The original title for this piece was "Hockey in the Hood." It's catchy and slightly alliterative, something both Jesse Jackson and Walt "Clyde" Frazier would undoubtedly support. With that said, it also sounded like some short-lived, municipally funded, inner-city after-school program designed to teach the rules of the game to "troublesome" youth in dire need of constructive extracurricular options. On top of that, something about "hood" wasn't sitting well with me.

So I scratched it.

This isn't about any sort of program or initiative, but instead an attempt to illustrate the most fascinating neighborhood transformation I've ever had the privilege to witness.

It was exceptional to be a sports-obsessed child of the '90s (ages 3 to 13) for 10 main reasons:

1. Sports Illustrated for Kids
2. NBA Inside Stuff
3. D2: The Mighty Ducks
4. Ken Griffey Jr.
5. The naive belief that you had the only Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card
6. Matt Christopher books
7. Space Jam
8. Jordan Highlight VHS box sets
9. MTV Rock 'N' Jock Basketball (Dan Cortese, I SEE you).
10. Starter jackets

With all due respect to the first nine items on this list, no. 10, Starter jackets, is to Julie "The Cat"' Gaffney what nos. 1 to 9 are to Team Iceland.