Ryan Pageau-Sacred Place in Sports

I read Mark's post and I would have to agree with him as I also believe an ice rink can be considered a sacred place. As a teammate and friend of Mark's, I skate 3-4 times a week and spend hours on end in locker rooms and on the ice. Although I have not been playing hockey nearly as long as Mark, my experiences in and around the rink are ones that I will never forget. From the moment you step into an ice arena, a distinct aroma immediately hits your senses, and the smells are unlike any others I have encountered. People use all sorts of different methods to release energy, calm down, and meditate. Working out, running, reading books, or playing chess, etc are all examples; I do this on the ice. For me, an ice rink is the one place that I can go where nothing else matters. Every problem I have, every test I haven’t studied for, everything that could possibly be bothering me at the time is instantly washed away as soon as I step foot in an ice arena. Most people are appalled at the smell of a hockey player and their gear, but I love it. When you do something so frequently, you become accustomed to it, and without it the rancid smell of my hockey gear, it just wouldn’t feel authentic. When you play with a team of initially stranger’s day in a day out, those strangers become friends. Eventually the bond will grow stronger and a "family" is formed. The things we talk about in the locker room are funny, sad, insulting, embarrassing, humorous, and anything else one could imagine; they are conversations I wouldn’t dare let my mother hear. The feeling of slipping my bare foot into a soaking wet ice skate is one in which I would not trade for anything else. Stepping onto freshly cut ice on a 1/4 centimeter wide worth of steel is something that not all have experienced, but should. Sometimes, when the rink is cold enough, the glass and the ice become engulfed by a fog so thick you can hardly see. All of these experiences are why I agree with Mark and definitely believe that an ice rink is a sacred place, to me.