NEXT GUEST EXPLAINS WHAT IT’S
REALLY LIKE ON THE INSIDE THESE
DAYS.
JOINING US NOW BEST SELLING
AUTHOR RICH COHEN, HIS LATEST
BOOK IS TITLED "PEEWEES,
CONFESSIONS OF A HOCKEY PARENT,"
YOU’VE GOT A BUNCH OF PARENTS ON
THE SET, AND PARENTS WHO HAVE
PLAYED YOUTH SPORTS, TALK TO US
ABOUT YOUR DOWN JOURNEY,
COACHING YOUR SON IN
CONNECTICUT.
YOU WERE THE GUY WHO WAS GOING
THE DAD TO WATCHES, CHEERS AND
ENCOURAGES AND NEXT THING YOU
KNOW YOU’RE NOSE TO NOSE YELLING
AT A COACH.
>> WELL, I FIND THAT BASICALLY
PARENTS ARE DIVIDED INTO TWO
GROUPS, THE BIG GROUP DON’T
REALLY CARE, DROP THEIR KIDS OFF
AND LET THEM PLAY.
THOSE ARE THE SANE, WELL
ADJUSTED PEOPLE AND THEN THERE’S
A SMALL GROUP OF PEOPLE THAT
COMPLETELY LOSE THEIR MIND,
THAT’S ME, WE’RE THE COMPLETE
NUT JOBS, I WOULD NEVER EXPECT
IT OF MYSELF.
I LEFT THE GAME AS A KID AND
THEN IT PULLED ME BACK IN, AND I
FELT LIKE I WAS DOING THINGS
THAT I KNEW WERE WRONG BUT
COULDN’T STOP DOING THEM.
AND THAT IS THE YOUTH HOCKEY
DISEASE WHICH IS YOU COMPLETELY
LOSE YOUR MIND AND I CARE MORE
ABOUT THIS THAN ABOUT ANYTHING
I’VE CARED ABOUT PROBABLY SINCE
I WAS 15 OR 16 YEARS OLD.
>> SO RICH, WHAT IS IT ABOUT
HOCKEY?
IT SEEMS LIKE -- YOU KNOW, I’VE
SEEN IT IN LITTLE LEAGUE, SEEN
IT IN MY YOUTH BASKETBALL
LEAGUES AND THAT KIND OF STUFF.
PLAB
MAYBE IT’S THE GLASS, THE DADS
ARE UP SLAMMING AT THE GLASS,
YELLING AT THE TEAM AND THE
OTHER KIDS, WHAT IS IT ABOUT
HOCKEY?
>> PARTLY, IT’S EXPENSIVE AND
THERE’S A HUGE ECONOMIC
DIVERSITY WHO PLAYS, SOME PEOPLE
ARE SCRAPING EVERYTHING THEY CAN
TOGETHER TO PLAY THIS GAME.
YOU’RE UP AT TAUN, DRIVING ALL
THE TIME.
THE REALLY ONE GIANT ROAD TRIP
AND YOU GET EMOTIONALLY INVESTED
AND ALSO I THINK HOCKEY IS THE
BEST SPORT.
IF YOU WATCH 10-YEAR-OLD KIDS
PLAYING BASEBALL IT’S NOT REALLY
LIKE THE GAME YOU’RE GOING TO
WATCH IF YOU GO TO WRIGLEY FIELD
BUT HOCKEY IS HOCKEY AND YOU
FIND YOURSELF TURNING INTO A
FAN.
YOU’RE LIKE HECKLING.
THERE’S PEOPLE HECKLING LITTLE
KIDS.
YOU HAVE TO REMIND YOURSELF
THESE ARE NOT PROS.
IT’S JUST A BUNCH OF LITTLE
KIDS.
THE GREAT THING ABOUT HOCKEY,
THE REASON I LIKE TO PLAY IS,
THE GLASS KEEPS THE PARENTS AT A
SAFE REMOVE.
IT’S LIKE A ZOO AND THE PARENTS
ARE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE
GLASS SO THERE’S AN INCREDIBLE
INTENSITY AMONG THE PARENTS WHO
ARE SORT OF SEPARATED AND YOU
COME TO SLOWLY REALIZE, FOR ME
THIS BOOK, "PEEWEES" IT’S ABOUT
PARENTING, YOU SLOWLY REALIZE
YOU, IN FACT, DON’T CONTROL
ANYTHING AND YOUR KIDS ARE IN
CONTROL AND ALL YOU’RE DOING IS
WATCHING.
>> YOU KNOW, RICH, I’VE WATCHED
A LOT OF HOCKEY GAMES INVOLVING
MY SONS OVER A NUMBER OF YEARS
AT VARIOUS LEVELS, AND I CAME TO
THE CONCLUSION QUITE EARLY ON IN
MY HOCKEY WATCHING CAREER THAT
THE PARENTS ARE THE MOST
DANGEROUS ELEMENTS OF THE GAME
WHEN YOU GO SEE, WHETHER IT’S A
GRAMMAR SCHOOL GAME, A HIGH
SCHOOL GAME, OR A COLLEGE GAME.
THE PARENTS ARE ABSOLUTELY CRAZY
BUT THERE’S ANOTHER ASPECT OF
HOCKEY, SPECIFICALLY HOCKEY THAT
HAS ALWAYS INTRIGUED ME, AND IT
IS THIS, AND ESPECIALLY IN NEW
ENGLAND, WHERE HOCKEY IS SUCH A
BIG SPORT FOR HIGH SCHOOL AND
PREP SCHOOL PLAYERS.
AND YOU WONDER, GIVEN THE COST
OF HOCKEY, AND THE COST OF
COLLEGE EDUCATIONS, THE NUMBER
OF PARENTS WHO PUT THEIR KIDS
INTO HOCKEY AND THE KIDS ARE
GREAT AT HOCKEY, AND THEY DO IT
KNOWING THAT HOCKEY AFFORDS THEM
THE BEST SHOT AT GETTING A LEG
UP INTO GETTING INTO AN IVY
LEAGUE SCHOOL OR A GREAT
COLLEGE, LARGELY IN NEW ENGLAND
AND I ENDED UP SURROUNDED BY
PARENTS LIKE THIS.
>> YEAH, PEOPLE WHO TELL ME THAT
THEY’RE HAVING THEIR KIDS PLAY
HOCKEY BECAUSE IT’S GOING TO
HELP THEM GET INTO COLLEGE I SAY
WHAT ABOUT FENCING?
HOCKEY IS LIKE SUCH A TOUGH
SPORT AND THAT’S ONE OF THE
THINGS THAT MAKES IT INTENSE.
OUR LEAGUE THERE’S A DOUBLE A,
TEAM, AN A1 TEAM, A B TEAM, AND
WE’RE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PACK.
THERE’S AN INCREDIBLE
HIERARCHICAL STATUS.
THEY SAY YOUR KIDS ARE NOT
PLAYING IN THE NHL, THIS IS NOT
GETTING THEM INTO COLLEGE, THIS
IS THEIR HOCKEY CAREER RIGHT
NOW.
GIVE UP YOUR DREAMS, OF COURSE
YOU DON’T.
YOU FIND YOURSELF STARTING TO
BELIEVE THAT THIS IS THE WAY IN,
BUT IT REALLY ISN’T.
IT’S GOT TO BE FOR THE LOVE OF
HOCKEY.
AND THE FACT IS, YOU REALIZE,
SOMEBODY WROTE YESTERDAY, AN NHL
PLAYER SAID, WELL, YOU MIGHT NOT
HAVE THE MOST TALENT BUT YOU CAN
WORK THE HARDEST.
BUT THE WORKING THE HARDEST, I
THINK, ESPECIALLY WITH YOUTH
KIDS IS THE TALENT AND THE LOVE
OF THE GAME IS THE TALENT AND IF
THE LOVE ISN’T THERE, WE’VE ALL
SEEN PARENTS TRYING TO MAKE
THEIR KIDS PLAY AND YOU CAN’T.
THE KIDS’S GOT TO LOVE IT.
BUT WHEN IT WORKS, THE COLLEGE
ALL THAT STUFF DOESN’T MATTER,
THE GAME IS SO SOUND AND FUN FOR
THESE KIDS THAT IT MAKES THEM
BETTER PEOPLE.
YOU DEAL WITH ALL THE PARENTS