Dear diary…

It is now March 23, 2021. I am just set to leave Tampa, if you can believe it. When I left Naples, I assumed that two-week stint would be one of the longer ones I encounter, outside of my time in Jacksonville with family. How wrong I was. I decided not to go to Miami because there was a tournament at the TGH IcePlex that was going to have a load of potential contacts. As the case was, I got a couple, and I ended up having a triple-day on Friday, but nothing as big as that which was discussed when convincing me to stay. All is good. It has been an incredible time in Tampa, and the community of people I have had the pleasure of interacting with have been great to me. I move on to Orlando for a few days, after this post.

Since we last talked, there are really no notable stories to tell. I have not been able to get to the beach as often as I hoped, in fact I have not been there since I went to Clearwater. I did get up to the rink in Wesley Chapel. It was a machine. There are three NHL rinks, one Olympic, and one mini rink that can’t be more than 40’ by 60’. All told, though, it seemed too big for my liking. I grew up spoiled, in a rink in Steamboat that was immaculately kept, but also felt like home. It was inviting to come into the doors. There was a nice greeting waiting for you, and you could lounge there and strike up conversations at random, and never feel awkward about it. That Wesley Chapel rink felt like a churn and burn. It seemed like they wanted to make it as smooth as possible to get teams in, then out, their doors. And there is nothing wrong with that at all. There is likely a great amount of developing that occurs for hockey players, I simply hope the culture of the game is instilled in them as well.

Off my high horse, and back here on earth, I have continued to find interesting things each day. Maybe that is not in exploration externally, but more inside of myself. There has been a great amount of learning taking place, and again I find myself getting humbled at so many turns. Things are not going like I thought they would, and sometimes I feel a sense of defeat because it doesn’t matter how many hours I put into this thing, I am left with more to do. I can’t complain, because just as I get into that tough mind frame, something happens that re-ignites my love for my project. Just the other day, I had someone rap on my show. Ricky (AKA REAL LIFE) dropped a freestyle, then another one, then a third one, with me. I have had others on who have been so energetic and excited just to share their stories. I know in my heart that I am building this the right way, it can simply be tough, at times.

There was a near interview with a Tampa news outlet. That would have been a great opportunity to share my stories in a top 20 market. It fell through, and with it, my chance at being the next Ron Burgundy has to wait once more. All good things on the horizon, though. Stay tuned for more!

In hockey,

Vladan