Bring on the Madness

This past weekend I stepped out of my comfort zone a bit thanks to my friends Chris and Dan Powers, the hosts of the Empty Netters Podcast.

They invited me to join their crew — who played hockey at Colby College — for a weekend up in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where they were playing two hockey games against the Jackson Hole Moose.

The Moose are a local men’s league team that has been around for quite some time, and if you’ve ever seen the movie Mystery, Alaska, that’s exactly what it felt like. There were about 2,000 fans in the building rooting for their local squad. I couldn’t believe the scene, especially given it was just a men’s game.

I truly felt like I was back in college. There were even guys in the crowd calling me a “p*ssy.” I forgot how much I missed getting chirped and taunted.

We ended up losing both games, and they were honestly pretty intense and physical. But the coolest thing about hockey is that everything stays on the ice. After the game, we ran into some of the guys on the opposing team at the popular bar in town (Million Dollar Cowboy), and they invited us to their locker room for some drinks once the bar closed at 12:30 am. 

I ended up staying in their locker room until 4:00 am. I even told a guy on their team I’d fight him. I chickened out of that one obviously. My Dad didn’t raise me that tough. 

In the grand scheme of things, it literally made zero sense for me to go to Jackson Hole given I haven’t gone skiing since I was about seven years old. I’ve never even been much of a winter activity guy. But for some reason, I said yes to this plan.

You ever get that pre-weekend anxiety when you’re doing something different? I had a ton of that before taking off on Thursday. Even though I consider myself a very social guy, there’s always anxiety around spending an entire weekend with new people, even if you know deep down that everything will be fine. 

Doesn’t it feel like those weekends always turn out to be the best ones? 

I had an absolute blast, staying up late and drinking beers with a random group of guys. It was your typical “guys being dudes” weekend. It’s always fun to try something new. 

With that said, I couldn’t be happier to be back in New York. This week will be a fun one, as I turn 28 and my Mom (Caren) turns 58. I was born on her 30th birthday, so our birthday has always been extra special. We have an early dinner on Friday, and then I’m heading back to the city with nothing planned… If anyone knows good places to go out, send them my way!

This week also signifies the start of the best time of year: March Madness right into spring. 

We’ve made it. Rooftops, tarps off, windows down and light jackets. Nothing beats this time of year in New York. 

Thanks for reading, enjoy March Madness and I hope your brackets win you some money. 

Talk to you next week.

With love, 

Jonny

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