Field of Dreams

Here's your Thursday morning FNL re-cap (Kenny):

After a train de-railed near the high school in Dillon, Texas mere days before the State Semi-Finals, resulting in the school's closing and shutting down the football field, Coach Taylor had to do some quick thinking to find himself a home field. In a stroke of genius, he decided to gather his players together to build a field in a rural cow pasture, gathering them even tighter as a group as they worked to create their very own football field.

Meanwhile, Tyra finally gave in to Landry's pursual and agreed to let him be her Algebra tutor, and in Landry's world, that was like winning the lottery. However, his car broke down just as it started to rain, leaving Tyra waiting alone at the diner, chatting awkwardly with a man sitting nearby. When finally Tyra gave up waiting on Landry, she decided to take off, but that man followed her, shoved her into a truck, and tried to rape her. Tyra fought back, burning him with the truck cigarette lighter and slamming the door on his hand, and he finally gave up. Moments later, as she stood crying in the rain, trying to gather up her books, Landry showed up at last, and he gathered Tyra into his arms and comforted her. It was a really sweet moment, and I hope Tyra gives the goofball geek a chance...But the whole time, I just kept thinking, "Why, when the rest of the world is at the football game, are Tyra & Landry planning to study?" I know she had a big test coming up, but I don't think anybody in Dillon misses football games - especially not Matt Sarracen's best friend, Landry!

And once again, Bo did not get enough air time, as Riggins continues to woo the single-mom-new-neighbour, Jackie. However, Tim did get a warning from big brother Billy that this is not going to end well. I hope for Tim's sake, he's wrong...I mean, he really has been getting the short end of the stick all season long in the relationship department.

And Waverly is Bi-Polar, and she's no longer taking her meds, and Smash is seriously scared. Can't say I blame him...She's kinda giving me the shivers every time she's on screen.

Best Bitch-Out of the Night: Lyla throwing water on Jason and lecturing him on how to turn his life around. Glad to see that Lyla has grown a spine and isn't afraid to tell him how it is, wheelchair or not!

Oh yeah, about that Semi-Final football game...It started to rain shortly after the game began, turning the cow-pasture-slash-football-field into one big mudhole. But the boys wanted to play, despite the officials' attempt to call the game, and they let 'em have at 'er, and of course the Panthers won. So Coach Taylor's cow pasture did, indeed, turn into the Field of Dreams.

Before signing off, I thought I should also mention a story that's become a hot topic in our area since it made front-page news in the Ottawa Citizen yesterday. 8-year-old Jared Murray of Shawville (great-nephew of Sens coach Bryan Murray), who played Novice B hockey for the Pontiacs all season long, has now been banned from playing in the Hockey Quebec Regional Playdowns, allegedly because of his size. Of course, in Shawville, where people are still bitter about having been forced to switch from the Upper Ottawa Valley minor hockey league to the Quebec Metro league many years ago, this has developed, once again, into a language issue. Many people feel that because Shawville is a mainly English town, that they are being discriminated against by the Metro league and its' French-speaking authorities.

Personally, for me, the language thing has gotten in the way of the real problem here: A child is no longer able to play the game he loves, and if the reason they're giving is that he's too big, then that is the angle from which this should be fought. Forget your French vs. English battle - this is about human rights, and a child being forced to sit out because of his size. And I guarantee you, this kid is an unhappy camper right now, because not only has he been forced to the sidelines, but Shawville Minor Hockey in its entirety is now boycotting the Regionals, and I can just imagine the kind of flak this boy is going to take at school from other children who don't understand the situation and blame him for cutting their hockey seasons short.

It's a gross injustice, to be sure. I just hope that those involved approach this from the right angle, or else minor hockey in Shawville is going to suffer for generations to come.