RichardGraham
09-26-2002, 03:25 AM
EDITOR'S LETTER 28
Does the sport of inline hockey have a heart?
September 26, 2002
I don't know when I've been so angry and disappointed and disgusted at the same time. Does the sport of inline hockey have a heart?
Inline Hockey Central's current 1,409 registered Message Board readers (multiply that by 10 to get an accurate count of the average number of people who access IHC each month) have come up with a grand total of $70 in pledges for raffle tickets toward Ben Hepp's brain tumor recovery fund. The 15-year-old inline hockey player from Detroit?Hepp played on the Tour Venom 87 PeeWee Team last year?is coming in and out of a coma that he may never recover from, and that's all we can come up with?
For details more details on the Ben Hepp story, please see:
<A HREF="http://www.inlinehockeycentral.com/amin/benhepp091802.shtml" target="_new">http://www.inlinehockeycentral.com/amin/benhepp091802.shtml</A>
and
<A HREF="http://www.inlinehockeycentral.com/amin/benhepp083102.shtml" target="_new">http://www.inlinehockeycentral.com/amin/benhepp083102.shtml</A>
These 15,000-plus IHC readers per month receive updates on the state of inline hockey from around the world, covering every one of the sport's organizations, no matter how small or large, no matter how popular or disliked. And $70 is the entire amount that the sport can come up with to help an inline hockey brother and son whose life hangs in the balance?
A few IHC readers with hearts have come through with money towards Ben Hepp's recovery fund, and I salute them. They include:
Chad Spezia for the Tour Venom '87
Tyler Spezia for the Tour Venom '93 Hockey Team
Alyssa Spezia, sister of players on the Tour Venom '87 & '93 Hockey Teams
Dena Pantazi
LetsRoll
Gary Griffaw
Missionhockey21
Colohockeydad
Missionhockey21 had a wonderful response to IHC's plea for help for Ben Hepp:
"Me and my brother are going to get our money out to you tonight, RG. Just to tell you guys, if all of the 1,368 members gave $5, that would be $6,480 for Ben. If everyone pulls together, it can help out a lot."
However, the list of those who have not come through for Ben and his family reads like a Who's Who of inline hockey.
Consider this:
IHC hasn't received payment for a $5 raffle ticket from the major hockey company's representative who told me he wouldn't spend $25 for a ticket to an IHC Athletes of the Year Awards dinner a couple years back because "hotels give meals away in Las Vegas for free."
IHC hasn't received $5 for Ben Hepp from another company's representative who said his company would support IHC way back in Pro Beach Hockey's inaugural year. (Got a good memory?)
IHC hasn't received $5 for Ben Hepp from yet another company's representative who personally won an IHC Athlete of the Year Award in the past, and then complained that he had to pay for parking.
There's not point in continuing, because the list could go on forever. (Use your imagination.) But I think you get my point.
Now it's my turn to join the rest of the inline hockey world and respond with silence.
Until the Inline Hockey Central Ben Hepp recovery fund receives a minimum of $1,000 in support for Ben Hepp's hospital costs, I will not update the IHC Home Page except for IHC sponsors and those who personally donate to the Ben Hepp recovery fund.
I feel it's the least I can do for a member of the inline hockey family.
What are you going to do?
Sincerely,
Richard Graham
Editor
Inline Hockey Central
Does the sport of inline hockey have a heart?
September 26, 2002
I don't know when I've been so angry and disappointed and disgusted at the same time. Does the sport of inline hockey have a heart?
Inline Hockey Central's current 1,409 registered Message Board readers (multiply that by 10 to get an accurate count of the average number of people who access IHC each month) have come up with a grand total of $70 in pledges for raffle tickets toward Ben Hepp's brain tumor recovery fund. The 15-year-old inline hockey player from Detroit?Hepp played on the Tour Venom 87 PeeWee Team last year?is coming in and out of a coma that he may never recover from, and that's all we can come up with?
For details more details on the Ben Hepp story, please see:
<A HREF="http://www.inlinehockeycentral.com/amin/benhepp091802.shtml" target="_new">http://www.inlinehockeycentral.com/amin/benhepp091802.shtml</A>
and
<A HREF="http://www.inlinehockeycentral.com/amin/benhepp083102.shtml" target="_new">http://www.inlinehockeycentral.com/amin/benhepp083102.shtml</A>
These 15,000-plus IHC readers per month receive updates on the state of inline hockey from around the world, covering every one of the sport's organizations, no matter how small or large, no matter how popular or disliked. And $70 is the entire amount that the sport can come up with to help an inline hockey brother and son whose life hangs in the balance?
A few IHC readers with hearts have come through with money towards Ben Hepp's recovery fund, and I salute them. They include:
Chad Spezia for the Tour Venom '87
Tyler Spezia for the Tour Venom '93 Hockey Team
Alyssa Spezia, sister of players on the Tour Venom '87 & '93 Hockey Teams
Dena Pantazi
LetsRoll
Gary Griffaw
Missionhockey21
Colohockeydad
Missionhockey21 had a wonderful response to IHC's plea for help for Ben Hepp:
"Me and my brother are going to get our money out to you tonight, RG. Just to tell you guys, if all of the 1,368 members gave $5, that would be $6,480 for Ben. If everyone pulls together, it can help out a lot."
However, the list of those who have not come through for Ben and his family reads like a Who's Who of inline hockey.
Consider this:
IHC hasn't received payment for a $5 raffle ticket from the major hockey company's representative who told me he wouldn't spend $25 for a ticket to an IHC Athletes of the Year Awards dinner a couple years back because "hotels give meals away in Las Vegas for free."
IHC hasn't received $5 for Ben Hepp from another company's representative who said his company would support IHC way back in Pro Beach Hockey's inaugural year. (Got a good memory?)
IHC hasn't received $5 for Ben Hepp from yet another company's representative who personally won an IHC Athlete of the Year Award in the past, and then complained that he had to pay for parking.
There's not point in continuing, because the list could go on forever. (Use your imagination.) But I think you get my point.
Now it's my turn to join the rest of the inline hockey world and respond with silence.
Until the Inline Hockey Central Ben Hepp recovery fund receives a minimum of $1,000 in support for Ben Hepp's hospital costs, I will not update the IHC Home Page except for IHC sponsors and those who personally donate to the Ben Hepp recovery fund.
I feel it's the least I can do for a member of the inline hockey family.
What are you going to do?
Sincerely,
Richard Graham
Editor
Inline Hockey Central