Just A Slight Favor, If You Don't Mind

I hope Andrew, Fred, and Heather, will excuse me for what I'm about to do, because I didn't ask for their permission, but this is for my niece, and I'll do anything for my niece.

My niece Hannah is autistic. She's lucky. She's got a mild form of autisim, and is highly functioning. She's eight. She's in mainstream second grade. She's very outgoing. She makes good grades. She has lots of friends. But at about age three, she suddenly lost the ability to speak, she wouldn't eat, and she was terrified of children her age. My sister-in-law tells the story here. My brother and sister-in-law, Hannah, and her brother and sister, were lucky in that Hannah was diagnosed pretty quickly, and they were able to get her the proper care and treatment that she needs. And since she's got a very mild form, you wouldn't even know she was autistic.

But they're lucky. There are lots of children with autisim. And many of these children don't get the proper treatment because doctors don't spot it, or the insurance companies won't pay for the treatment because they don't consider it to be a medical problem, or the child has a severe case. It's a cliche, and most aren't that bad, but the Dustin Hoffman "Rainman" character is not far off for lots of autistic kids. The TV show Parenthood is doing a good job of having a child with a mild autism and having the family adjust after they get the diagnosis.

Now for the reason I'm writing. My brother and sister-in-law live in Austin. And they're getting together people to take place in a charity walk in October. I'm not asking for people to drive out to Austin and walk. You can if you want, and I'm sure that there'll be one in Houston. But if you don't mind, if you can spare it, go to their site and donate a few bucks to the charity so that people who aren't as lucky as they are can get the treatment they need for their kids, and maybe, just maybe, some kind of cure can be found.

Sorry for the interruption from our normal programming. And take out your anger on me, not Andrew, Heather, and Fred, because I didn't tell them I was going to do this.

Ladies, one last Matt Beaudoin...

Joe O'Donnell posted what is probably his last interview with Beauds as an Aero. I wish I could say that he looks awful and we won't miss him, but you'd see for yourself that I'm lying like rug.

And just to twist the knife, they're discussing the charity work some of the guys did at Memorial Hermann. Nothing like your favorite hockey hunk helping little kids. Dear Lord.

Anyway, go check it out.

UDPATE: I had trouble getting to the video, as well. Try this link. [John]

Photo by Fred Trask

Cool off and help a great cause

Friendly reminder to head up to the Aerodrome in Willowbrook (north of 1960 on Hwy 249) and check out the STARSkaters fundraiser going on beginning at 3:40 p.m. Saturday, Aug 1.

For a mere $10 (including skate rental), you can skate, hang out in supremely air-conditioned comfort, maybe win some really awesome raffle prizes (no joke, there's some really cool stuff), and learn about all the amazing work STARSkaters does to get people out on the ice who might not otherwise get to experience that joy.

And it is, in fact, a very joyful thing to ice skate. So if you've always wanted to try, they're even doing lessons as part of your entrance fee. What better time to learn? Like I told myself I when I started learning to skate, "Hey, you aren't getting any younger." ;)

You can even try out skating on one of the sleds. Fun fact I learned from one of my favorite hockey writers, Justin Bourne, whose brother Jeff is a sled player, that the goalies have SPIKES (okay, he called 'em picks, but I'm calling them SPIKES) on their glove and blocker to help them move. Fierce!

There's a sled exhibition game at 5:50 after they cut the ice (so, a little off-season zamboni action!), which will be fun to watch and I know the players will appreciate having a crowd cheering them, so don't leave when you're done skating!

What's not to love? Cool off, do something cheap and good for the skating and hockey community in Houston, maybe win some stuff, definitely learn some things, and watch some hockey!

Oh, and Chilly will be there, too, if you like that sort of thing.

Here's the Facebook page for the event and here's a PDF with ALL the details.

Aeros To Be Honored By City On Tuesday

Sure, it's not a parade or a gathering at Toyota Center, and it's doubtful that any of the players or staff will be attending, but...the City of Houston and the Anti-Defamation League will be honoring the Houston Aeros along with 39 other Houston-area organizations for participating in the Anti-Defamation League's Community of Respect Initiative.

The Aeros are the lone Houston-area sports team being honored.

To become part of the initiative, the Aeros had to submit a form of intent, create a diversity coalition and/or appoint a person to oversee the implementation of the initiative, sign the Resolution of Respect pledge or create one of their own, implement at least three anti-bias/diversity activities, and document completion of those activities and send that documentation to the Anti-Defamation League for approval.

I know this isn't really sports related. And it's not really honoring the Aeros for their on-ice play. But I just thought I would note a sports team that is actually being honored for performing a good service, and unlike some of Houston's other sports teams (I'm talking to you Astros) doesn't go out of its way to point out what a great citizen or trumpet what a great charitable organization it is.