MY SISTER’S FIRST HOCKEY GAME.

MY SISTER’S FIRST HOCKEY GAME. When my brother Elmer and I went off to graduate school, my mother had expected that there would be much less discussion of sports at meals. However, my sister Mary emerged as a real sports fan, even of hockey, in which my father had no interest. When Mary came to visit that winter, we took her to a Black Hawk-Bruins hockey game. The first period was crisp and exciting. Hockey is much more vivid in real life, especially as compared to the images on the black-and-white televisions of the day. And then in the second period, somebody checked Stan Mikita into the boards. Players did not wear helmets then. Mikita lay unconscious, the red blood soaking into the ice. The crowd came alive with approving shouts. Among the shouts were: “Shake it off, Mikita.” and “Play hockey, you honky.” Mary looked at us and said, “Oh my.”