When I heard Terry Ryan had a new book out (actually his second but at the time I didn't know about Tales Of A First Round Nothing), I couldn't wait to get my hands on a copy. Being a "Pearl Girl" with the 80's curl who grew up hanging out at the infamous Tin Can on Smallwood Drive every Friday night, hockey is in my blood. Everyone and anyone, who grew up in Mount Pearl in the seventies and eighties, has fond memories of The Blades, The Kentucky Cup, and the brutal high school hockey games between the Protestants and the Catholics (Go, Huskies, Go!!!), not to mention the infamous Zamboni driver, Phonse. So when one of your own makes it big in the hockey world, you kind of want to read about it!
Fights, Film and Folklore ~ Tales with TR is an up close and personal account of Mount Pearl native Terry Ryan's foray into the big boy world of the NHL and the Silver Screen. Written with an easy conversational style with the occasional expletive thrown in, readers will lap up the lighthearted locker room banter and the amazing tales of brute force often felt at the end of a one, two punch. No modern book about hockey would be complete without a discussion of the effects of such brutality and TR delivers on this front as well with an honest and frank discussion on the effects of Post Concussion Syndrome and the need to make improvements to the game that has become the fabric of our very being.
You spend half your life sacrificing for others in the most unique situations, actually taking bare-knuckle punches for some and blocking 100 mph shots for others. One day, you finally need someone to be there for you in the way of employment, and nothing happens, all the while watching your daughter have to eat Kraft Dinner, waiting for coupon books to provide that week's offering of protein.....Watching a guy scramble for food who just a short while earlier was skating out onto the Bell Centre ice, proud as a peacock in front of 20,000 adoring fans, is nauseating. I've been there. Many times.
Terry Ryan
Who really thinks about retirement when you're at the top of your game and in your 20's? Cue Part Two of Terry's memoir which is equally as entertaining and enlightening...life after the ice and what an athlete must do to find purpose, feed and support his family and stay sane all at the same time. Readers will enjoy hearing about the colorful stories and impromptu chance meetings with celebrities like Ethan Hawke, Jason Momoa and Gord Downie.
Fights, Film and Folklore is funny and thought provoking, well-written and quite frankly, hard to put down. For complete and utter enjoyment, I recommend pairing this book with a large cardboard plate of greasy stadium fries and your favorite cold beverage. Fights, Film and Folklore is a Flanker Press publication.
