Franchise Four – Instant Karma / La Famiglia / Tuques / Set It Off
True Teammates, a Zen Buddhist Koan
Once upon a time in BTSH there were two teammates, one who played the game skillfully and one who watched skillfully.
When the one played or discussed about a goal, the other would say: ‘I can see the goal before us.’
When the other played for victory, the watcher would exclaim: ‘Here is the victory!’
But the listener fell sick and died. The first friend cut the blade off his stick and never played again. Since that time the cutting of the blade has always been a sign of intimate friendship.
This is what the Franchise is really about.
Pete W.
Pete has been a long time skilled player in the league and is considered to be the glue that has kept the core franchise players together, despite several re-brandings. Did you know we almost didn’t have Pete? At an early age, he was carefully chosen by his family to continue the Wilson tradition of training and shepherding lemmings across Northern Europe. But while cleaning his village’s library as penance for launching crab apples at his peers with a broom, he stumbled across an article in the Forbidden section on Gordie Howe. Pete was transfixed by the delicacy of The Hockey God’s rowdy nature and secretly began his training. And the rest is BTSH history.
Al L.
A former franchise captain, Dr. Liu was an invaluable asset for Karma’s bench boss during its inaugural season, helping create the bohemian culture you see today. Before migrating back east to NYC, he spent time in California studying higher learning and herding cats for an elderly member of Vicari’s family. From this experience he wrote his thesis on understanding the behavior of a misfit. Needing a focus group to use a case study, he decided to join BTSH, but soon realized it was pointless. So he settled to apply it to the Islanders instead and now has his own university in Fort Green, Brooklyn. Win-win.
Lisa, Bil, two honorable mentions and an author’s arm.
Lisa H.
This little heartbreaker strutted into the league and our lives in 2007 at the impressionable age of 18. Taken under the wing of a female league legend, she was shown the ways of BTSH and has kept it real ever since. Lisa is considered the Mountain Dew Code Red of the LES and BTSH. Some of her accomplishments include distracting fatuous male opponents, establishing the Harrington School of Recruiting, and whooping ass. Please join me and the rest of Karma in honoring her with a collective, ‘Hubba-Hubba.’
Bill M.
Bill has been following hockey for quite some time and still has no idea how the game is played. For reasons only known to him, he’s convinced that the charging foul in basketball also applies on the TSP courts. Stubborn beyond belief, he’ll demand a penalty each time he knocks himself down on the asphalt. A small window into wrapping our heads around his mindset is comprehending a tragic incident that occurred in his youth. During his family’s visit to the island of San Lorenzo for the Presidential swearing-in ceremony of his uncle, an unfortunate icy accident transpired that left the people victim to a solid state. Since then, he has been slowly thawing out. Half the time no one has a clue what he’s talking about and after listening to him we are all more confused than when the conversation started. But we love Bill. His jovial attitude, forgiving nature, carefree approach towards life, and paying his league dues on time are just some of the many reasons why he will always remain Karma-4-life.
Honorable mention: Andrea GC., Dave L., Angela V., Mike M., Cory V. and Danielle H.
Tags: Franchise Four