Cabbie Goes Extra Mile For Hockey Team
3:42pm 12 February, 2007
Dallas taxi driver Gary Millsaps has two quests in life. He is on the
look out for a monster fare and a national champion****p for his youth
hockey team. This April, he wants to combine the two efforts.
As an assistant coach for the Dallas Junior Hockey Association's 18
and under AA team, Millsaps takes care of some of the more mundane
tasks behind the scenes, but that is a role he has gladly filled for
the last seven years. He notes "I'm the guy who fills water bottles,
makes Gatorade, brings snacks, tapes sticks, sharpens skates, patches
up cuts and scrapes, does laundry, cleans the locker room, and fixes
equipment. I'm kind of like a team manager, team trainer, and team
counselor all rolled into one."
Bear, a nickname his players gave him, looks back with a great deal of
pride and speaks fondly of the players who have come and gone over the
years. "I have had quite a few of my boys go on to higher levels of
hockey from Junior A to Division I college hockey and even the USA
Hockey National Team. Several more have played major junior hockey in
Canada. Hopefully, I will have a few players in the NHL in future."
Right now, however, he is looking toward the 2007-2008 hockey season
and he has a plan to raise funds toward a drive for a national
champion****p; to surpass the current Guinness Book Of World Records
longest taxi trip. Millsaps feels that it will take an extraordinary
effort on his part to raise the dollars his team will need next year.
"You just won't believe how much all the little stuff costs on a
hockey team. Hundreds of rolls of stick and sock tape, gallons of
Gatorade, first aid supplies, skate sharpener stones and parts,
laundry detergent, shampoo, and cleaning supplies. It all adds up!"
The planned taxi ride will take his passengers throughout all
forty-nine continental States and eight Canadian Provinces for a total
of 23,000 miles, 1500 miles longer than the current Guinness record.
But it will be unlikely that this trip will originate from one of
Dallas' taxi stands. Bear's solution? "I've placed a listing on eBay.
There are four seats available in my taxi and hopefully I can get them
all sold". The price per seat: a mere $12,500 each which also
includes airfare to and from Dallas and hotel rooms during the forty
day trip.
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