"Crooked Arrows" brings back memories of lacrosse

Having watched quite a number of sports movies over the years the general theme is that of an underdog overcoming tremendous obstacles (always against an arrogant champion) to win the grand prize at the last second.  "Crooked Arrows" follows that pattern.  Sports movies are full of cliches, ordinary acting, but also exciting action and "Crooked Arrows" was not much different.  Originally I reserved it at the library, but saw so many negative reviews I cancelled it.  I recently spotted it on shelf when looking for a time filler.  Glad, as it brought back some memories.

The special features were as interesting as the movie.  I never played lacrosse, but for a few years I followed it very closely.  I always fancied myself an appreciator of native culture and the special features reminded me of that connection.

The Oshawa Green Gaels came to town when I was in high school and very involved with track and basketball.  I didn't know how unique they were for a few years, but their excitement registered strongly with me.  They believed in the importance of fitness that allowed them to execute a fast break style like the Boston Celtics.  One of my favourite players was John Davis who was a phenomenal scorer.  As years went by some of my school mates joined, such as Charlie Marlowe, Joe Krasnjy and Larry Lloyd.  A particular favorite was Gaylord Powless and years later I met a sister and brother at a party hosted by my friends Bob and Adrianne Stone.  Bob had joined me in watching many of the games.

In another blog I told the story of hitch-hiking (http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2012/02/hitch-hiking-memories.html) and looking for a place to stay overnight near Huntsville.  Picked up by one fellow I rambled on about some of my interests and it turned out he was a Green Gael who played on a few of their championship teams.  He told me this very casually, but more importantly found a cheap place for me to spend the night in his home town of Dwight.

A prime reason for their success was Jim Bishop who was an advocate for fitness.  He recruited players who could execute his fast break strategy.  Eventually he went on to be involved with the Detroit Red Wings of the NHL and also to help start a pro lacrosse league.   His team, the Green Gaels won the Minto Cup, the Junior lacrosse championship for Canada 7 times and had been voted Canada's top amateur team a few times.

The Green Gaels eventually became boring, not because they lost any skill, but because they won so many games often by lopsided scores that there was little dramatic tension in most of their games. There was still excitement at how they could work a fast break and the skills of all the players.

After a few years of watching the Junior Green Gaels I watched the senior Brooklin Redmen and saw  what most people see about lacrosse.  Although demanding a high level of skill it can be rougher than hockey.  These games tended to be lower scoring, but in some ways just as exciting.

I moved and went to university and got away from lacrosse except reading newspaper reports.  After a few job changes I found myself working for the Etobicoke Guardian in the circulation department.  One of the teams they covered was the Etobicoke Eclipse, a lacrosse team and I saw a chance to use one of their games in a sales contest.  At the time I was writing a newsletter and had developed a crossword puzzle that encouraged my carriers to find the answers in the newspaper and also the newsletter itself.  I got the sports reporter, Howard Berger to agree to put one of the answers in his column.  At the game I had arranged to have a photo to be taken with one of the top players and a contest winner.  The Eclipse chosen was Adam Oates who went onto to be a prominent hockey player for the Boston Bruins.

Part of the Oshawa Green Gaels' success came from the involvement of Gaylord Powless who learned his lacrosse in Oshweken, a Mohawk reservation near Brantford.  Gaylord was honoured as Canadian Indian athlete of the year at least once.  In "Crooked Arrows" the main tribe associated with lacrosse was Onadaga in upstate New York, another branch of the Six Nations.  I became aware they consider themselves a sovereign nation and lacrosse was a sacred game.  The movie showed a concept of lacrosse having almost a religious meaning for the players.  

"Crooked Arrows"would be enjoyable if you either like lacrosse or would like to understand native American culture (really both sides of Canadian/American border). For me it was personal.

HITCH-HIKING MEMORIES

Hopefully my kids think this is another boring blog.

To give some perspective just before this past Christmas my company, OKD Marketing asked each of their employees to provide a secret to be used for a Christmas party. I chose to say that I had hitch-hiked 15,000 miles. Talking to one of the young organizers I had to clarify why I had used miles instead of kilometers. The government had started a conversion program when I was indulging in my hitch-hiking career and when I started making my calculations it was far easier to use miles. That dates me and to some extent dates hitch-hiking.

I can’t remember when I started hitch-hiking. I do recall friends (including Bob Stone) encouraging me and I could not have been older than 16 (I think a little younger). In the beginning most of it was going around and near my home town of Oshawa.

I became conscious of danger, but at the time it seemed distant and very unlikely. I have ridden in cars and trucks with hundreds of strangers and feel they all had benevolent intentions. What encouraged me to overlook the danger was FREEDOM.  No car, little money and a keen interest of what was on the other side of the fence seemed a lot more important.

My parents just before I was to enter grade 12 decided to move from the urban city of Oshawa to the rural area of Haliburton, about a two hour drive away. I decided to see my old friends. I also realized that my new friends lived a lengthy school bus ride away. Then I went to the University of Guelph and found new horizons.

Always alert to information I discovered one helpful tool was using a sign with my destination on it.

Going from Guelph to Oshawa or Haliburton meant going around Toronto. On one occasion I was stopped by the police and given a fine that certainly hurt.  I learned you are not allowed to hitch-hike on a controlled access highway.  I was able to use some of the ramp areas, but they greatly reduced the pool of possible drivers.

On a long weekend, I started out from the University and did fairly good until I got to Toronto where there was a traffic jam. Nobody wanted to stop, but finally I got a ride that at first unnerved me. It was a fellow I knew as a bully in Haliburton. He had gotten a job in Toronto and was going home for the weekend. It was an awkward time for me. There weren’t that many university students from my high school class and he was a high school drop out. However people change.

The scariest ride was with my younger brother Marshall when we both decided to visit friends in Oshawa from our home in Haliburton. We got picked up by a group of young men with the driver hitting over 100 miles per hour on many stretches.  Just naming the places doesn’t really give you a picture of how scary it really was. The rural roads for the first half of the trip are very curvy and hilly. Later I learned they were visiting a lawyer in Oshawa regarding a very serious auto accident.

In Haliburton the students and teachers come from a very wide area. One of the teachers offered me a summer job doing handy work. I ended up hitch-hiking most of the time in both directions, sometimes smelling of grass, splattered with paint or a few times with insulation fibres in my skin, but it was easy.

Hitching a ride in Haliburton I got picked up by a fellow from Hamilton who told me I lived in “God’s country.” He described a scene that sounded horrific and looking back I realize he was describing the inside of a steel mill and not the city itself.   Nonetheless it turned me off the idea of ever working or living (or even visiting) the city that I now live in and love. He was right though, Haliburton is “God’s country.”

A trip from Guelph to Haliburton again took me around Toronto.  Rides seemed to be short with long waits between. An unusual vehicle driving by was a truck pulling a house, obviously going very slow. It passed me several times before the driver stopped to offer a ride. He said he would have given me a ride earlier, but he felt I would get there faster with other drivers.

For a few trips I traveled from Guelph to North Bay and back.  For a few legs of the trips I used a train pass, paid for a bus ride and got a ride from a friend of a friend. He lived in St. Catharines and thought that Guelph Line was on the way to Guelph (only in a very indirect manner). I had no idea, but headed north. The irony being that not too many years later I drove the same exit to visit a girl friend (now my wife) and also more recently for my job. I was very lucky as one driver spotted my sign and realized I was way off course. He was driving about half the distance to go home, but decided he would visit his sister in Guelph. Lucky for me as otherwise I would have been totally lost.

An unusual trip for me was from North Bay to Haliburton. At Hunstville there is a cross over to a road going to Haliburton. It was very late and I thought for the first time I had better find a place to stay overnight. However I had very little money and no connections. I decided I would hitch-hike all night and if necessary sleep in a ditch. I got picked up by a fellow and got talking.  I had been a very big fan of the Oshawa Green Gaels (who won several national lacrosse titles) and talked about a lot of different players, some of whom I remembered had come from Huntsville.  It turned out one of the players I talked about was the driver. He asked me how much money I had and then took me to a boarding house and talked the landlady into letting me stay overnight (she actually kicked her husband out of a bed). I think my lacrosse playing driver may have sweetened the offer, because I only paid $3.00 for my overnite stay in Dwight.

The next morning was another memorable one for me. A fellow and his wife were up from Windsor as he had heard the fall colours were very spectacular. They certainly were on that day and he stopped beside the road and asked me if I minded if it he took a photo of his wife with my sign against some of the trees and fallen leaves. He said he was “high on fall colours.” I had barely noticed fall colours before but with his enthusiasm I have since appreciated them a lot more, especially since I don’t get to see them as often in such a spectacular fashion.

Out of university looking for a job. On one of my trips someone suggested a particular line of work that I had never thought of before.  Based on the enthusiastic suggestion I applied to agencies all over Ontario. I got a response from one in Belleville who was interested to interview me. An almost totally new route for me that took me a couple of hours to do. I didn’t get that job, but it did help me understand better what was expected and I got hired for a similar job a few weeks later.

You meet a wide variety of people hitch-hiking and hear a lot of different stories. One I remember was one fellow who had discovered Greek music (he wasn’t Greek) and had me listen to a lot of it. It didn’t bore me at all and in fact was just another example of opening a door.

My first visit to Kitchener was done by hitch-hiking. On a Saturday with a friend we hitch-hiked for no particular reason except looking for something different.  I was impressed enough that later I sought out a job in Kitchener.

I hitch-hiked in all kinds of weather. Sometimes hot and sweaty, sometimes rainy. The worst I remember was winter weather, cold and snowy. I have spent hours in that kind of weather. To keep myself going I would keep saying my ride had just left and would be by within a short time. Eventually I did get a ride and sometimes some people felt it was a merciful thing to do in such weather. I learned later on that bad weather is not always a bad thing.  

While at university I saw a movie that involved young people hitch-hiking across Europe and had the line that if I ever get a car I will never pass a hitch-hiker. I kept my word for a few years, but eventually fear became a factor. A job, a wife and kids all made me look at the matter a little differently. Also "In Cold Blood" left a strong impression.

I regret that today it is not always advisable to trust people to do the right thing. There is nothing wrong with hitch-hiking. I am happy to help out others and am very grateful that so many people helped me and gave a lot of interesting experiences and truly enriched my life.