Perspective

After Saturday night's 5-1 loss to Roseau in the Class AA state high school hockey championship, I was feeling a mite sorry for the boys from Grand Rapids. For the second year in a row they had reached the championship game only to run into an overpowering opponent (last year it was Cretin). I was pulling for them for no other reasons than that they had the sweetest uni's in the tournament (unchanged for many a year) and that losing the big game two years in a row would be a bitter pill to swallow.



However, this story reminds us once again that it's just a game:

Saturday proved to be an emotional day for Roseau High School hockey coach Scott Oliver, and not only over the action on the ice.

That morning, Oliver said his final goodbye to his nephew, Marine Sgt. Chad Allen, 25, of Maple Lake, Minn.

The marine was killed in Iraq by a roadside bomb on Feb. 28. His funeral was held Sunday morning at Maple Lake High School.

U.S. and Minnesota flags flew at half-staff in his honor at state buildings while, across town, Roseau became Class 2A boys' hockey champions.

"It's been a long day, and it's a day that I knew was going to be coming" said Oliver. "Here you are, you're at the state high school hockey tournament, one of the greatest events you can be a part of. And we've got servicemen and servicewomen over there, and they're at risk."

A fact that we don't do enough to remember here on the home front. Chad Allen R.I.P.

UPDATE-- J.D. e-mails to ask:

Speaking of unchanged uni's for the Grand Rapids hockey team, seeing them in this year's tournament reminded me of when I first saw them in a state tournament, decades ago. They were the Grand Rapids Indians then, and they had cheerleaders who took to the ice wearing Indian headdresses. Whatever happened to skating cheerleaders, anyway?

Good question. The State High School League would probably make 'em wear helmets these days, thus destroying much of the appeal.