::alio!::

they like me, they really like me!

Of course, since I talked smack yesterday about there being no snow, it then spent the night snowing like crazy. Only a little stuck, to cars and grass, and it'll be gone in an hour or two when the sun comes up. But still, I should watch my mouth . . .

I used to subscribe to TSN's daily emails about hockey and sports, but I stopped about a year ago (when I finished my MA), because I was sick of hockey and tired of crap filling up my mailbox that I only barely read. I had to sign up again yesterday. It's slowly going around the office that I'm doing my PhD in hockey. Every day, someone new comes into the library, ostensibly to look for some case somewhere, but really to grill me on my subject of study. Mostly it's the men (not surprisingly).

However, although this attention is flattering and is boosting my status as the coolest librarian that ever was, they also seem to be under the impression that I'm something of a hockey guru, and that I know every little thing that has happens in the NHL, as it happens. I don't, of course, I couldn't really care less - I'm more into what goes on in the lower levels of the game these days. But I have to keep up my pretense of being cool, so now I'm reading up.

Speaking of hockey gurus . . .

A couple of weeks ago, after the election was over, I emailed a certain eminent hockey personage in Parliament (yes, we know who I'm talking about - I just don't want to name names). I had heard that he once chaired the 1999 Molson Open Ice Summit on hockey violence, and I wanted to know more. I've been looking for information on this summit for a few years, in a desultory fashion, but now it's kind of key to my research. Problem is that there's no official public documentation available on the internet or in bookstores. So I need to go to the unofficial and official but not public stuff - the policy implementation, talking to people in the know . . . you know.

About a week ago, his assistant emailed me back. She said that he was very interested in my project, and gave me the name of someone who might be able to help me better. She also told me to not hesitate to ask again if I needed any more help, which was nice.

I emailed this next person yesterday, and got an email from her this morning. She thinks that the only reason she got named by the first person is because she saw him last week (keep in mind that this summit was almost ten years ago and nothing has really happened with it since). She gave me three more names, all of whom are deeply embedded in Hockey Canada (Calgary office), and one of whom is married to another eminent hockey personage and sportscaster.

The best part is that she said that she thought my research (and I had only really given her the topic title) was FASCINATING, and that she predicted the people in Hockey Canada would be very willing to help me. She suggested that I closely ally myself with them (which I think implies that they would be interested in the long-term implications of the research . . . can you say JOB?), and, best of all, she opined that when the dissertation was finished it would likely make page one of every sports section in the country.

So that crisis of faith I was having earlier? I was just getting flak from the wrong people. Sure, I might suck at school, but those people who are the most important for my future prospects still think I'm the coolest kid in school.

I feel a little better.

Posted by Ally at December 4, 2008 07:39 AM