Outlines - Chapter 1: The Matthew Effect - Sex Stories

Outlines - Chapter 1: The Matthew Effect

Chapter One The Matthew Effect "For unto everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance. But from his that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath." ---Matthew 25:29 One warm, spring day in May of 2007, the Medicine Hat Tigers and Vancouver Giants met for the Memorial Cup hockey championships in Vancouver, British Colombia. The Giants and the tigers were the two finest teams in the Canadian Hockey League, which in turn is the finest junior hockey league in the world. These were the future stars of the sport -- seventeen-, eighteen-, and nineteen- year olds who had been skating and shooting pucks since they were barely more than toddlers. The game was broadcast on Canadian national television. Up and down streets of downtown, Vancouver, Memorial Cup banners hung from the lampposts. The arena was packed. A long red carpet was rolled out in the ice, and the announcer introduced the games dignitaries. First came the premier of British Colombia, Gordan Campbell. Then, amid tumultusous applause, out walked Gordie Howe, one of the legends of the game. "Ladies and Gentlemen," the announcer boomed. "Mr. Hockey!" For the next sixty minutes, the two teams played spirited, aggressive hockey. Vancouver scored first, early in the second period, on a rebound by Mario Bliznak. Late in the second period, it was Medicine Hats turn, as the teams scoring leader, Darren Helm, fired a quick shit past Vancouvers goalie, Tyson Smith. Vancouver answered in the third ...

... period, scoring the games deciding goa, and then, when Medicine Hat pulled its goalie in desperation, Vancouver scored a third time. In the aftermath of the game, the players and their families and sports reporters from across the country crammed into the teams winning locker room. The air was filled with cigar smoke and the smell of champagne and sweat-soaked hockey gear. On the wall was a hand painted banner: "Embrace the Struggle." In the center of the room the Giants' coach, Don Hay, stood misty-eyed. "I'm just so proud of these guys," he said. "Just look around the locker room. There isn't one guy who didnt buy in wholeheartedly." Canadian hockey is a meritocracy. Thousands of Canadian boys begin to play at the "novice" level, before they are even in kindergarten. From that point on, there are league classes for every age class, and at each of those levels, the players are sifted and sorted and evaluated, with the most talented seperated out and groomed for the next level. By the time the players reach their mid-teens, the very best of the best have been channeled into an elite league known as Major Junior A, which is the top of the pyramid. And if your Major Junior A plays for the Memorial Cup, that means you are at the very top of the pyramid. This is the way most sports pick their future stars. It's the way soccer is organized in Europe and South America, and its the way Olympic athletes are chosen. For that matter, it is not all that different from the way the world of ...