Hockey dad, gone bad...

Today was Mothers day and I got in my 3000 meter speed swim workout by 10 am, as we were taking Alice out for Brunch at 11 am.

I never look forward to a speed swim because they can be hard, but once I get started I go full out and feel good afterwards. The fastest I did was 50 meters in 47 seconds. The only downside was that I forgot my towel at home and had to drip dry. Other than that is was a really good speed session. Three more swims until the race.

We had a nice Brunch and I "pigged" out on everything. The cheese cake and chocolate mousse were very tasty. I figured with all the training and very little beer, I needed to let loose.

After Brunch was Reid's 3 on 3 hockey game and I'm the coach. It is the first time I've ever coached and was winging it, although one of the other parents who coached house league before was helping me.

It started off okay, I picked the lines based on putting good and not so good players together. We only worked one gate and next time we'll work two, but the big thing that happened was a parent out of the stands came down to the bench and just took over.

He didn't say anything to me. He just walked up, went to the gate closest to the goalie and started telling all the defence men to move down to his side. In doing so, he screwed up all the lines. Then he started yelling at the kids and telling them what to do. He completely took over.

After a few shifts, I went up to him and told him I was the coach and in a respectful way told him to leave. He did, and I moved all the kids back together, but my lines were now screwed up. We ended up losing 7 to 6 and I think we would have had a better chance to win if that parent didn't interfere. It was amazing, the guy didn't even introduce himself or ask me if I'd like his help, he just took over.

Once I sent him back to the stands, all you could hear was him yelling at the kids. After the game, he didn't come in the dressing room to get his son. It's unfortunate that I can't make the next weeks game due to the race because it would be interesting to see how this thing plays out.

After the game the assistant coach told me that it was good what I did.

It's unbelievable how some parents are with their kids hockey, first Reid gets assaulted at his 3 on 3 game by a parent earlier this year, then I get a guy who just comes in and tries to take over. In both cases, the guys looked similar.

After the game, what happened was bothering me, I figured if the guy had any class, he would call to apologize, but I highly doubt that is going to happen.

I had a 2 hour ride at tempo speed scheduled after the game and getting ready was a challenge. I had a tough time focusing on what I needed because all I could think of was what happened with that parent at the game. But I managed to get going and just before I got out the door it started raining. Although, I did remember to put on 4 layers of clothing and two jackets.

I rode as hard as I could while trying to keep my heart rate aerobic at under 139 bpm. I think, all in all, I did okay. I averaged 30.2 kph for 60.42 km. After the ride, my legs felt pretty good and I was much more calm and relaxed about "hockey dad gone bad".

Before I even stretched, I got a bucket of soapy water and started to clean my bike. It was really dirty from the rain and the muddy roads. I didn't want to have a replay of last time, when I took my bike out in the rain, didn't clean it, and got the "third degree" from the bike mechanic about how I'm ruining my bike and all the work he had to do to clean it up.

As a side bar, I was looking at the weather for Florida this weekend, it was around 33 C with no wind. This race may be a hot one.

P.S. I know my Mom reads this, so HAPPY MOTHERS DAY MOM!