Dreams

I have been kicking around dozens of different ideas on what to post, with the Olympics in full gear, and how that can be a center of conversation for a hockey referee blog.

I could have talked about self sacrifice, dedication, hard work, and all that stuff, because it is very true if you want to be your best [Buccigross just wrote a great article about this stuff].  I have been studying Special Forces training for the U.S. Military to learn how to channel everyone's inner greatness.

 

I also was kicking around the idea of competition and the inherent competition between the officials, not only from each country (wouldn't you want to prove your country is the best?), as well as the competition that has got to be there between the NHL guys and non-NHL guys.  This would lead into a strong, strong, strong belief that competition amongst you and your peers in the hockey ref world is what draws out the "greatness" in some guys and not in others (maybe you'd better read that Bucci article again).  Competition helps bring out those who have the "Right Stuff".

I thought about drawing comparisons between players and refs, and how only the best get to a stage like the Olympics.  And what that all really means.

I could have chosen any variation on all of these topics and EASILY referred them to hockey ref skills.  However, I chose to talk about dreams.

Did you ever dream as a kid?  Dream about athletic success?  What were your dreams?  Could you turn that dream into a reality?

I dreamed about the 1980 Olympic team.  I pretended I was Jim Craig (you know how you had those delusional thoughts about being a goalie when you were in Mites?  Thank God that thought never stayed with you, huh?).  Me and my Buddy, Scott Solberg, would have HUNDREDS (no exaggeration there) pretend games in my driveway, where he would fire tennis balls at me with hockey slap shots while I would make saves.  Each team would get 10 shots per period and we would keep score that way.  We would have any kind of tournament we could think of.  We'd even make up brackets or round robin match ups.  Believe it or not, but there were MANY Minnesota State High School Tournaments, Stanley Cup Playoffs, and Olympic match ups "dreamed up" in my drive way (I'd also have a variation of this in an empty room in our basement, a way that I could play 'tournaments' all by myself).  Those were some great dreams played out as if they were real.  Heck...they were real!

So what can these dreams do for me now?  They can continue to be played out.  And you can do it in hockey, in some way, shape, or form, if you want.

• Kind of like a guy who called me today and told me he is reffing a High School Section Play Off in his first year of high school hockey.

• Kind of like the guy who called me today and told me about a Jr. Gold/Midget game he nailed.

• Kind of like the guy who is reffing at a USA Hockey National Tournament this year.

• Kind of like the guy who is reffing 11 (yes...ELEVEN!) District playoff games.

• Kind of like the guy who has really made a name for himself in Junior hockey.

And...kind of like me...the guy who dreamed up all those HUNDREDS of tournaments in his driveway many years ago, gets to let them play out, and plans to let them play out.  Year.after.year.


Just like these dreams (that's my arm at the 0:56 mark -- another dream recreated in front of 19,547 fans in the stands):


If you want to recreat more dreams, year after year, check out the Ultimate Officials Referee Camps.  That's what we do...create new dreams and make them reality!

email me: info@ultimateofficials.com

Say, "I want to dream"

or...
Let me know what your dream is...