Okay, first post!

After a somewhat shaky start (computers sometimes befuddle me), welcome to this blog! Roy Lang invited me to create a Mudbugs FanBlog for The Times. (And if this goes by the wayside, it's "all his fault"!) I guess he'd rather me address my thoughts about the Bugs through a blog than sending him email, haha. Seriously, I'd like to give kudos to Roy on what a great job he does covering the Bugs. He does an incredible job with his excellent coverage of the team (and no, he's not paying me to say that.)

I suppose I should give you a little background info on how I became a Mudbugs' fan. I'd been to a couple of games early on at the Hirsch and CenturyTel Center and found them lots of fun. But I didn't really get caught up in the game until the 2003-04 season. Early on I could see a special magic in that team, and I was so enthusiastic about them, I drove nine hours with several new and old hockey friends to Laredo for the President's Cup Finals. Needless to say, that was an unforgettable trip--for many reasons.

Since then, I've had the privilege to support Mudbugs hockey wholeheartedly. My friends and I really look forward to hockey games. I think it provides us with lots of stress relief: we laugh, we visit, we heckle, we yell. And I see the same in all the people who attend games. Hockey in Bossier-Shreveport for ten years is almost unthinkable. Yet, every year, the Mudbugs have put a winning, classy team together for us to enjoy. And this season has been no exception.

Another win by the Bugs last night against one of the new teams in the league, the Rocky Mountain Rage, puts the Bugs just 1 point behind division leader--and heated rival--Memphis Riverkings AND just three points behind the league-leading Colorado Eagles. With the end of the regular season quickly approaching, these last games are going to be crucial for all of the top teams, which are closely stacked in the standings' points.