{"id":6176,"date":"2012-11-02T09:57:48","date_gmt":"2012-11-02T13:57:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.btsh.org\/bruise\/?p=6176"},"modified":"2012-11-03T13:48:57","modified_gmt":"2012-11-03T17:48:57","slug":"how-to-properly-enjoy-the-btsh-finals-a-primer-for-the-uninitiated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.miyagimedia.com\/bruise\/how-to-properly-enjoy-the-btsh-finals-a-primer-for-the-uninitiated\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Properly Enjoy The BTSH Finals: A Primer For The Uninitiated"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

By Bill “What Did I Miss?” Tucker<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

In the storied history of the Black Top Street Hockey league, one axiom has always held true.\u00a0 It\u2019s not who wins the championship that matters.\u00a0 It\u2019s how much fun everyone had along the way.<\/p>\n

On the exterior, BTSH may look like just another beer league.\u00a0 People get together, play hockey, maybe have a pint afterwards and go home.\u00a0 A fun way to spend a couple hours on a Sunday afternoon.\u00a0 But for me and so many others, BTSH offers so much more.\u00a0 The soul of the league isn\u2019t in the games, the standings or even the winners.\u00a0 It\u2019s the way you can get lit up like a Christmas tree at the hands of Adriano and clink a cocktail with him thirty minutes later.\u00a0 It\u2019s in how someone on the Anklebiters will always spot you a High Life, especially if you\u2019re \u201cjust about to leave\u201d.\u00a0 It\u2019s in the many friendships, relationships and marriages that have been formed whiling away Sunday evenings in the company of teammates.\u00a0 The Championship Game is a perfect opportunity for those of you who\u2019ve missed out on this crucial piece of the BTSH experience to get a taste of what this league is all about.\u00a0 As a result, here\u2019s a primer to help you have an amazing time on November 4th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

Play Your Game<\/strong><\/p>\n

Before arriving to the court, you should show up to your exhibition game.\u00a0 After all, not only is this the last hockey hurrah of the season, it\u2019s the perfect opportunity to engage in outrageous shenanigans.\u00a0 These games are all unsupervised, so feel free to let the goalies take face-offs, brown bag whilst playing defense and dress in a variety of ridiculous costumes.\u00a0 If the common bystander isn\u2019t gawking in either amusement or disgust, you\u2019re doing something wrong.<\/p>\n

Stretch Out\u2026Your Liver<\/strong><\/p>\n

While I refuse to condone excessive drinking on this family oriented website (wink wink, nudge nudge), there\u2019s nothing wrong with a social few before sitting down to watch the championship game.\u00a0 Many a den of iniquity resides in the neighborhood of Tompkins Square Park, so feel free to grab some teammates and have one last hockey based hurrah before the season concludes.\u00a0\u00a0 And if you see me face down in a fish tank somewhere on Avenue B, rouse me from my stupor so I can experience\u2026.<\/p>\n

The Heckle Wall<\/strong><\/p>\n

Despite sanctions from the league office, some teams have been known to throw their playoff games just so they can be a part of this BTSH institution.\u00a0 For those unaware, the Heckle Wall allows you to hurl insults at the best the league has to offer as they toil for the championship.\u00a0 The more lubricated the Wall Wailers tend to be, the more creative they become so join in on the random fun.\u00a0 Besides, nothing says league comradery like screaming, \u201cScott Lee is a 12 year old girl\u201d and making fun of ***that guy on LBS\u2019s*** signature headband.<\/p>\n

The Game Itself<\/strong><\/p>\n

Despite the shenanigans, street hockey fans are going to be treated to one doozey of a final. On one side stands Fresh Kills, winners of last year\u2019s tournament looking to add a repeat to their impressive team resume.\u00a0 One the other side sits LBS, giant killers who had to defeat the third ranked Poutine Machine and the top seeded Hookers to reach hockey nirvana.\u00a0 Both battle tested and ready.\u00a0 Both thirsty for one last W.\u00a0 The stage is set for an epic contest.<\/p>\n

The After Party<\/strong><\/p>\n

When the champs are crowned, the fun doesn’t stop there.\u00a0 The league\u2019s end of season party generally takes place at Parkside Lounge, a seedy dive that has all the gritty charm BTSH regulars crave.\u00a0 Featuring pool, a photo booth and a back area where the ORG will hand out its yearly awards, the evening is good fun for everybody involved.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s also an excellent opportunity to have embarrassing photographs taken of you for this very website.\u00a0 Just be sure to take Monday off from work or at least come up with a decent excuse for the inevitable call out sick.<\/p>\n

Follow this blueprint for Sunday success and you\u2019ll be well on your way to catching the BTSH bug.\u00a0 And remember, we all boil down to grown adults chasing an orange ball around a basketball court.\u00a0 The blast we have after the games is what makes the whole thing special.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Bill “What Did I Miss?” Tucker In the storied history of the Black Top Street Hockey league, one axiom has always held true.\u00a0 It\u2019s not who wins the championship that matters.\u00a0 It\u2019s how much fun everyone had along the way. On the exterior, BTSH may look like just another beer league.\u00a0 People get together, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":529,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general-interest"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.miyagimedia.com\/bruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6176"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.miyagimedia.com\/bruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.miyagimedia.com\/bruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.miyagimedia.com\/bruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/529"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.miyagimedia.com\/bruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6176"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.miyagimedia.com\/bruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6176\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6180,"href":"https:\/\/www.miyagimedia.com\/bruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6176\/revisions\/6180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.miyagimedia.com\/bruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.miyagimedia.com\/bruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.miyagimedia.com\/bruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}