What kind of person lies about their playing accomplishments
Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2007 9:55 pm
Maybe it is easier for people to get away with a lie about hockey in Florida. Maybe it is something people did in the past never thinking the Information Age would put archives at everyone's fingertips.
* A guy has told me for years that he played at Harvard. He's around 70 now. He knows the names of all the guys that did. You can pull up the Media Guide at the Crimson website and it has a list of the all-time letterwinners. He's not on it.
* Another guy probably in his mid-50s considers himself one of the most knowledgeable hockey minds in Florida. (Kind of like being the best athlete in the Gates family.) He's quick to talk down about the coaching and hockey programs in our area. His credentials? He played at BC. I'm impressed. Or at least I was until there is no record of him ever earning a letter for the Eagles.
* Just this weekend a guy was telling me he played hockey at Michigan State. My first clue he might be forgetting that he didn't is when he said they won the NCAA in 1987. Hmmm, I remember Ed Belfour, Tony Hrkac, and Bob Joyce taking the title. (A quick check shows the Spartans actually won in 1986. Not the kind of detail you'd forget if you were on the team.) "3rd line winger" I was told. My second clue was that I pulled out my Blackberry in front of him and punched his name into HockeyDB and it yielded no result. Most CCHA teams are in there from the Eighties, but certainly there is a chance nobody logged in the Spartans. Third strike? No record in the list of all-time Michigan State letterwinners.
I'm honest. I DIDN'T play in college. (However, I did earn an 'A' in an Ice Hockey PE class at the U of M while a two-time Olympian got a 'B'!! True story.) I DIDN'T even play on our HS team. In fact, I WASN'T even close!! I could have played at most high schools, but not mine. My glory days were in Mites and Squirts and it was all downhill from there!!
I love hockey and have nothing but fond memories. Why would someone lie about whether or not they played in college? I don't get it. They look far worse when someone finds out they are full of it than they could look impressive from putting one over on people.
Most importantly, is this all harmless embellishment, or do you see this as evidence of a bigger character flaw?
* A guy has told me for years that he played at Harvard. He's around 70 now. He knows the names of all the guys that did. You can pull up the Media Guide at the Crimson website and it has a list of the all-time letterwinners. He's not on it.
* Another guy probably in his mid-50s considers himself one of the most knowledgeable hockey minds in Florida. (Kind of like being the best athlete in the Gates family.) He's quick to talk down about the coaching and hockey programs in our area. His credentials? He played at BC. I'm impressed. Or at least I was until there is no record of him ever earning a letter for the Eagles.
* Just this weekend a guy was telling me he played hockey at Michigan State. My first clue he might be forgetting that he didn't is when he said they won the NCAA in 1987. Hmmm, I remember Ed Belfour, Tony Hrkac, and Bob Joyce taking the title. (A quick check shows the Spartans actually won in 1986. Not the kind of detail you'd forget if you were on the team.) "3rd line winger" I was told. My second clue was that I pulled out my Blackberry in front of him and punched his name into HockeyDB and it yielded no result. Most CCHA teams are in there from the Eighties, but certainly there is a chance nobody logged in the Spartans. Third strike? No record in the list of all-time Michigan State letterwinners.
I'm honest. I DIDN'T play in college. (However, I did earn an 'A' in an Ice Hockey PE class at the U of M while a two-time Olympian got a 'B'!! True story.) I DIDN'T even play on our HS team. In fact, I WASN'T even close!! I could have played at most high schools, but not mine. My glory days were in Mites and Squirts and it was all downhill from there!!
I love hockey and have nothing but fond memories. Why would someone lie about whether or not they played in college? I don't get it. They look far worse when someone finds out they are full of it than they could look impressive from putting one over on people.
Most importantly, is this all harmless embellishment, or do you see this as evidence of a bigger character flaw?
