February 15, 2007 @ 16:39
When the Maple Leafs flew to Philadelphia yesterday there were 20 extra passengers. The Leafs have decided to follow the lead of several other NHL teams and have a father and son road trip.
All the fathers of all the Leafs were invited to Philly for the road trip which will include two nights, team meals, team practices and the game against the Flyers.
It's a great idea and something I'm sure the players and their dads will appreciate and probably never forget. When you're a kid you go on lots of road trips with your dad, but when you're an adult it means even more.
Back in 2002 when I was working at my beloved MOJO, the radio station built a promotion around me and my dad. A father and son trip to Florida to see a couple of Leafs games, a Dolphins game and a Miami Heat game. From several hundred entries, we picked a winner and he and his dad would travel with me and my dad.
I remember going up to Stayner a few weeks before the trip and telling my dad. It was a great moment because he could hardly believe it.
It was hard for him to comprehend that he was actually going to get on a plane with me and head to Florida for a week to do nothing but watch sporting events and it wasn't going to cost a cent.
And we had a fabulous time. We had top notch accommodations, we ate at fabulous restaurants, toured South Beach and the Everglades, but the highlight had to be the Dolphins game.
There was something very cool about sitting and watching the Dolphins and Raiders on a Sunday afternoon in December, wearing shorts, sweating in 75 degree weather and sucking back a king sized beer.
It's something neither of us will ever forget. I was 45 and my dad was 76 at the time, and really gave us something to hold on to.
Very few of us get to experience something like that with their father at that stage of their lives and I'm so glad it happened when it did.
Big Dick is still doing well these days, but if we were given the same opportunity to do the same thing right now, I'm not sure he'd be up to it.
Category: Family
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