Ryan Reynolds, hockey star?
Sometimes, reporters start working on a story and discover an unexpected tale along the way.
So it was this week for me while working on a story about Ryan Reynolds.
You’ve likely heard his story — the Oklahoma linebacker recovered from two major knee surgeries and was having an amazing season for the Sooners when he suffered another knee injury. He tore his anterior cruciate ligament in the Texas game and will miss the rest of the season.
You can read the story about Reynolds and his continuing role on this OU team in today’s Oklahoman or on NewsOK.com
In talking to his father, Craig, I discovered that Reynolds was quite the hockey player. He was a member of several Arizona state championship teams in roller hockey as a kid, then around the age of 7, he decided to give ice hockey a try.
Trouble was, the family lived in Lake Havasu City, Ariz., which had no ice rinks.
More trouble was, the closest ice rink was either in Phoenix or Las Vegas. Both cities were a three-hour drive from Lake Havasu City.
Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday after Reynolds finished school, his parents would make the three-hour drive to Phoenix for an hour and a half practice, then drive three hours back. Reynolds would do his homework in the car.
“And we did that for five years,” Craig Reynolds said.
The younger Reynolds praised his parents for making the sacrifice, but he made it pay off. He played on the under-12 national team, even traveling to Canada for an international tournament.
Reynolds eventually gave up hockey; he disliked the drive not the sport.
“If he lived in an area where there were closer rinks and he didn’t burn out on the drive,” his father said, “he would’ve been playing ice hockey and not football.”
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Jenni, What happened? I haven’t seen your reviews of OSU or OU lately and I appreciate them…it seems to me you do a good job and are astute at noting both strengths and weaknesses of the teams then reporting it…I miss your objectivity..