Knowing A Hero!

"It’s funny how you will find heroes in the unlikeliest of places. I never thought that working an office job I’d use the word “hero” to describe anyone, but I work with a man who’s only in his mid-20’s, and is one of the most heroic men I’ve ever met. He’d never describe himself that way, but most people who have met him would."

You can find the rest of this article written by Christine Smith here. Mrs. Smith is an Extension Agent in the department of Family & Consumer Sciences with NC Cooperative Extension, NCSU and has known and worked with Jonathan for many years and wrote this article to be presented in the Goldsboro News Argus.

Keep an eye out for it.

2007 Exhibition Season Tickets on Sale Now!

We are going to do the exhibition games again this year to go ahead and start raising the money needed to go to the 2008 Powerhockey Cup.

Our first game is in January and all games will be held at Charles B. Aycock High School in Pikeville again. I had thought about moving the games to different locations, but we are going to wait on that until 2008 because I want to sell season tickets this year and Aycock is the only place I can lock in dates that far in advance.

Each ticket book will include tickets to 6 games and will cost $25.00.

That means you are getting one game free!

I realize that many of you want to support our organization, but you cannot attend the games. You can still purchase season tickets and have your tickets donated to local kids who may want to experience our game.

Also, you can purchase tickets in honor or in memory of a loved one. A lot of charities do that. For example, my aunt made a donation to the MDA in my name this year and they sent me a card. We will create a card, but it will be placed on the bleachers of each game. At the end of the season, the card will be mailed to you or your loved one. Just check the appropriate box on the Season Ticket Form located on our website www.powerhockey.com/northcarolina.

The 2007 season is:

January 13, 2007 (Powerhockey Cup Medals and pictures will be on display)

February 24, 2007

April 14, 2007

August 11, 2007

September 22, 2007

October 20, 2007

New Season Just Around The Corner!!

Hearing the Stanley Cup Champion Carolina Hurricanes held their first scrimmage last night, it made me realize that the hockey season is just around the corner.

The Hurricanes held an intersquad scrimmage at the RBC Center Wednesday night. Admission and parking was free. It was the first glance at some old and some new faces.

Next on the horizon, Carolina Fury hockey.

After a thrilling trip to Calgary, Alberta, Canada in August, the Fury are looking for some new faces to join their team as well.

If you have any interest in learning more about the Carolina Fury and PowerHockey, go to our website at www.powerhockey.com/northcarolina. There you can learn all about the sport and what PowerHockey can do for you. Contact information is also found at our site.

Thanks for reading. We hope to play with or against you one day!

Labor Day Sale!

This Labor Day Weekend the Carolina Fury will be having a sale on ALL it's products found at Cafepress.

Take advantage of their free shipping offer on orders over $50. Just enter the code BT52006.

The SALE will last from Septemeber 2-4, 2006.

All items will be 15% to 20% OFF!!

You can find your favorite player merchandise link on the right side of this page.

Or go here.

Enjoy the SALE!

Go Fury!!

A Glimpse!

Carolina Fury huddle up and get instructions during the 2006 PowerHockey Cup in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

For more photos, visit cesphotos. There you can find photos from each game the Fury played during the cup. All photos are for sale and proceeds go back to the North Carolina Electric Wheelchair Hockey Association.

Day....whatever!?! Final Episode

FINAL ENTRY:

Well, we are in West Virginia tonight.

It is so good to be back on the east coast in my normal time zone. I was getting use to the 2 hour delay, but again it's not home.

Did I tell you how it doesn't get dark in Calgary until like midnight eastern time?!

That was pretty neat except everything closed at 6:00, so what are you supposed to do until dark???

Luckily, we had very friendly hotel managers who let us play in the lobby.

Anyway, I finally made it to Yellowstone last week. It was pretty, but I
couldn't really enjoy it because I was sick.

I got a nice view of the Yellowstone Clinic though. The doctor and nurses are very nice there.

We did see some of the hot springs at Yellowstone. They were really pretty, but they stink!!!!!!!! They smell like sulfur!

After Yellowstone we've just been driving.

I haven't been well enough to stop for any baseball games, which was tough because we drove right by the home of the Rockies, Royals, and Cardinals.

We did stop at one Western Store for mom in Missouri and she had a blast. There were about 20,000 pairs of boots there!

Even more freaky about this store was the hundreds of mounted animals in there. I mean I love the outdoors and have a few of my own trophies in my room, but this place was almost sick!

Oh, by the way, Pikeville isn't the smallest town in the USA!!!!!!

We drove by a place that had a population of 10 in Wyoming.

That's right ten!!!!!!

It was 2 houses and a post office! Remind me never to be a real estate agent in that town!

Alright well I am going to end this here.

I hope you have enjoyed hearing about our little adventure. We've had an amazing time!

Our team and our families really appreciate all the support you have given us.

We look forward to playing for you again soon.

Remember, we're always looking for players, so contact me if you want to give powerhockey a try.

Thanks again and I'll see you at home!

North Carolina Electric Wheelchair Hockey Association

PHOTOS ON SALE!

Photos from the 2006 PowerHockey Cup are now online at www.cesphotos.com.

These photos will be on sale at a very low price for ONE WEEK! (Through August 20th)

After the 20th the prices will go back to their normal prices.

As always, all sales from these photos go back to the NCEWHA to help support a wonderful organization!

Day 11 - August 9, 2006

Day 11 (Hey that's my jersey #!!!):

We're finally back in the USA!!!!!!!!!!

Don't get me wrong, Canada was great, but it isn't home :).

We made it to Great Falls, Montana tonight.

That isn't very far, but we're taking it easy today. I actually have a
little sore throat, but I think it is just the lack of sleep catching up
with me.

We stopped in the duty free (no taxes) shop at the border today and one of
the Minnesota Saints were there. It is a small world!!!

They were like the 5th person that has already asked me if we were hosting in 2008.

What do you think NC, can we host the Cup???

Right now I am about 70% sure that I will send in a proposal, but that doesn't mean anything ;).

Alright that is all for tonight. Mom wants to use the computer.

Yellowstone tomorrow!!!!!!!

Banff, Alberta

Photo of Jonathan and Vanessa at Lake Louise, just outside Banff, Alberta.


Jonathan and his family were in Calgary, Alberta for the 2006 World PowerHockey Cup. The Carolina Fury finished 5th in the Tournament.

Day 10 - August 8, 2006

Day 10:

Well today our team got shipped back home.

I spent the day touring some of Alberta with my parents, my sister, and brother-in-law.

We went to Lake Louise and Banff, which is in the Canadian Rockies. The views were amazing. Lake Louise is so clean that it looks like a swimming pool!

Oh and just in case you are wondering, the Calgary Selects won the
Powerhockey Cup.

They played against the Minnesota Stars and both teams played really well.

Hopefully one day we will be at that level.

The next tournament hasn't been announced yet, but we do know it is going to be in 2008. Some information will go out in the next few months on how to do a proposal to host the event.

Tomorrow we are leaving and heading back to the USA.

Hopefully, we'll be at Yellowstone tomorrow night. I am really excited about that!

Day 8 & 9 - August 6-7, 2006

Day 8 and 9:

Sorry I didn't get to write last night. We were hanging out in the hotel
lobby and some of our friends from the Minnesota Stars came over. By the time the hotel manager told us to quiet down, it was about 11:30 and we had to get some sleep.

We lost 3 games again yesterday, but we did play well.

We had the Stars on the ropes a little and we lost in the last minute to Michigan.

One day we'll have the continuity that these teams have. That all starts with recruiting back home and we are really going to work on that this year.

Today is the final day of the tournament and we played for 5th place this morning at 10:30.

We actually won it!!!!!

We played great defense and squeaked out with a 1-0 win. This was our first international win and I did keep the game ball for our "hall of fame".

We are about to leave to watch the championship game.

It is going to be a USA/Canada final with the Minnesota Stars playing either the Toronto Rock or the Calgary Selects.

Then we'll have a wrap up party afterwards and that is why I am writing now.

It will probably be a long night.

Thanks again for all your support. We had a great time and it such a great feeling to finally get that win :).

Day 7 - August 5, 2006

Whatever day this is:

Well the tournament finally started.

If you read our website, you know we lost our first two games. We actually played better than we did 2 years ago, but we can still improve.

We were really in both games yesterday, we just couldn't find the offense in the first game and couldn't contain a player until it was too late in the second game.

Oh and I got my first career penalty!

It was such a joke because I got called for holding...how am I going to hold a 300 pound chair???????

Granted my stick did come up and I should've be called for something, but the guy ran into me.

He had already knocked my foot rest off once and I was just trying to protect myself...it should've been matching minors.

We haven't gotten a powerplay yet in the tournament, but hopefully we will today.

Hopefully, we'll also get that illusive first win also.

Our first game is at 10:00 this morning so I have to get ready.

I hope you all are doing well.

Day 6 - August 4, 2006

Well today was interesting.

Everyone arrived safely, but we had a few issues with chairs from our Baltimore teammates.

I haven't actually met with them yet, but hopefully everything will be alright tomorrow.

Registration was from 3 to 5:00 today and our transportation hadn't made it
back from the airport at 4:00, so Mom and I had to make the hike on our own.

I would say that we walked at least 3 miles to get there.

And it is so cold here.

I left without my coat and had to buy a University of Calgary sweatshirt before we tried to make our journey back.

A really sweet girl got us to the book store, so I could get a shirt. I mean she walked us right to the bookstore! Of course it didn't hurt that she was as cute as she could be, but I was still amazed that someone could be that nice.

Mostpeople would just put you in the right direction.

After we got a shirt, we started the hike back...then it started raining!!!!!!!

So, we called the hotel and Josh's dad came at got us.

My dad was driving around Calgary had already left, searching for his long lost family.

Day 5 - August 3, 2006

We finally made it!!!!!

I am sorry the entry is late. Chip will probably be mad, but he is on the way flying anyway, so he couldn't post this entry anyway...haha.

We got to Calgary last night around 7:30. Yesterday was so long because we were so ready to get out of the van.

We drove up through Montana on a 2-lane highway and it was really empty! There were a few really small towns that really remind you of the old west.

I don't think they have upgraded since 1850.

It was funny because each town may have one little gas station, but all of them have a bar!

Crossing the border was pretty easy. We didn't even have to get out of the car.

I did see Montgomery Gentry's bus at the border. I guess they were getting searched
because they had over $10,000 on board.

Last night when we got to Calgary, we met up with Josh and his family and
went to Red Lobster to eat. It was great getting some familiar food.

Today everything will start getting busy as the team arrives and we have to take
care of all the registration stuff.

If I don't get to write tonight, Josh or Shawn will.

Day 4 - August 2, 2006

Today was amazing!

We are currently in Billings, Montana and still have
about 10 hours to go. We didn't get very far today because we actually did
some touring.

Mt. Rushmore is awesome! We spent about an hour there because there is a little museum and gift shop with it. Plus, I had to get plenty of pictures! I still can't believe 400 people were able to build it.

After that we stopped at Bear Country USA, which is about 20 minutes away from Mt. Rushmore. It is a drive through wild park, like a zoo without as specific cages.

They had everything from Elk to Buffalo and of course, bears! The bears would just walk right between the cars. It was so neat!

We finally got out of South Dakota and into Wyoming.

If you have never been, I recommend it. Don't come looking for people, but the nature and scenery is beautiful.

I have never seen so many wild deer and pronghorn. They are just standing out there in the open. Of course, it isn't like there is anywhere they can hide. It is wide open space to the horizon.

Well hopefully tomorrow night I'll be writing from Calgary.

I am really getting excited now...I've messed around enough, it's time to play some hockey!

Reminder!

Tonight on NBC-17 a feature about the Fury will be on at 6pm, 7pm, and 11pm.

Don't miss it!!

Jonathan's Map

This isn't the exact route that the Greeson's are taking, but it's similar.

The idea here is to get a sense of how far away Calgary really is.

Go here to see a map of their journey.

If I'm not mistaken, they will be going into Montana and then going north.

If you follow Jonathan's entries, you'll see exactly where they've been.

Day 3 - August 1, 2006

Well we are in Rapid City South Dakota tonight.

It has been a really long day. The roads here are completely empty. The prairies are pretty though. Not much to see at all.

I'm hoping, but haven't seen any buffalo yet. We have seen some cattle.

We haven't gotten to Mt Rushmore yet, but we're close. I'm excited about that!

We did stop at a old west community thing. They sold fudge! Not much here either. But it was just a nice break from driving.

We are 2 hours behind you guys now and I am really tired, so I have to cut it short tonight.

Day 2 - July 31, 2006

Hello from Wisconsin, well it might be Minnesota, we are right on the border in Analoska (I think).

Today was extremely long! The most interesting city was Cincinnati. We just drove by it, but I really want to go there one day.

After that was the long journey of corn and soybean fields! I think that is all that is in Indiana and Illinois.

It seemed like forever until we finally got to Madison, Wisconsin where we made our turn west.

We stopped at Wisconsin Dails for dinner. That place is neat, it is like a water park resort.

So far we have driven 1200 miles and I am starting to feel it.
Plus it is hot here! It was still 90 degrees at 8:00 PM!

We're going to South Dakota tomorrow to see Mt. Rushmore, which I am really looking forward to. I'm not looking forward to the empty roads and really hot weather though.

There isn't anybody out here! I talked to Josh on Saturday and he is already in Canada. Luckily, he got me prepared for the road.

I'll be glad when we all get there though!

Well I need to sign off and get some sleep.

Day 1 - July 30, 2006

Hey Guys,

We actually left a day earlier than expected, which is good because I am starting to realize the USA is huge!

It is going to take forever!!!!!

We left at 9:30 this morning and now we are in Georgetown, Kentucky. Yeah I have never heard of it either, but we did see that the Cincinnati Bengals have their training camp here.

Of course we only found that out because we got lost looking for the hotel...haha.

It is a really nice little city though.

Today was great. Mom, Dad, and I really got along well...we'll see how that changes over the next few days!

There wasn't really anything too exciting on the road. I did see a truck pulling a yacht that was just beautiful to me! It is neat watching $2 million going gown the road!

Don't forget to visit our site during the tournament!

See Me On TV!!

The Carolina Fury will be featured on NBC-17 on August 1st.

Show times will be at 6pm?, 7pm, and 11pm.

So get your vcr's and tivo's ready to record. This will be your last chance to see the Fury before their trip to Calgary. (Yes, Calgary, Cananda!)

Journal Entry

I'm having problems trying to decide to call it a diary or a journal. A diary sounds feminine. So I'm thinking of sticking with JOURNAL.

So I'll remind each of you the Jonathan Greeson will begin his journal entries July 31st.

This will be an inside look at his travel to and from the PowerHockey Cup in Calgary and of course his take on the games being played.

We'll also be getting some of the other players to give their 2 cents.

Should be a lot of fun to read. Check back here each day starting on July 31st!!

Early Predictions??

Some of you have registered already and have been posting at the Carolina Fury Message Board.

For those of you that haven't, there are some interesting topics and discussions going on.

One of the most interesting topics is who's going to win the 2006 PowerHockey Cup.

You can find all the topics here or you can go here to find PowerHockey topics. Including the hot topic, Who is going to win the CUP?

Want to give your 2 cents? Go on over to the board, register, and give it.

Have fun!

Travel Diary

With the upcoming 2006 PowerHockey Cup, the Carolina Fury's Jonathan Greeson will be writing a daily diary entry that will be posted here on the Carolina Fury blog each day.

Jonathan will be sharing all his experiences and thoughts of his trip to Calgary.

Check back here starting July 31st for an entertaining look at Jonathan's trip.

Background:

Jonathan is not able fly like other's who use an electric wheelchair. Because of this Jonathan will be driving with his family to Calgary.

The Greeson's trip begins Monday, July 31.

They're guessing around a 2600 mile road trip.

They're hoping to be in Calgary Thursday.

Picture Viewer

I'm always looking to do new things that takes some creativity.

So what have I done now?

Simpleviewer has created a relatively easy picture viewer that's free to use.

So, being the way I am, I created a small gallery of Carolina Fury Photos that are available for sale online.

As always, all proceeds from the sale of Carolina Fury photos go back to the team.

Check it out and let me know what you think. You can comment any time here on my blog or at the Carolina Fury Message Board.

Enjoy!!

Wallpaper and Photos

I've been trying to come up with different ways of getting the word out about how great PowerHockey is and especially the Carolina Fury.

So I decided to add another feature to the website.

Wallpaper & Photos!

Here you'll find two things.

Wallpaper not for your house, but for your computer. It's real simple. If you know the size of your computer screen great. If not, that's ok. Select a size and click on it. When the picture comes up, all you have to do is right click and select save as desktop background. Then check your desktop, not your desk top, and see if it's there.

You also have the choice of saving it and doing what you like with it.

The second thing you'll find are photos. Not a lot of photos, but just a few to wet your whistle and get you over to www.cesphotos.com. There you'll find tons of photos including headshots of each of the players.

Check back every now and then for updates. New additions will be coming as soon as I complete them.

Visit here to find wallpaper and photos!

Let The Games Begin!

Over at our message board, we have a poll to see who everyone thinks is going to win the cup this year.

The Carolina Fury has the most votes so far. =)

Per request, all the teams participating this year are on the list.

Visit here to make your vote!

Be sure to check out all the other post while you're at it. Our membership is up to 8 and growing. Not bad for being up and running for less than a week. Keep it up!

Only 3 Weeks Left

Most of you will be leaving in just 3 weeks for Calgary. Before you leave, be sure to stock up on Carolina Fury Gear.

Our store has a little something for everyone.


If not, shoot me an email and let me know.

There's even merchandise for your favorite player!

Go there today and get your Carolina Fury Gear!!

CAROLINA FURY MERCHANDISE

Ever Been To A Message Board?

I'm willing to bet most of you frequent message boards. Whether you post or just read, message boards are now a part of our lives.

Because of this, the Carolina Fury has started it's own
message board.

The message board is where we'd like to get together with other players, athletes, fans, family, etc., and talk about sports and life.

Right now we have 4 different forums.

PowerHockey
College Sports
Pro Sports
General Discussions

The first three forums are all about sports. The General Discussions forum is for whatever is own your mind. No holding back. To a degree at least.

For this to be successful, anyone interested in PowerHockey, Sports, or anything else should join.

Let's have fun!!

Carolina Fury Message Board

Stand Up Comedian

Shawn Hessee made his professional comedy debut Thursday, June 29th. Shawn was the the 8th comedian of the night at Charlie Goodnights Comedy Club. It was 10 for 10 night. Ten comedians for ten dollars. Shawn got some of the loudest laughs of the evening.

NCEWHA Carolina Fury

Age, Gender, Race, Strength? Doesn't matter!!

No matter your age, gender, or race, PowerHockey and the NCEWHA is for anyone that requires the use of an electric wheelchair. The formation of the NCEWHA and it's team, the Carolina Fury, has been a blessing for many. So often men, women, and children of all ages that require the use of an electric wheelchair feel they can't compete athletically.

This is in fact true for some sports, but not PowerHockey.


The Carolina Fury's players are both male and female, ages range from 18 to 45, and the level of strength ranges from no strength to very strong. I'm sure you fit into this category.


This summer marks the second year in existence for the Carolina Fury. The brainchild of founder Jonathan Greeson, the Fury plan to compete in Calgary in August for the 2006 PowerHockey Cup.

As photographer for the team, all proceeds go back to the program. The Fury relies on donations to compete. If you're interested in learning more, links to the Fury's website and to the photos are on the right column.

NCEWHA

I have the privelage of being the official photographer for the North Carolina Electric Wheelchair Hockey Association's Carolina Fury. The Fury played it's 5th scrimmage against a group of local firemen just recently. They won 7 to 1. It was an awesome game. Photos are for sale at my smugmug site and all the proceeds are going back to the team. In August, they plan to play in Calgary for the World Championship. Go Fury!