"Love Is Like a Rock."

Greetings! Remember my "no news is good (g)news policy", when I haven't been online for a while here...

Let's see, picking up where we left off:
Rice Lake won their first game, holding off Verona, a Madison-area school with a much deeper bench. Still, the RL legs held strong, and they rode a one-goal lead into the final four. Meanwhile, Superior took out the other Madison-area representative in the first round (the schools are big, and plenty of funding, but you get the impression they are just not seeing the competition of some of the northern schools. Superior, for example, finished third in their conference, which includes the Minnesota/Duluth-area teams.)

Then, Arrowhead beat Superior to advance to the finals on Saturday, and Rice Lake dropped to a stronger Fond du Lac team. The name of the tournament was ... Brian Berger, a junior at Arrowhead (Milwaukee area school) who scored (count em) 4 goals in the 5-1 championship game (8 for the tournament) over Fond du Lac.

I found this bit interesting in a story about the champion Warhawks:

I have found out that they have a secret weapon, and he doesn’t even wear skates.

Meet Dr. Don Hundt. He has worked with world-class athletes like Olympic gold medal speedskaters Casey FitzRandolph and Chris Witty, gold medal figure skater Scott Hamilton, World Champion figure skater Kurt Browning…well, you get the picture. The man has worked with lots of people that have done very well for themselves.

And if that’s not enough, the following folks have been patients of his: Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, Sting (of The Police fame), Roger Daltrey of The Who, Neil Diamond, and Bob Seger.

The man has street cred, that is for sure. But what has he actually done for these individuals?

This was the fourth year he worked with the Arrowhead hockey team.

“Everything starts with an awesome group of hard-working, highly-skilled boys, team leadership, enthusiasm and great coaching,” stated Hundt. “I have observed that a lot of the coaching goes way beyond hockey–to teaching life skills that all the boys will use the rest of their lives to be successful.”

Why do players often fail?

“Many youth athletes and parents spend an inordinate amount of time and money seeking all the best in camps, coaching, trainers, equipment, et cetera,” Hundt said. “The reality is, few will ever reach their potential because they miss out on taking care of the foundation of their physical and mental performance.”

Dr. Hundt’s work is based on going beyond the “ordinary,” and the performance of the Arrowhead hockey team and the 2008 Arrowhead state champion girls’ swim team is testament enough.

“The Arrowhead (hockey) team gets maximum growth from every workout,” Hundt said. “They recover quicker, injuries are prevented, thier mental performance is enhanced, their confidence goes up and they get to play at their best possible level.

“Put that together with high-end sports nutrition, post-game yoga recovery, hydration, rest, awesome skills, hard work, great parents and coaches,” stated Hundt. “And the defintion where luck is when preparation meets opportunity really makes a lot of sense.”

Well played! Myself, I caught the Thursday evening games after a coincidental meeting that brought me to Madison for the day, but skipped the Friday/Saturday rounds as I was down visiting my sister's family. Have I mentioned how much I love spending time with those children, who continually team up to make me laugh ... and amaze at their brains and courage?

So all in all, an excellent weekend, even given that I drove back through Sunday's winter storm. It was rain and snow until Tomah, and miraculously, a sunny clear day once you started north on 53.

I'm just waiting for this winter to end ... it's the price we pay for living in God's country of fresh waters come summer and autumn. And my books are getting a good workout; that's one way of dusting the shelves, no? Personally, if you haven't already read it and are looking for a timely read, try Bernard Shaw. They just don't write like that anymore, and even if you're not convinced by his p.o.v. (remember, it's a 1928 first edition) surely you'll learn something and enjoy fine writing?

Take care, have a great weekend, and keep your chins up out there. Remember: anybody can take hold of the rudder when the seas are calm ... it's the stormy times that call out the best in us.