Member Spotlight: Shiphockey7

[Deb]

Member Spotlight: Shiphockey7

I wanted to get back into this, so thought I'd pick someone I knew fairly well. I really didn't really how well till we started this. But Bryan and I go back aways on different boards. Ya'll all know how that goes. He's a good friend, a great sports fan, and I am glad he took the time to do this. Thank you Bry

How did you become a Braves fan?

I grew up in the early to mid 90's when they were on TBS all the time and were a perennial powerhouse, so I kind of just latched on there. I live within an hour and a half of both Philly and Washington, so I get to see a bunch of other games too, as well as Pirate games, but have been a Braves fan as long as I can remember.

I'd like to talk about your love for hockey, so gonna break it up into parts..

At what age did you first start playing and have you always been a Pens fan?

One of my biggest regrets is that I didn't start playing earlier. I only started playing towards the end of high school, and it was quickly discovered that I had some pretty solid talent, so through college I worked on it and my freshman and sophmore years I didn't play a lot but then started getting better and better. As for the Penguins, I used to watch games with my grandfather as a toddler sitting on his lap at their house back when the Hershey Bears were the AHL affiliate of the Penguins so yeah as long as I can remember I've always been a Penguins fan.

You really had a successful college career playing roller hockey. What were some of your highlights?

Kind of goes together with what I said in the last question, I really wasn't too good my first season, I think I had no goals, and three assists. In my second season I got a bit better but still not at the level I had to be, then my junior and senior seasons I was basically our top line center. As for my highlights, my senior season we made the National Championship Tournament in Colorado Springs, CO. Unfortunately for our team our top 3 leading scorers were not able to miss class to travel so as the captain I kind of had to step up and I got our team the furthest my school has ever made it (semi-finals) and I had two separate hat tricks, and led the team in scoring out there. It was one of the cooler things I have done.

Are you still playing now? And for what team?

TRUE ACTION SHOT


Oh yeah, I still play a lot of beer league hockey and if you look at my avatar its me playing for Team Pennsylvania against a whole bunch of other states, I've played in that tournament the past two years and will likely play again this year. Also, we have a semi-pro team around here, the Harrisburg Lunatics, I didn't play this year because I got married, but I'll be back playing next season.

Ongoing debate at SJ...is Eli Manning elite?

As a homer Giants fan my immediate reaction is yes. Sure he has some bad games, and makes some poor decisions and definitely leaves me frustrated when he throws dumb passes/interceptions. That being said, the dude is a two time Super Bowl MVP and if the Giants are down in the fourth quarter and have the 2 minute drive working, there's no one else I'd rather have at QB. He really does make the players around him better, look at the Steve Smith's, the Jake Ballard's, the Martellus Bennett's, and the Kevin Boss's of the world.

Last year you married your long time sweetheart. What do you see in your future in the next five years?

The next big to do for us is get out of our townhouse and buy a big boy house, so that will happen within the next five years and then perhaps children, we'll see, to be honest I haven't really even thought about five years down the road and where things should be.

What is a normal workday like for you?

Now you have to understand my work is quite different than most peoples job. I am a lobbyist, so first off I get a lot of people that think my job is full of "scum" and just bad people, also I get a lot of questions about the movie "Thank You For Smoking". With my job, there are never two days that are alike, but if the PA House and Senate are in, I basically get to work around 8 or 8:30, go to committee meetings for my clients until around 11, then they go into session so I either grab lunch up at the Capitol or bring it back to my office and watch the proceedings of the floor of the PA House on TV, then when they are out (usually around like 4 or so) I get reports together on what happened today in the House and/or Senate and then normally end up out at a restaurant or bar developing relationships with members of the House or Senate for our clients. It's a lot of time out at the bar schmoozing.

Besides sports, what do you like to do in your spare time?

I hang out with the wife a whole lot, as well as our little dog. While it is a sport, I golf and bowl quite a bit. I do a lot of what the average 26 year old does, watch tv, play video games, and drink beer

Who were your heroes growing up?

I looked up a lot to my Grandfather, I used to spend a lot of time with him watching hockey, he was just a good guy and could always make people laugh

Favorite food: Chipotle - love that place
Favorite color: Orange
Favorite Song: geez, I have an odd taste in music, but I'm a big old school Taking Back Sunday fan
Favorite Movie: Miracle

[Reveryroadie]

good stuff

[Reg]

As Mr Spock would say... FASCINATING!

It's always good to learn more about our members. I've known Ship a few years now on boards (& appreciate the support he's given Deb & me on such), but I never knew he was a lobbyist. DOOD...that's BIG TIME!

Thanks for the insights, both of you.

[Shiphockey7]

haha thanks guys, thanks for having me!

[Robert]

This guy has been one of my Xbox friends for years... and I've never actually played a game with him... cause I'm a slacker!

Nice read!

[Deb]

It's always good to learn more about our members. I've known Ship a few years now on boards (& appreciate the support he's given Deb & me on such), but I never knew he was a lobbyist. DOOD...that's BIG TIME!

Funny I knew he was and wasn't sure how to ask what that was like so put it totally on him and it was a great answer. So kudos so SH7

[Shiphockey7]

yeah its a weird job that a lot of people don't understand