{"id":8048,"date":"2013-09-26T14:28:24","date_gmt":"2013-09-26T18:28:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.btsh.org\/bruise\/?p=8048"},"modified":"2013-09-26T14:28:24","modified_gmt":"2013-09-26T18:28:24","slug":"farewell-farewell-one-kiss-and-ill-descend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.miyagimedia.com\/bruise\/farewell-farewell-one-kiss-and-ill-descend\/","title":{"rendered":"Farewell, farewell! One kiss, and I’ll descend."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Romeo2\"<\/a>
Editor’s Note: The season of change continues. Longtime BTSHer Anthony Romeo is calling it quits after this year’s playoffs. Here are a few final thoughts from the best dressed goaltender in the league …<\/em><\/p>\n

When I decided that this season would be my last in BTSH, it came with a lot of reflection.\u00a0 It\u2019s been 9 years now.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been booed, I\u2019ve been cheered.\u00a0 I\u2019ve won, I\u2019ve lost, I\u2019ve tied, I\u2019ve been robbed by referees.\u00a0 I\u2019ve joined teams, I\u2019ve left a team.\u00a0 I\u2019ve seen league leadership changes, total overhauls of the media team, and an entire rink relocation.\u00a0 I\u2019ve seen hundreds of different women take my empty Poland Spring bottles.<\/p>\n

I wanted to take a few quick moments to reach out to the BTSH universe, to thank you all so much for everything you\u2019ve given me over the last 9 seasons.\u00a0 When I started in the league, I was 19, had just gotten my first job in New York City, and was introduced to BTSH by a man who noticed that I was shooting security sensors into a mop bucket with a reacher-hook in a department store.<\/p>\n

Now, I\u2019m 28, I\u2019m married, I\u2019m happy.\u00a0 My life is more settled, there\u2019s a routine, responsibilities.\u00a0 The things I saw everyone else having, I knew I\u2019d get someday.\u00a0 The many men and women in BTSH helped me find an identity in this gigantic city of ours, you all made me feel welcome, made me feel like a part of it all.<\/p>\n

Being an openly gay athlete has never been an issue in our league.\u00a0 I like to think that we embraced diversity and focused only on court-performance, long before groups like the \u201cYou Can Play\u201d project made it hip.\u00a0 Whether it was red and black or orange, when I tugged my Romeo jersey over my head, that\u2019s the only thing you all noticed.<\/p>\n

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

I\u2019ve noticed some things about you and your teams.\u00a0 In no specific order, here\u2019s a quick memory for each of you.<\/p>\n

Fresh Kills \u2013 I hate you.\u00a0 Can you stop beating me in the playoffs with 90 seconds left?\u00a0 No, really.<\/p>\n

Lbs. \u2013 Seth, my goalie buddy.\u00a0 You got so old.\u00a0 How are you still winning?<\/p>\n

Demons \u2013 Uh, yea no.\u00a0 Not getting myself into trouble there.\u00a0 Too easy.\u00a0 WAY too easy.<\/p>\n

Anklebiters \u2013 You\u2019re still around?\u00a0 That\u2019s cool.<\/p>\n

Hookers \u2013 Can\u2019t wait to see you guys continue losing in the Finals. #consistency #sorrydustin<\/p>\n

Math \u2013 Andy Pratt, gentleman extraordinaire.\u00a0 Married out of his league.<\/p>\n

La Famiglia \u2013 Your offense makes me want to one-two-punch you in the face.\u00a0 Stop scoring on me.<\/p>\n

Elves \u2013 Proof that even those with disabilities can be mainstreamed, with patience and humility.<\/p>\n

Rainbows \u2013 How soon til the babies lace up the sneakers and get out there?<\/p>\n

Butchers \u2013 Second toughest playoff loss of my 9-years, thanks Arthur.<\/p>\n

Gremlins \u2013 Are we still pretending you\u2019re not the Unicorns?\u00a0 Tip of the hat, LaCombe.<\/p>\n

Skyfighters \u2013 I\u2019ll remain the one goalie that James Stein has never out-dueled in net.\u00a0 Ever.<\/p>\n

Gut Rot \u2013 Bill Tucker, the most gentlemanly goalie ever in net.\u00a0 Thanks for your friendship.\u00a0 Go Devils.<\/p>\n

Filthy Gorgeous \u2013 James, Suvin, Sunny.\u00a0 I\u2019ll see you in Hell.\u00a0 You\u2019re way too good.<\/p>\n

Mega Touch \u2013 The wild card team that can beat you on any given week.\u00a0 My first BTSH shut-out.<\/p>\n

Poutine \u2013 I still think you\u2019re saying dirty things in French about me.\u00a0 And I like that.<\/p>\n

Cobra Kai \u2013 Best logo in all of BTSH, hands down.<\/p>\n

Riots \u2013 Wait, who?<\/p>\n

Rehabs \u2013 Too much to say.\u00a0 First win, first team, first shutout, first playoff run.\u00a0 The beginning.<\/p>\n

WTP \u2013 My family.\u00a0 My first Finals appearance.\u00a0 My heart.\u00a0 The end.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll miss you guys a bunch, and I\u2019m excited to step away from BTSH in good health, happy and forever grateful for the friendships I\u2019ve made, the families I\u2019ve been proud to step into, and the number I was lucky enough to wear for 9 amazing years.<\/p>\n

\u00a0If you want to keep up with me, my pieces for Huffington Post, or just my general feelings on anything and everything, you can follow me on Twitter @AnthonyRomeo1.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no farewell tour, just a smile and a nod.\u00a0 I might be gay, but I\u2019m not Cher.\u00a0 Goodbye means goodbye.<\/p>\n

Love you all, except anyone on the Demons.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Romeo<\/p>\n

#30<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Editor’s Note: The season of change continues. Longtime BTSHer Anthony Romeo is calling it quits after this year’s playoffs. Here are a few final thoughts from the best dressed goaltender in the league … When I decided that this season would be my last in BTSH, it came with a lot of reflection.\u00a0 It\u2019s been […]<\/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-8048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general-interest"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.miyagimedia.com\/bruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8048"}],"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=8048"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.miyagimedia.com\/bruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8048\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8052,"href":"https:\/\/www.miyagimedia.com\/bruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8048\/revisions\/8052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.miyagimedia.com\/bruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.miyagimedia.com\/bruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.miyagimedia.com\/bruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}