***UPDATE***
Feb. 5, 2003 "Name the Caribou Arena" Poll

Feb. 1, 2003

DOM-LAND, Middle Earth—The Dom-Land Caribou "kissed their sister," metaphorically, that is. The 'Bou opened their season against the Rohan Riders with a 2-2 tie.

The 'Bou scored first in the first period with a whopper of a slap shot from the point from defence-elf Legolas. The crowd at the temporarily named Dom-Land arena went wild as the horn blasted and the red light flashed. Defence-dwarf Gimli and center Boromir recieved assists on the goal.

The Riders tied the game five minutes later on the power play from a Boromir tripping penalty. Eowyn, one of the few female hockey players, slipped the puck past a sprawling goalie Gandalf.

Left wing Merry put the 'Bou ahead in the second period when he scored off a pass from linemate Pippin.

The Riders tied the game on a power play late in the third period resulting from a controversial penalty. Gandalf made a slick save on Eomer's shot, but when Hama tried to jam in the rebound, the puck became lodged somewhere in Gandalf's beard. The referee called a "delay of game" penalty when it could not be retrieved.

The situation was compounded when the puck from Gandalf's beard fell out in the middle of the power play resulting in two pucks on the ice. In the confusion, one of the pucks went into the goal, but whether it was the beard puck or the replacement puck even the video judge couldn't tell. So the referee decided it was a goal, since he thought it was a goal the first time.

The ensuing protest almost caused another delay of game. Neither team was able to score in overtime.

At the press conference afterwards, center Aragorn caused quite a confusion among the hobbits when he joked, "it really is like kissing your sister," invoking the old saying about ties.

Pippin immediately began hyperventillating, but calmed down once Merry administered a paper bag and assured him that Arwen wasn't really Aragorn's sister. Team doctor Bubbles fed Pippin a candy bar and he forgot all about it. She ended up feeding the rest of the hobbits as well after they made "sad eyes" at her.

Right wing Sam was still fuming about the penalty. "It's just not right," he said. "Isn't it, Mr. Frodo?"

Left wing Frodo was practicing his "relaxation yoga" but managed a nod.

Head coach Elrond believes the 'Bou will do better next time.

The next game for the 'Bou will be sometime next week, depending on Bubble's schedule.

Cup Named!

In the most shameless instance of ballot stuffing in the history of dirt and other extremely old things, "Orlando's Bloomers" won the "Name that Cup" poll with 2,626, 80 percent, of the votes. The second place candidate "Trophy...Cup...Thing" recieved 564 votes.

"Holy vote stacking, Batman!" exclaimed amazed and slightly appalled commissioner of the MEHA Bubbles. "I really wasn't expecting this kind of feedback. I am very pleased however with the passion our fans show for Middle Earth Hockey."

Some fans however were not pleased with the results. "I shake my fist at the Bloomer stuffers," exclaimed one distraught "Trophy...Cup...Thing" voter. "No, wait, actually I do have one finger raised."

Commissioner Bubbles decided to name the Most Valuable Player trophy the "MVP Award...Trophy...Theng" in a pathetic attempt to assuage the protesters. Click here to see the results of the poll.

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