Thougths on Life and FHl.

Today I played my first official game in the "FHL"(Franklin Hockey League) and I have a lot to say about it. The FHL is a street hockey league that was developed by John George and friends. I don't even think many of them imagined that it would be as big and/or as popular as it is today. Unlike regular hockey, the games are played with only 8 players and two goalies because of the size of the court.

This year is the first year that I'm playing in the FHL. I went into the day nervous and not knowing what to expect. I've played hockey at different levels before, and have had a recent run of success at Penn Hills dek hockey. Up there I captained, coached, and played for the "Sasquatch Gang". In five different seasons at Penn Hills I finished in the top 10 in three of the five seasons I played up there in points. Every team I played for up there made the playoffs but was always upset in the first or second round in the playoffs. Since most of my team is in college, we now usually only play one season a year, in the summer.

I've known about the FHL since it's existence. I never had much interest in playing for a number of reasons, but mostly I was just being immature. I was also quite jealous of the success that the FHL has had in the last few years. Again just me being immature.

However, I've grown up some since my days at Steel Valley, where I developed a not so great reputation. I've had some dark days in my life in the past few years of my life and have made some very poor choices at times. At the same time I've been working on improving my life in every way possible. I've recently been accepted by Point Park University, which I hope to be attending in the fall of 2011.

I've also been having some recent success in the field of sports journalism. I'm not the greatest writer in the world, but I do know sports. I've had some good success with this very blog and on the sports website bleacherreport.com. My hopes and dreams are to be a success writer and/or radio personal, making a living talking about sports.

As for the FHL, I was quite surprised about the way I was treated by my captain(Andrew McDonald) and my teammates, in a good way. I was treated fairly and felt very comfortable playing for and with them. I was nervous for a number of reasons about playing in the FHL but those feeling have since disappeared.  I was fully aware that there are a "few" people that may not like me at FHL. I'm sure that some of those same people know that I may have said some not-so-nice things about some of them. Most of these feelings stem back from my high school days, which if you think about it is pretty silly. Which is the beautiful thing about sports. You don't have to like your teammates or your opponents, but you should show someone respect. I can now admit I was wrong about some people that are involved in the FHL and wrong about the FHL overall.

Obviously the FHL created stems from the recent success of the Pittsburgh Penguins and the fact that Sidney Crosby, the greatest hockey player in the world today plays right here in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Even one of the teams are named after him called "the Crosby's". The FHL has donated to multiple charities in the Pittsburgh area, and even has a toy drive every year for kids that are less fortunate.

In the end I think the FHL is a great thing and I'm not afraid to admit it anymore. It gives former high school sports stars a chance to redeem their glory days, and most of all, it allows people that love the sport of hockey to get together on Saturdays and play the beautiful game it is.