Trav's Thoughts

Even though I'm on hiatus from regular blogging and blog rounds, some things catch my eye.  And of course, there are still 100 reasons to blog for peace.

In 1989, a young man named Chris Drury drove in 2 runs and pitched a complete game to lead his Little League team from Trumbull CT to the LLWS championship over Chinese Taipei.  This was the first year I ever watched the Little League World Series, and I still remember how dominate Drury was at the plate and on the mound.

Chinese Taipei (or Taiwan) had won 13 LLWS titles to that point, and the previous 3 in a row.  After losing to Trumbull, they won the next 2.  Chinese Taipei (or Taiwan) has 17 championships, the most of any region by far.  Many in the Little League community were suspicious at that time, questioning the ages of the players and suggesting that they were at least a year and sometimes 2 years older than was legal under the rules.  So it was a big deal for Trumbull to get that victory.

Drury elected to play hockey over baseball.  As a freshman at Boston University in 1995, he won an NCAA hockey national championship.  He was a 2 time Player of the Year in the Hockey East conference and won the Hobey Baker Award as the NCAA Player of the Year in all of hockey as a senior.

Drury finished his career at Boston U with 113 goals and 100 assists, the first BU player ever to hit 100 in both goals and assists for a career.  He is considered the best defensive forward ever in the Hockey East conference.

He became the NHL's top rookie in 1998-99 with Denver.  He is the first player ever to win the Calder Trophy for rookie of the year in the NHL and the Hobey Baker for player of the year in college.  He won a Stanley Cup with the Avalanche in 2000-01.  As a pro, he also played for the US National Hockey team, winning Silver in 2002 (Salt Lake City) and 2010 (Vancouver).  He also won a Bronze medal at the Hockey World Championships in 2004 (Prague).

Why am i going on and on about Chris Drury?  Well, the 2011 Little League World Series started this past week in Williamsport PA, and I felt a little nostalgic for when I started to get hooked on the competition.  The other reason is that Drury announced his retirement from the NHL yesterday at the age of 34, after 13 seasons.

And because I wanted to tell you that a LLWS championship, an NCAA championship, representing your country in the Olympics, and winning a Stanley Cup are some pretty high water marks in an athletic career.  And that kind of illustrates today's reason to blog for peace.



Reason 76:  Because when you know what you want, all that's left to do is put a plan together and then execute on the plan.  You want peace?  Start with your own space, put together your plan, and then execute. 

Make a Peace Globe part of your peace plan this November.  You know you want to.