Tough guys

In case you missed it, Jeff Z. Klein had a great story in the New York Times on Sunday on ice hockey for disabled folks. Here's the lead:

Joseph Bowser was an Army sergeant serving in Iraq in 2004 when a mortar explosion sent shrapnel through his lower right leg and foot. Doctors gave him a choice between keeping his leg, but with limited use and needing pain medication for the rest of his life, or having it amputated and replaced with a prosthesis.

“The first thing I thought of was, I want to play hockey again,” said Bowser, who had been playing the game since he was 9. “My whole objective was to get back on the ice.”

He chose amputation and a prosthesis.

The story goes on to explain the difficulty that some disabled teams have getting ice time and there's a link to a website called Everybodyskates.com that includes a petition to encourage New Jersey rink owners to set aside one hour a week for disabled hockey. I encourage you to sign the petition. I did.

I have no idea if there are such disabled teams playing here in Southern California. If so, I definitely want to check it out and if there's anything this blog can do to help, hit me with an email by clicking on my name below.

--Steve Hymon

photo credit: New York Times