Zebra Cup 2010

Eight teams participated in the 5th Annual Zebra Cup. The tournament expanded to have four division championship games. Thanks to all who participated. I think EVERYONE was a winner at this years tournament.

Buffaburgh, (a team combined with Buffalo and Pittsburgh players) won the Division "A" bracket. Team Dayton won the Division "B" bracket. The Dayton Shockers won the Division "C" bracket and Pittsburgh won the Division "D" bracket. Congrat's to all teams.

The Radisson Pittsburgh provided a new perpetual plaque for us to honor those teams who placed first in their respective divisions. As the official hotel of the tournament, they provided excellent service, great rates and a hospitality room second to none.

The hospitality room found a Knights of Columbus member roaming around. He sang the Canadian National Anthem with us, got group pictures in the Shockers jersey, and then was escorted out. His antics found their way to YouTube. It's just never safe with these new smart phones anymore.

Jack Hayes continued his magic. The food he provided continued to beat all expectations. Those who were new to the event were overwhelmed. The veterans couldn't believe that Jack once again out did himself. Pulled Pork, Brisket, Wings, Burger, Brats, Dogs, Backed Beans, Hash Browns, Jalapeno Poppers, what else could you ask for? Then, there were the deserts and 16 cases of beer that was consumed. Come on,,, this is the BEST picnic of the year!

Then there were moments. You know,,, the kind of moments nobody likes to have recorded. Remember the guys from Dayton that couldn't find Pennsylvania? Well imagine them now trying to get to the rink for the first game and their truck won't start. Then imagine that they had been drinking beer AND shots for a couple hours before they started to the rink. Now you can begin to see the goat roping contest that broke out when the tried to jump start their truck.....

Now I ask you, how many 'tards does it take to figure out how to jump start a truck? Hmmmm, let's take a count, one to hold each end of the cable, another to hold the beer, a fourth to supervise, a fifth to hold a flash light during broad day light, etc.

Well, here's how it unfolded.....

First came the opening of a safety kit. A blinking light, an orange vest, a candy bar, beer opener, Play Girl Magazine, open jar of Vaseline and a used condom all dropped out. Really,,, you can't make this kind of stuff up!

Finally they noticed that there were no jumper cables..... Several terrified guests at the Radisson were seen running for the nearest entrance to the hotel.

Finally one blind women offered to help. Reading the instructions in braille, the group finally got the cables connected correctly, but that took one or two tries, and then off to the rink they went.

Oh, btw, this took place EVERY time the truck needed to be started! You just can't make this kind of stuff up.

The there was Tim. He promised his wife he would have nothing to do with other women at the picnic. Well,,,, 16 cases of beer can make a man's behavior very suspect.

Tim was very happy to see that Kim made it back this year. Kind of funny that her husband Don isn't anywhere in the picture. Remember last year, Tim gave Don the wrong directions to the picnic?

Rumor has it, Tim waited for him to run off to the rest room this year before he slide over for his annual 'hello glad to see you hug'.

Now this in itself isn't bad. Kim is attractive and beer was involved. But,,, come on Tim the pictures don't lie. Next came the women from the Radisson. These women were our guests.

Two very brave women went against the odds of 80 plus beer drinking hockey players, and attended the picnic. Although cautious at first, they finally settled in and began consuming adult beverages. For a while, Tim's wife even sat at their table, making them even more comfortable. But then Tim's wife went to the rest room.

He is relentless in his pursuit of hugs. I guess the price of next year's hotel rooms just went up!

In the end, the picnic AND the tournament were all a huge success. Many thanks to Tim Morgret for taking his time to pull this all together. Thanks to the Radisson for the great hospitality. Thanks to Jack for his cooking. Thanks to Jim Koch for supplying 16 cases of beer! What would a picnic be without beer??! And, thanks to WHPOA for their generous contributions of purchasing the food Jack prepares.

AND, thanks to all those who participated in the wonderful weekend. Without everyone

Zebra Cup 2009

The Zebra Cup Picnic continued too add to the lure of the tourney. Jack Hayes once again was up and cooking far before the first hung over player's alarm rang.

Jack continues to astonish us with mouth watering appetizers, as the air fills with the aroma of his barbecue. We have been surprised that the local residents leading up to the picnic site have not raided our food.

Jack has been very cordial to those who call asking for special favors. Dayton Shockers player Gary Wilson wasn't shy about asking for more baked beans! Jack was all too willing, although Gary's wife suffered the consequences for days afterward. Most of Gary's hockey gear smelled far better than the room he shared with his wife!





The set up begins around 7am. Jack hauls his barbeque equipment behind his truck. He makes his own barbecue sauces. He begins the process with by slow cooking the ribs. Using a blend of different smoking flavors, the long process rewards his patrons with delicious ribs. The meat falls off the bones causing the ribs to be an early favorite for eating.

Somewhere along the process Jack begins his legendary baked beans. Gary calls them Willey's beans, but I think Jack reserves the right to name his products. Those of who play on Wilson's team certainly know the fog in the locker room, known as Willey's Ass, is a direct result of too much of Jack's Beans!

But look at the spread! How many hockey tournament picnics do you get a buffet line like this? This picture doesn't really do justice. This is just the set up. I would have taken the time to take more pictures of the real spread, but I was in serious jeopardy of not getting any food. If you are in the way when Jack puts the food out, you could be in the way of a serious stampede!

For the teams that play late Saturday morning / early afternoon, all that is left to remind them of how tasty the ribs were is a pile of bones. After the ribs have been fought over the burgers, brats and yes the baked beans become the staple.

It seems like every year someone forgets how to go 3 blocks up, and 4 blocks left to get to the picnic site. Or, maybe Tim gives them the wrong directions just because he can.
After taking a vote, it was concluded that Tim gave poor directions to new players causing them to miss the rib stampede.

Tim's wife Beth made Tim wear his players' helmet during early rib stampede to insure he didn't suffer any further damage to his head. Truth be told, Tim's been wearing a helmet since his early days on the 'special bus'. Wearing the helmet in the lunch line is nothing new to Tim.

One thing to be sure, if Tim's wife had seen how cozy he was getting with one of the goalies wife, even a helmet wouldn't have helped. After taking the picture I asked Kim where her husband was. She said she didn't know but she was sure he would be there soon because Tim had just given him directions ..........

All in all, it appeared that everyone enjoyed another great feast. We can't thank Jack enough for all he does. He is so dedicated to making this event a success, he stopped playing hockey at the tournament. Even the little drizzle we had to put up with didn't dampen our spirits. Thanks to Jack's cooking, Labatt and Molsen we had another successful Zebra Cup Picnic.

There are rumors that this may count towards a seminar.
Hmmmm, we'll have to see about that in the future. But for now, the main event is camaraderie, good food and drink!

I hope to see everyone again in 2010, at the next Mid-Am Zebra Cup!

Sign Recognition

OK, there seems to be a bit of an eye exam needed for certain Dayton area drivers. So, if you were to see the sign to the right, what would you think?

Most likely that Columbus means COLUMBUS, OHIO and that SR 79 = Scenic Route 79, NOT Interstate 79 (I-79). Especially if you were told I-79 was in PA.

OK, maybe that was a difficult sign to interpret.

So, lets go with the next sign you may see. Maybe the "SR" is not their but how about the background of OHIO on 79? Wouldn't that represent OHIO 79?

Would it be fair to say that Ohio 79 and/or Scenic Route 79 IS NOT I-79.

This may seem a bit unfair, and I will certainly go along with that. But, the sign also provides a few more helpful hints. Let's say Newark is one of them.

Hopefully you didn't think this was Newark NJ, otherwise you would have driven in with Tim McWain (and not been late). So, that leaves Newark, OH. Now Newark is just on the east side of Columbus. About 90 - 120 minutes from Dayton. Now I don't know how many times you've left Montgomery County, but getting to PA from Dayton takes MORE THAN 2 HOURS!

OK, so maybe I'm over-reacting. But come on, the sign says Buckeye Lake for crying out loud. Buckeye is synonymous with OHIO. You couldn't have been in PA.

NO, there is no excuss for getting lost when you're on I-70 heading East traveling to Pittsburgh.

Zebra Cup

Pittsburgh, PA held their third annual Zebra Cup May 16 - 18th. Five teams from Mid-Am competed and a team from Buffalo made their maiden trip.

While the hockey was fun and spirited, the annual picnic hosted by WPHOA (Western Pennsylvania Hockey Officials Association) http://www.wphoa.com/ was by far the event winner.

Starting @ 7:00 AM, Jack Hays (the local barbecue guru) had the ribs and polish sausage begin their slow smoking process. Somewhere around 10:00 AM the wings (more like chicken legs) began their transition in the smoker. A keg of Coors Light arrived shortly thereafter to settle down and chill to the perfect temperature.

This was no amateur barbecue. Look at the size of that smoker unit! The end unit is a warming stage. Hidden by the people standing around the 12 foot traveling barbecue, is a 4 foot by 2 foot grill.

So while we nibbled on a couple of styles of wings, burgers and hot dogs hit the grill. Oh, I forgot to mention the home made jalapeno poppers!!... Those peppers were the size of an average adults index finger. They were stuffed with some delicious concoction and wrapped in bacon. Talk about poppers, once consumed you were more worried about the next days poopers! But, the perfectly chilled Coors helped you forget about tomorrows burden.

As the burgers and dogs came off the grill, the mouth watering smell from a tin of smoking barbecued beans being removed from the smoker, created a line waiting for the first course of lunch.

The Polish sausage silently became the second course. Silent because those of us in the know, quietly ate all evidence of their existence. The challenge was to leave enough room for the third course still in the smoker. The RIBS.

Before the ribs came from the smoker, home made cookies and other deserts magically appeared.

One hockey player earned "Cookie" as his nickname last year, had secretly positioned himself to be the first to see the dessert delivery.

Within minutes, second and third trays, with various styles of cookies, were distributed from their hiding place. Before they could be fully consumed, another home made mouth watering dessert was uncovered. As the line formed around this dish, the smell of ribs on the grill filtered through the air.

Finally, the ribs were cut and made available. Everyone HAD to use two hands because the meat literally fell off the bone. The meat was so moist and oh,,, so flavorful. Jack's secret home made barbecue sauce, along with his home made salts, that he hand rubbed the ribs with, made the waiting for ribs worthwhile. A special thanks to Jack Hays for his efforts. This barbecue was not a last minute affair. Jack gave up playing hockey, to plan, buy and cook all the food we ate. For those who wish to thank Jack again, his email address is j.j.hays@hotmail.com.

If the ice had melted, and no hockey was played, the barbecue itself made this hockey tournament a success.

Stay tuned, the results of the on-ice portion of this tournament is coming.