I can't help but feel melancholy tonight.

The ball hockey season has come to a close. We laid it all on the line in the final game but it just wasn't enough. No one could ever question our heart or our determination because on those counts we had plenty. But in the final analysis we simply did not have enough team skill to beat a more cohesive team. Where they could pass stick to stick, we would miss one another and would have to chase it off the boards. In the the offensive zone they would cycle it and take a point shot. We would scramble in the corner and maybe jam away at something right in front of the goal. We weren't clean, and it simply wasn't enough.

But that's not why I'm blue. I am sad because I was playing on a great team. We didn't win a lot of games but from my perspective we had a lot of fun. The team got along great, and there was good participation. The roster was 16 players and we always had 10+ for every game. Looking around the league at other teams that was pretty damn good. It was the same group of guys that came out for every game, and even though we were on the short end of most games, we still cared. Every time. They are a great bunch of guys.

I am sad because who knows what the future may bring. There are rumors of a fall league, and I am hopeful that this will prove true. I had an amazing amount of fun playing ball hockey. Even more than I could have hoped for, when I signed up for it on a whim. It would be great if the core of the same team stuck together, and we played another season. That would be amazing. But you can never tell what the future will bring. And uncertainty breeds my melancholy.

To be continued . . .