The Hockey Stop

Hoquei sobre gel means ice hockey in Catalan. I recently visited the hockey hotbed of Barcelona in northeastern Spain and was surprised to see that the most popular football club in the world (that would be FC Barcelona and their fearless leader Lionel Messi) does not just dominate the game of soccer like no other club in history, but that other sports -- from basketball to hockey -- have teams bearing the FCB crest as well.

A trip to Camp Nou this summer, the storied home field of Barca since 1957, revealed a sporting empire. Next door to the nearly 100,000 seat stadium, the largest in Europe, sits Palau Blaugrana, an indoor arena that is home to the FC Barcelona basketball, handball, roller hockey and futsal (indoor soccer) teams. They all wear Barca's famous blue and red uniforms.

But it was the Pista de Gel (Ice Rink in Catalan) that was the most interesting, simply because Barcelona seems like one of the unlikeliest places for professional ice hockey to flourish. But there it is. Since 1972 the FC Barcelona ice hockey team has been playing its home games at Pista de Gel in the shadow of Camp Nou. They play in the Spanish league and the roster is made up of mostly Spanish players. They have won five Spanish League championships, four Spanish ice hockey cups and most recently were the European champions in 2009-2010.

Compared to the renovated basketball arena and soccer stadium and the bustling FC Barcelona team mega store, the ice rink is a bit run down with a very small seating capacity. But the mere fact that there actually is an ice hockey team with the name FC Barcelona and that they have been in operation for nearly forty years, is simply amazing.

Mes que un club. More than a club. That is Barca's motto. It generally refers to the football team as a symbol for Catalan culture and the independence movement of Catalonia. But it could also apply to all the other sports teams under the FC Barcelona banner.

Here are more photos from Camp Nou and Pista de Gel.

Forget football. Spring is the best season for sports fans. We just wrapped up the most exciting March Madness in recent memory (thanks VCU and Butler) and now we have the NHL and NBA playoffs to look forward to. Plus, MLB baseball and MLS soccer have started up.

So, while the NFL heads to court tomorrow, there are so many reminders of how blessed we are as Americans to be able to enjoy so many other professional sports that aren't currently going through a labor dispute. Here in Washington, the city is buzzing about the Capitals' chance at playoff redemption. In Baltimore they are going batty over the undefeated Orioles. In Denver they love their defending MLS champion Colorado Rapids. And in Los Angeles they are dreaming of another NBA championship for their Lakers.

The trees are blooming. The weather is warmer. The grass is greener. And we have hockey, basketball, baseball and soccer all at the same time. Sorry, football, but we are moving on.

What would John Wooden do?

Coach, player, business exec, volunteer, politician. It doesn't matter. If you ask yourself that question every time you do something, it will be the right thing to do.

I found out legendary UCLA basketball head coach John Wooden died Friday at age 99 when I was biking in Venice Beach. I knew it was coming but the reality of it was somewhat emotionally overwhelming. While I was riding the bus back from Santa Monica to my home in the Miracle Mile area of Los Angeles, my friend called me and we decided to meet in front of the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center where Wooden passed away. There was a small gathering of UCLA students across Westwood Boulevard -- the leftovers from a bigger gathering earlier that evening. While I didn't attend UCLA (I did get a certificate in print journalism from UCLA Extension) I had family members that graduated from the school. I'm glad I got the chance to pay my respects to Wooden. At the bottom of this story there are pictures I took with my camera phone from the gathering at the UCLA Medical Center.

This humble Midwestern man, who led the Bruins to 10 championships and 88 straight wins, was genuinely a good person. I'm sure he had his flaws like everyone, but they certainly were not greed or putting winning above everything else -- sadly two of the qualities that have tarnished college basketball since the Wizard of Westwood worked his magic.

Wooden personified everything that is good and right about sports. He was loved by the UCLA community and will be missed tremendously.

I attended George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, and have to believe that Wooden set the blueprint for Patriots coach Jim Larranaga's magic carpet ride to the Final Four in 2006. Wooden and Larranaga share many of the same coaching philosophies, namely putting integrity, honesty and hard work above the win-at-all-cost mentality that is so pervasive in competitive sports.

Of course since this is a hockey blog, I'd be remiss not to make some connection to the sport. I found this story on PennLive.com about Hershey Bears (the Washington Capitals minor league affiliate currently battling the Texas Stars in the Calder Cup Final) coach Mark French and his affinity for Wooden.

French keeps a copy of Wooden's book "They Call Me Coach" on the bookshelf of his Giant Center office.

Here is the brief story from PennLive.com. Click here for the link to the article:

A copy of John Wooden's "They Call Me Coach" is on the bookshelf in Mark French's Giant Center office. French coaches hockey as head coach of the Hershey Bears, but he has drawn guidance and inspiration from the lessons of the basketball coaching legend, who died at 99 Friday.

"One of first coaching books I read, and I read it my first year getting involved in coaching," French said Saturday. "I’d heard one guy say every time he had to make a decision as a coach, he thought, What would John Wooden have done in these situations? After reading his book, I’m not so sure that’s not a blueprint of how you want to live your life.

"He was more than a coach. He changed his players' lives by the lessons of life that he taught them. I think all coaches aspire to have a greater impact than maybe just on the game and truly affect their athetes’ lives. He was a true philosopher-coach. He did that. He saw beyond the game. And he was very successful, too.”

French often talks about focusing on the process of a season instead of fixating on results. He said that's something he adopted from Wooden's philosophy.

“You can drive yourself nuts as a coach if you worry about wins and losses," French said. "But if you worry about, as Wooden did, a very patient way of just doing things the right way day in and out and repetition, you’ll get the desired result.

"I think that’s the only way a coach can look at a situation. It’s the only thing you’re in control of is the process. You’re not in control of wins and losses. I think he was the first one to really put those into defining terms.”