On star crossed hockey fans

It never ceases to amaze people that yes, we do indeed have hockey in Alabama. In a state where ice is a rare thing the game has flourished for more than thirty years now at the collegiate level. Semi-pro teams have come and gone, but UAH Charger hockey has remained constant.

With that longevity comes a number of distinctions, among them one of the successful coaches of all time, Doug Ross, and one of the oldest programs around. But you'd never know it as we're still looked at as an oddity by all of college hockey.

But things are slowly changing.

We've got two players that've made the bigs. Scott Munroe was the first to make good. Scottie was a brick wall during his time at UAH, and he's done very well for the Phantoms. The Flyers have been slow to take great interest in Scottie, but he was called up a few times last season. The raw deal for Scottie is that the Flyers have passed him over on the hopes that someone of obviously lesser talent would do better, so he lingers with the Phantoms.

Jared Ross, the son of former UAH coach Doug Ross, set numerous school records. Graduating with honors in Nursing, Ross went on the play in the minors, ending up with the Atlanta Thrashers club team, the Chicago Wolves. Chicago did Jared wrong from the word go playing him very little. A trade saw Jared back with teammate Scott Munroe and the Phantoms did well. Jared distinguished himself as the leading scorer on the team last season, despite being out an entire month due to an appendectomy, and the Flyers have noticed. They've called him up a few times, but like the Wolves, they've been stuffing him onto a 4th line where he has no help.

But notoriety doesn't stop there.

We've got this kid named Wyatt. Wyatt's a sophomore with a strong stick, lightning glove, and guards post to post like it's his only mission in life. That crease is his house, and he protects it well.

But Wyatt hasn't seen much play time. Before his freshman season even got started Wyatt did a number on his groin. (Guys, you only need to know this, it's cringe worthy believe me.) But Wyatt has seen one game now, if only an exhibition where he only faced down a total of eight shots all night. It's not that Wyatt isn't a good goaltender, he just has the lousy luck to be behind another excellent sophomore goalie and "Lucky the Leprechaun."

And then there's the issue of his parents.

No one gets to pick their parents, that's one of the innumerable facts of life, but Wyatt's parents are wonderful to their son. They've supported him in ways that not many other parents could, going out of their way to help him and his siblings. They're hockey parents to be proud of, and most certainly deserving of the simple ability to watch their son play.

However, I'm sad to say that my fellow fans of the only NCAA Division I hockey team in the south aren't so understanding. Wyatt's parents are, in a word, celebrities.



This past series UAH honored the parents of the players at what was the first official home game of the season. But, what's peculiar about that is the fact that in the eight seasons that I've been going to the games, I can't recall one time that the university has honored the parents in this manner. By academic year during the first intermission they honored each set of parents. From the rafters the people driving the spotlights attempted to find the parents of each player, but failed miserably. But when they reached the sophomores, and got to the "R," they had no trouble finding their target.

I fear that the university is trying to capitalize on who Wyatt's are. I know that the athletic director went so far as to ask one of the fellow photograpers at the game to shoot pictures of them. For what purpose has yet to reveal itself.

I find it absolutely reprehensible that this is happening to a couple of parents that should be allowed to watch their son and support his team in peace.