It all started with a phone call to the Duluth leagues and getting phone numbers of their top teams. We picked our best 2 and the best 2 teams each from their leagues. We decided Super Bowl Sunday morning was the best time to have it. Thus, the Twin Ports top 6 teams played on Super Sunday, which explains the name Super Boot. We played at a local city outdoor rink with no referees and no redline! Miller Genuine Draft was our first corporate sponsor, and I know they got their monies worth.

After another late night, we decided we needed a trophy. Scott had a pair of boots he had worn for years, and we finally got him into some broomball shoes. He took them out of his gear bag and I got a drill and we applied the hockey sticks. There¹s your trophy. It has traveled every year.

Needless to say that first year Who¹s Bar team dominated. I scored 5 goals in the final game, (with help from the late Rory Vessel). All Duluth teams were quickly eliminated and the final was between the Superior teams, proving Superior¹s dominance. Orange Crush - gone. Locker Room-done. I remember one decent hockey player from Duluth having a cry baby fit over a loss and swore he would never come back. That was until the next year when he showed his ugly face, with the same result: Superior wins.

About the 3rd or 4th year, we had so much interest from other teams that we nixed the invitational idea and opened it up for all. Duluth finally came over and won the next 2 years. Roby's and Panama Red were both defending Minnesota State Champs. Then it happened. Jiggers from Thunder Bay called and asked about the tourney. Canada's "Dirty Dozen" wanted to play our best. They came down the first year and beat Norm's/T-Bonz and never looked back. They tell a story of crossing the border with the trophy. You see, the boot is packed with plaster to hold it's shape. The thick white fill was inspected by customs as a potential drug smuggling carrier. With all the years that they've won the boot, now the customs guys just wave them through. Jeff "Orny" Ornell hopped on board and helped me fix, I mean set up the draw.

For the first few years, Who¹s Bar sponsored the event to coincide with their Super Bowl party. Free chili and free beer made for a long night. But as years went by, we outgrew the small bar and moved. We made a mistake one year and took the tournament to a local bar with a rink, Badsports, and were met with rude and evil management that tried to take over the event.

So we moved the event to SAHA¹s outdoor ice and were met with great sponsors like Striker¹s and Norm¹s. We moved the date to the weekend after the Super Bowl because of the year the Packers made it and not many teams wanted to participate due to parties, etc.. Strikers/Norm¹s forked out thousands of dollars for ice time and prize money. They were great to work with and still help out to this day, including renting a bus to shuttle players back to Superior. It was convenient to play the games and walk the block back to the bar. Plus Soupy (Thunder Bay guy) could stagger back to the Androy at bar close, if he even went to his room at all.

After years at SAHA, their executive board called a meeting and complained of us drinking on site, littering, urinating, etc. So we decided to part ways. I knew that Stoy at the Buffalo House had a great rink because Jason Eckenberg wouldn¹t shut up about it. Everyday he would tell me to move it to the ³Buff². So after a short meeting we found a new sponsor: Budweiser, and a handshake, here we are today. This is the best facility and the most gracious host of all. I think the tournament has found it¹s permanent home.

Now it has opened up to have as many Canadian teams as American. Grand Rapids sends a team every year and the Twin Cities is well represented. Ray Bonnie has helped set up the Canadian delegation, but it's too bad he can't "score" when he's in the States. There are teams that go to the Minnesota State tournament every year, but winning that is nothing special. They know that ³The Boot² is the real prize in boot hockey. And now they are coming here for the best boot hockey in the U.S.

The event has grown to enormous proportion. We have to start the event earlier on Friday as to lighten the number of games on Sunday. We have a good, loyal, and consistent ref, Chris who even skates. We have a Zamboni and Stoy is devoted to making perfect ice. The facility is perfect with upstairs/downstairs, cold beer and the great food. The only problem we¹ve had was the unheard of split-championship by Ice Dogs and Dirty Dozen in 2004. Come on guys...play the game!

As I get older, I have been slowly weaning Eck into taking over the event. He¹s a great guy with lots of drive and a high tolerance for alcohol. He reminds me of myself when I was his age: drunk most the time, sleeping around, irresponsible. But I am not ready to quit yet. Somebody has to keep the Canucks in line. It means a lot to have the same loyal friends and teams come back year after year. It shows we are doing things right. eh?