I am now getting somewhat confused. What the heck is midget hockey? How many years and kids in the Palin clan actually play(ed) hockey (I hate to say, going to Michigan back and forth is shamefully a waste of gas, for even hockey).

Speaking about Soccer, most of the soccer moms here in the south seem to be nice people. The soccer dads are nice too. Usually, every soccer season people get a little soccer ball gas cover magnet. Also, the usual pictures and whatnot.

So far, heck am from the south, it seems that hockey moms (especially, from Alaska) seem to be mean people. By association, maybe the dads are mean too. It seems that some of our soccer girls and boys here (mostly evangelicals) get pregnant and are forced to get married. Sometimes, these marriages don't last.

In my case, am just a plain old swim dad. It is somewhat amazing that most of our swim girls and boys don't seem to get pregnant even though the kids see more of each other in swim suits. I do know that our swim meets usually are on Saturday and Sunday. Thus, it seems they tend to skip the church type things on Sunday. Obviously; on the Sundays there are no swim meets, so some go to church and others go to movies (possibly some sex and violence types).

Anyhow, I know all these moms running for vp do need explaining too. Please help.

Hey, alert the pundits--a new category! "McBlivet got the hockey moms, but can Oblama get the swim dads?" Or the other way around--it doesn't matter, cause it's all stuff that pundits pll out of their butts. Candidates will all have to photographed in swim goggles to get the swim dad vote, or douse themselves in chlorine.

Here is how it works... it all depends on birth year.

Mite hockey = 7-8 year olds. I have a Mite Defenseman

Squirt Hockey= 9-10 year olds. I also have a Squirt Forward/ Goalie.

PeeWee- 11-12 yr olds. I have a PW Goalie.

Bantam 13-14 yr old

Midgits 14-up. Which is High School level

My sons have been on the ice since they were 5. The season starts as early as mid October and runs through March. Then there is the Spring season- if you want to. There are tournaments and travel involved depending on the team and the level at which you play. My younger sons play at the House Level- they don't travel. My older son plays at what is considered the Tier 2 level. There is some travel and maybe 3 tournaments which can be 1 to 3 hrs away. Some kids are better and play at the A/AA/AAA level- now that is travel insanity! Before we moved we had to travel because you go where the ice is. Waste of gas or not- it's no more a waste if you swim or play soccer- you go where the game is. Ice time varies from rink to rink.

Mean- no we are not mean, just loud. We cheer and yell, but at the end of the game we are all smiles. We appreciate watching the kids play and will talk to the opposing team and laugh/ congratulate and talk about how great the game was and how lousy the refs were. Just like soccer we have a zero tolerance policy with bad conduct.

After the game we sometimes go to the pool and do cannonballs and smack the Swim Kids with our wet towels. Then our hockey moms beat up the soccer moms and Swim Dads- because with out the lipstick we're pit bulls.

Tformerglr, your summartion of a hockey season/game is dead on.

I am a Mom of a high school hockey, soccer & baseball player. I have the hoodies with hockey mom on them, the baseball team sticker on my car, I leave work early so as to not miss a game, because I am proud of my son and his sporting accomplishments.

Am I a bulldog? I've heard the remarks when my son has let in a goal that clearly could have been saved or striking out on the third out with a player on 2nd & 3rd and would have liked to of said something...and occassionally have let loose in a louder whisper than I should have. I don't think that I am any more of a bulldog than any other mother who wants to protect their children from disparaging remarks whether they participate in sports or not.

Will this make me vote for McCain/Palin based on the fact that she is a hockey mom? I don't know, I am a dreaded fence dweller and I will look at both sides based on what I feel are the issues. I do think I wouldn't have wanted to be on Palin's bad side during a hockey game though...

I also live in the south, N. Atlanta area. We have 4 ice rinks within an hour of each other. We also have about 16 club ice hockey high school teams. There is a lot of hockey going on! My children have have played multiple sports, but hockey seems to be the favorite! What I think a Hockey Mom is, is a parent very interested in their childs success for team playing, but also showing to be a good sportsman/woman whether you win or lose. You try to keep your child interested in team building and hopefully keep them out of trouble because you are traveling with them for games, experiencing new areas and people. Being any type of "MOM" is doing the best you can to raise your children in a very unsettling time. We need to have the gov't realize that there are millions of parents barely getting by day to day and want people representing our interests also. The middle class seems to have "disappeared" from government radar, only catering to the rich or poor. We need representatives helping the MIDDLE.

I think maybe them swimmers are less likely to get into those kinds of troubles is maybe because of the guys in "jammers" don't leave much to any one guess. LOL. Or may it's that and really when they swim all they do is swim, study & eat, who has time or energy for fooling around? My kids swim, and my church has a "one piece" bathing suit rule, so dd wears her Speedo, it's one piece.

I am a Homeschool (jumpers & books), swimteam (swimsuit& goggles cause I swim too), 4H (jeans & boots), AWANA (Bible etc.) Scouting (backpacks & camp gear) mom, so therefor I have wardrobe issues. Where did I put my cell phone?

Dear SportsMama63;

I have two teenage boys playing football, basketball, track and golf. We have team logos on our SUV's, hoodies and stadium chairs. We all know women just like Sarah Palin.... it's nothing special. There are tons of us sports moms who have learned to be pit bulls.

Now for the issues. If you believe in your heart a woman has a choice, and diversity is good, and it takes a village to raise your child(ren) surrounded by faith, family and good education, then leave the fence and take a chance with us. There are too many sons and daughters dying in an unnecessary war. Their pit bull mothers are crying......