Every once in a while a chain of events or stories causes you to step back and evaluate how much your life revolves around one particular thing. For some this center point is one or more sports in which their child participates. I came to the realization of my center point this week when I read a couple of articles centered on Zambonis.
For the uninitiated a Zamboni is a truck-like vehicle that is used to resurface the ice on a skating rink between uses. You can learn more about Zambonis by reading Zamboni or you can introduce your kids to Zambonis and the world of hockey with the book Z Is For Zamboni: A Hockey Alphabet. The Zamboni has also been immortalized in song by the band called The Zambonis and also by the band Gear Daddies in a song called I Wanna Drive the Zamboni.
The ice-hockey season, particularly in northern states, is one of the longest seasons in youth sports. The season starts in September and runs through March. Many areas have spring hockey and summer camps and then plyometrics and lite on ice training in late summer before the season starts in earnest. Travel and elite teams will normally participate in 2 to 3 practices per week and 2 or more games on the weekend.
As the parent of a hockey player, who is not old enough to drive, much of my time is spent traveling to and from rinks as well as sitting at the hockey rink. At two practices per week for 30 weeks (2 x 30 = 60), plus roughly 55 games and conservatively 20 miscellaneous days of hockey (tryouts, camps and clinics, spring hockey, etc), I am looking at 135 “sheets” of ice. I would probably consider this to be right around an average number for a hockey family, since there are many families that are at the rink more and many that are at the rink less.
At my son’s age level they normally only resurface once per game versus the professionals who resurface 3 times (once before the game and then once between each of three periods). The average Zamboni takes around 10 minutes going in roughly concentric circles to resurface the ice. That means in a given year I spend roughly 1350 minutes watching the Zamboni. That is 22.5 hours; nearly one full day every year spent watching a Zamboni go around in circles. That is also roughly 150 hours of Zamboni watching since my son started playing hockey 7 years ago. Thankfully, only one of my children plays hockey. For all those of you with more than one skater, multiply 1 day by the number of children that play hockey and repeat.
In that time I have witnessed various kinds of Zambonis, from the antique to the brand new; electric, gas, diesel and propane powered; rusty and freshly painted; young and old operators; male and female drivers; as well as drivers that knew what they were doing and drivers that did not. I’ve seen them break down before finishing the ice and I’ve seen ice conditions where the skaters thought that they were better off without the Zamboni. But I have never witnessed either of the following things happen, in person, and hope that all of these guys stay away from whatever rink my son ends up skating.
In Boise, Idaho, two employees of the ice skating rink drove the Zamboni from the rink to the local Burger King about 1.5 miles away. At 5 mph, and having to negotiate at least one intersection with a traffic light, they drove for at least 15 minutes on local roads. The employees were fired and the Zamboni was undamaged, but I sure am glad that I didn’t have to wait at the rink until they got back to resurface the ice.
A Zamboni operator in Newark, New Jersey was charged with Driving While Intoxicated while he was operating a Zamboni. A fellow employee called in and told police that he was speeding and nearly crashed into the boards. His blood alcohol level did indicate that his blood alcohol level was over the legally limit in New Jersey, but the judge ruled that the Zamboni is not a motor vehicle since it is not usable on highways and can’t carry passengers. Obviously, that judge hadn’t read the story about the guys in Boise, Idaho who drove to the Burger King. The sad thing about this story is that even while drunk, he probably did a better job that many of the Zamboni drivers that I’ve watched. Still, I hope he stays away from any of the rinks that my son skates at while he plays hockey.
I will admit that I have wanted to follow the advice of The Zambonis and The Gear Daddies and go up to the manager of a the hockey rink and say “Hey, I want to drive the Zamboni”. After all, what would they have to lose? Its not like I’ve ever driven a Zamboni to a Burger King or ever driven one after polishing off a six pack.
