I hope it will help to break down all serotypes from whatever label one might typically be placed under. The way I see it: no matter where we find ourselves in this hockey world I think that there is a place for us all. Whether we don an engagement ring, a wedding band, an oversized jersey, a face full of makeup and heels to a hockey game, or nothing at all to work... we are all women thus; we are technically on the same team.
I've been absent for the past month for good reason. My husband has had some recent luck in his career and our homestead has been a little unstable as we have been moved back and forth between two cities that aren't close. I'm not complaining though, life is good!
I think we really need to turn this topic around and discuss something positive. I would love to hear about the most successful types of charity events we have witnessed or as girlfriends and wives; have been involved in organizing. I think this idea sharing would be beneficial for the hockey arena communities as well as get the conversation back on track to somewhere positive for this blog. I look forward to your posts! Thanks for sticking with me sisters!
HW
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Thank you for coming back HW! I missed you!
ReplyDeleteNot a wife or a girlfriend, but I usually participate in the charities when I financially can. Our wives/girlfriends do the usual player baskets and auction them off. We had Christmas trees this year that were very popular. Each player had a tree and the wife/girlfriend of the player decorated it with gift cards, small gifts (but good ones, like an Ipod). The fan club had an awesome idea this year that raised $6000 for the Atlanta Thrashers Foundation. They went to build-a-bear and built each player a bear. They got little jerseys (that was a problem because BAB didn't have them, so they bought these stuffed monkeys out of the team gear store then iron on the number of each player). They got the guys to sign the jersey. Before they built the bears they bought voice recorders (you can get these at BAB) and got each player to record a holiday message. They stuffed that in the bear. It was crazy successful. The bear that drew the highest bid was Kari Lehtonen and it went for $1200.
ReplyDeleteI also think it would be kind of fun if you could do community service type stuff with some fans. I got to do a Habitat for Humanity build with Marty Reasoner and Chris Thorburn, it was awesome. You could raffle off a couple of spots and raise even more money.
First of all I'd just like to tell you what a great job you've done with your blog. I'm not a girlfriend or a wife, I'm just a fan who loves hockey, and who also thinks of herself as a writer. I've really enjoyed your stories and perspective!
ReplyDeleteI wanted to share with you and your readers a story that has been of interest to the hockey community for a few months now -some of you might have already heard about it. I'm from Massachusetts originally, and a high school hockey player from a neighboring town broke his neck when he fell headfirst into the boards during a game. He broke his C-4 and C-5 vertebrae and badly bruised his spinal cord in the accident, which occurred in January. Since then, he has been rehabbing at a facility in Atlanta. His prognosis is unknown because the doctors aren't sure what kind of recovery he will make; however he has a long road ahead of him whatever his outcome will be. The hockey community, stretching around the globe, has rallied behind him and his family. A fund, for which thousands of dollars have already been raised, has been established to help him and his family with medical bills and the costly expenses of living with a spinal cord injury. I thought his story might be of interest to your blog. Potentially falling under the category of your inquiry about successful charity events, I know many players and fans alike from all over have hosted several to help in small and large ways. I thought perhaps the hockey community to whom this blog is of interest might want to help him too, whether the contributions are financial and/or are in the form of prayers for his recovery. If anyone would like more information, here is the website his family has created: http://www.mattbrownnumber3.org/
Thanks and keep the posts coming!
Anonymous (above) Matt Brown is becoming a celebrity! He is in the Shepard Center here in Atlanta. When the Bruins came to town, Patrice Bergeron brought his gold medal by the hospital and visited with Matt. Marty Reasoner, current Thrasher, former Bruin and Boston College alumni paid him a visit as well. A fund raiser for him would be a great idea.
ReplyDeleteHis story is also making its way through facebook
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Norwood-MA/PRAY-FOR-MATT-BROWN-3/286037576868
For people that do charity work I would HIGHLY recommend the book entitled "The Revolution Will Not Be Funded," by the Organization INCITE (http://www.incite-national.org/index.php?s=89).
ReplyDeleteIt is about the history of and politics of non-profits and charity work, and very insightful. The book is somewhat aimed at people who work for organizations, but still very applicable to anyone interested in helping charities. This is how they define what they call the "non-profit industrial complex": http://www.incite-national.org/index.php?s=100
In some ways it goes back to that saying of "I gave the poor man bread and they called me a saint, I asked why the poor man had no bread, and they called me a commie." For example, many people donate to charities to help short-term needs (which is for sure needed), but are hesitant to work to change why the inequality exists in the first place. Another example is running races for cancer (which is great, esp. to help those that can't afford treatment) - but these often get more attention than actually fighting root causes. i.e. Many hair dyes have ingredients made from coal tar, which are exempt from regulation:
(http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/research/coal_tar_hair_dye.php & http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/ingredient.php?ingred06=704389 or http://www.organicconsumers.org/bodycare/color102804.cfm.
And the drug company Eli Lilly makes likely profit from breast cancer:(http://thinkbeforeyoupink.org/?page_id=2 & http://www.ourbodiesourblog.org/blog/2009/03/double-dose-wheres-the-media-coverage-of-breast-cancer-and-environmental-causes-new-report-on-sex-education-in-florida-gender-neutral-prounouns-domestic-violence-and-technology).
--I don't mean at all to insult any amazing work anyone has done, or is doing, what want to put these thoughts out there in case the perspective is helpful. Thanks!
From a lifelong fan who loved the latest post.
I LOVE this topic. I've been involved in numerous charities in the years I've been with my boyfriend. I can't honestly say that any have been better than others, and I've enjoyed being a part of each one.
ReplyDeleteOne year there was a dinner with the team that fans had to buy tickets for. You received dinner and had a chance to mingle with the team and their families. Along with the price of admittance there was a cash bar, and a very large silent auction featuring items from the team and also items that held relevance to the city as well.
I've been a part of making Christmas ornaments for each of the guys on the team that were auctioned off. There's been the casino nights with the silent and live auctions. There are the games where the girls don the jerseys and stand on the concourse selling and auctioning items from the team during a home game.
The charities I've worked with involved autism, animal shelters, childhood cancer, domestic violence, and breast cancer. To me, all are very worthy causes and I enjoy every minute I spend helping out.
Glad to see you back :)
ReplyDeleteI'm not a hockey wife or gf, but a fan. I've been a hockey fan for a relatively short time, but very early on I commented to my husband that I was impressed with the way hockey wives are involved in charities. Maybe it goes on in all sports, but somehow it seems more prevalent in hockey to me. Maybe it is because hockey players are more busy than some other sports that may only have games once a week... and therefore the players themselves don't have as much time for charity events, so the wives step in to fill the gap?? That's just one idea that popped into my head.
We don't have a team in our city, but we do get the tv feeds from some teams in nearby cities. When watching the games and seeing commercials aimed at the local market, I'm always impressed with the ads for charity events sponsored by the teams themselves and/or the wives.
I've always been involved in service projects all my life. And, I've always been impressed with those who use their fame and celebrity in order to do good things. As the saying goes, with "power" comes "responsibility," and I think the hockey community wields that responsibility quite well. In no small part, no doubt, to the ladies behind the men :)
The professional hockey team in my town does a lot of charity work. There are events that occur every year around the holidays: giving out food for Thanksgiving dinners, meeting with kids at the Children's Hospital at Christmas time, taking kids from less fortunate families shopping for winter clothing, etc. These events get a lot of press coverage, but I know that a lot of them do work beyond this as well. Our team and their wives and girlfriends are great at helping out the local community.
ReplyDeleteWelcome back HW!!! I have missed your frequent postings and was worried something bad had happened to you. Glad to hear it was just life that got in the way. It’s nice to have you back. :)
ReplyDeleteI am not a hockey wife or girlfriend; I’m just a fan. I love the fact that the hockey community as a whole is out there giving back to the community. I was born and raised in Pittsburgh and I’m a die hard Pens fan. I love that the Penguins and their wives and girlfriends are so involved in the local community. The wives and girlfriends organize "Pens & Pins," a charity bowling tournament for Make-A-Wish. The Pens players serve as celebrity team captains. The bowlers also participate in a silent auction and purchase mystery pucks and homemade baked goods provided by the team's wives and girlfriends. It’s always a huge success and I think the players have as much fun as the kids. I also love when the players don their jerseys and head over to Children’s Hospital to visit with the sick children.
The Pens recently surprised and welcomed home an Iraq war veteran. He thought he was just going to walk around the city and watch a practice but the Pens welcomed him on the ice and shook his hand to thank him for his service to our country. This is a cause that is dear to my heart since I am the wife of an active duty Marine. Our service men and women do not see anything special in there service to our country, it’s just their job. Most of them are awed by the support and recognition they receive, especially from major league athletes.
I currently live in the Washington DC area and this past winter we suffered through three blizzards, two in one week. During the second storm, the roof on our local ice arena collapsed. Several local young hockey players were scrambling to find practice arenas around the Northern Virginia area. One of the Capitals players heard about the long distances that some of these kids were traveling each week just so that they could continue to practice a sport that they love. He was kind enough to take time out of his busy schedule and stop by the rink and give the kids some pointers and sign autographs. That small gesture on his part put a smile on many of the young boys faces that day and warmed the hearts of many parents and coaches. I would like to add that this was done without any type of fanfare or publicity. I only know about it because one of the boys that was there plays lacrosse with my son and his mother told me about it.
It was nice to see the NFL players wearing pink in support of Breast Cancer Awareness this year. I just wish that Ovarian Cancer was given half the publicity as Breast Cancer. My mom is a two year survivor of Ovarian Cancer. It always nice when a celebrity lends his or her voice to a worthy cause, maybe you could convince the NHL to use teal colored sticks for a month in support of Ovarian Cancer Awareness! I’ll be walking with my mom and my sister in the 10th Annual Walk to Break the Silence on Ovarian Cancer which will be held on Sunday, September 12, 2010 at the North Park Boathouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I hope to see you there! :)
Amen to women being on the same team!! Thanks for that, you just got even cooler in my eyes. ;)
ReplyDeleteAnd for anyone who's interested in my new blog, it's at http://seveninchstilettos.wordpress.com
Still figuring out the whole layout/format, but I welcome your suggestions!
Please no pointless hatred.
Thanks!
p.s. Hope you're having a good "off season"!!
Don't worry about the haters, just live your life how you want to live it! I get guff for things I say on my blog all the time... somehow always left as "anonymous!" Keep up the good work :)
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