Well...according the the tradition of Labor Day weekend, we began our pre season hockey camp and the close of summer has come upon us.

We had a tremendous weekend in Lake Tahoe.  If you ever get the chance to visit the Sierra's...DO IT!  It is beyond majestic.

On a sad note, we lost one of our best young hockey players BEFORE going up to altitude.  Yup...the young fella broke his ankle while attending a hockey session of his OLDER peers.

This young boy is so good he often plays one or TWO levels above his age.  As a matter of fact, I have had a number of occasions that I've asked his Dad, "does he play any other sport?"

We are all under the impression that full year sport and only that sport is a bad thing.  We say that there is over use injury, and no balance to the child's life.

We all want to think of our kid as the next "Wayne Gretzky" and definitely a future Hall of Fame candidate.

We have discussed how bad this is for the kid, the family and the sport.

What I truly believe is we only have a LIMITED amount of .....(insert sports skill here)

For example; a pitcher has perhaps..."X" amount of pitches in his arm over his entire CAREER.  (yes, I am counting Little League as part of the  "career")

When that youngster surpasses "X", then the risk ratio increases substantially.

It might be X+1 or X+100 but eventually there will be NO pitches left.  Done!  TANKED!

Time extended on the ice, and WE ALL DO IT...increases the amount of risks the player is exposed to.  Such is the case with this youngster.

This is his FIRST major injury.  HE'S TEN fucking years old!!!

When the time has come, because we have a finite amount of injuries our body will endure, then BAM...the Sport becomes something you give up or retire from.

Take a look, WHO actually quits?  I didn't.  I hung it up because my body no longer wanted to endure yet another "rehab" phase.  No one quits!  We have no more whatevers.  We used them all up. Then there you are...DONE as in DUN!

Then what?  You look for another year and another one after THAT.  Until you come to terms with that one fact of NOT having anymore (insert whatever again).

This is my observation, but I think it's valid.  Look at the "retired".  They would STILL participate if they didn't mind all the "Fix'n" that needs to be done for the participation.  They didn't really retire, they just got fed up with the "coming back" from whatever put them OUT!

Today:

Mountain Dog Row: 4x8

4 way neck: 3x10x5.0

Chin Ups: 4x10xBody Weight + 25 lbs vest

Straight Arm Pulldowns: 4x10

Banded Back Extension: 3x10x3 Medium size bands

Shrugs: 4x12x445