Anything Can Happen, Revisited

Ah, love... Avery and Brodeur during a quiet moment. Image courtesy puckcentral.blogspot.com

Picking up on a previous column, and in honor of the recent start to a new hockey season, I’d like to continue writing for a moment about the ways that being a New York Ranger fan is much like teaching with contemporary art.

Just to recap from the last post, being a Ranger fan is a lot like teaching with contemporary art because:

• Anything can happen, and it will.
• Being prepared is half the battle.
• You’re often anxious.
• People make fun of you, but once in a while you get to laugh back.
• Practically every game (class) is exciting, no matter how much the last one sucked.
• You’re always looking to try something a little different, a little better.
• Carefully timed risks make all the difference.

After a brutally embarrassing loss to the Islanders on Monday, I want to take this opportunity to add to the list by saying that the similarities continue:

• Never assume anything. You may be ahead by two, but there’s plenty of time to lose by three.
• Being able to change on the fly and try new strategies is essential to achieving goals.
• Agitation is part of good teaching. One has to actually agitate restless and scattered minds in order to slow down- allowing students to see and focus on big questions.

Each Ranger season, like the beginning of school in the fall, starts with tremendous hope and perhaps even a little promise. The key to being a Ranger fan and teaching with contemporary art lies in always finding new ways to be inspired and consistently looking for ways to improve our practice.