A PROFILE OF JIMMY GAROUFALIS
By Kamlesh Patel
December 4 1999
 
In the heart of the elite ball hockey community he is known as the "GREAT" 
Jimmy Garoufalis. To some he is referred to as Mr. Garoufalis. There are 
some people, who wish to remain anonymous, who refer to him as Jimmy "RED 
LIGHT" Garoufalis. I am a good friend of the "GREAT" J.G. and that 
entitles me to call him Jimmy. I do feel honoured to be a friend of 
Jimmy, as he reminds me everyday of this point.
 
The first time that I met Jimmy was during the first month that I played 
in the CASC. The Screaming Maniacs were playing against the X-Men, the 
top team in the CASC, and Jimmy was the referee for the game. There was 
much controversy surrounding that game. Jimmy had difficulty controlling
the game, and there were several violent altercations that lead to players
being ejected. This lead to petty threats to Jimmy and our League Organizer,
Theo Michael. The night concluded with the expulsion of the X-Men from the 
CASC. The fact that Jimmy was at the center of this conflict did not seem 
to bother him. In fact he seemed quite comfortable with the situation. 
 
History will note these significant points on that night:
The X-Men lost their first game of the season and were expelled from the 
CASC.
Screaming Maniacs closed out the season winning 11 of 12 games including 
their two playoff games to win the first ever CASC Championship.
 
Of course the most significant outcome of this night was that I met 
Jimmy. Everything else is an after thought, as Jimmy always mentions 
to me. Little did I know that it would be the start of a wonderful 
friendship. 
 
As a goaltender, Jimmy is pretty much a "LEGEND" of ball hockey. Everyday 
he talks about his incredible performances that he gives game after game. 
As a result I am an expert in his personal lifetime goaltending 
statistics. Jimmy tests my knowledge regularly and keeps me up to 
date.
 
In elite ball hockey circles, my friend is referred to as Jimmy the 
"GREAT" Garoufalis. This title was given in honour of his legendary 
performances week after week. According to Jimmy, he revolutionized 
goaltending. He set a new standard for excellence, one that no one 
will ever again attain. Jimmy has dazzled hockey fans for years, and has 
single handily raised the popularity of ball hockey. It is unfortunate 
that I have not witnessed many of these "legendary" performances. I 
regret also that I am not familiar with this elite ball hockey circle 
that regards Jimmy so highly. Although I am proud to be Jimmy's friend.
 
I asked members of the CASC about Jimmy:
 
A CASC rookie playing for the Dragons.
Kam: So Riz, what do you think of Jimmy?
Rizwan: Yeah man I heard about Jimmy the "Great", it's so cool that we 
have him playing in our League!
Kam: So you're saying that you've seen his great performances?
Rizwan: Well no, I've never had the opportunity. It's just that I've 
heard so much about him that he must be a "legend"?
Kam: So where did you hear so much about him?
Rizwan: Uh, well Jimmy talks about it all the time. So I figure that he 
must be an amazing goalie.
 
 
A former member of the 4 Aces who remains anonymous
Kam: What do you think of Jimmy Garoufalis?
Player: I gave my heart and soul to Jimmy, and do you know what he did?
Kam: No? Please continue
Player: He kicked me off the team! That's what he did!
Kam: Well the league is highly competitive and I suppose that the team 
wanted to improve.
Player: No it's not the team, it's Jimmy! He does whatever he wants, 
nobody challenges him!
 
He continued for several minutes, however I consider the language used 
inappropriate.
I wasn't going to ask him what he though if Jimmy's goaltending either.
 
I was fortunate to find one member of the CASC who would comment on 
Jimmy's goaltending.
 
"Jimmy red light Garoufalis. I have seen it all too often. Jimmy not 
being able to stop a beach ball. Goals pouring in from the short side, 
the glove side, upstairs, downstairs and through the 5 hole. And he 
always blames his teammates for his miseries. Can you believe that? 
And as for Jimmy the self-proclaimed #1 CASC journalist, what a laugh 
that is. He hasn't written a real article in over 4 months. I don't 
like Jimmy. I never did!"
 
 - words of Paul Iacurto
 
 
I had the opportunity to speak to present members of Jimmy's team.
Another player who wished to remain anonymous, for fear of receiving 
severe disciplinary action.
 
Kam: So what do you think of Jimmy the "Great"?
Player: You mean Jimmy "cut throat" Garoufalis.
Kam: Okay yeah. <This was an identity that I hadn't heard before>
Player: Yeah Jimmy's "cut throat"! We had a guy this season, #71 I 
believe? He showed up one game and after one shift he never played 
again. In fact I noticed that by the second half he was no longer on the 
team bench. It was Jimmy's doing!
Kam: This story seems unbelievable? I've never seen this player and 
I've seen all your games. Not to mention the fact that I update the 
statistics, and I've got nothing to validate your claim.
Player: Trust me I was there, and I saw this player. Jimmy just erased 
his existence from our league records.
 
Well after speaking to several players in the CASC I had hoped to get an 
understanding of how people perceive my friend. Unfortunately I almost 
felt that each person was referring to a different Jimmy. How can all 
these people come up with totally conflicting perceptions of him? The 
only similarity among these people is that the topic of Jimmy brings out 
passionate emotions from them.
 
From my personal experience I can say that Jimmy's arrogance is second to 
none. I remember after the World Cup Final, everyone was congratulating 
him on a great performance. Of course Jimmy accepted all the praise, who 
wouldn't? But Jimmy had to take it one step further. He said "yes I 
played a great game, and everyone who played on my team should thank me 
for single handedly winning the game. But don't forget the fact that the 
tournament was well organized, and you know who to thank for that, me of 
course! You are all welcome!"  
 
Usually on Saturdays Jimmy and I play hockey in Lasalle. Jimmy gets so 
into these games that he talks about as much as he plays. On one afternoon
in question, Jimmy going on about how good he was, that the other team 
wouldn't score on him, and they should give up trying, etc. One important 
note that I must include is that these are all friends and they were not 
personally offended, but rather entertained by Jimmy's comments. To 
continue, that game was a "red light" special. Jimmy couldn't stop anything,
he let more goals than he stopped. Of course I went over to another friend 
of ours, Brian Vincent, and said "only Jimmy could trash talk, while playing
like that"! Brian just smiled and nodded in agreement. That game was 
enjoyed by all.
 
We've all heard the saying that "if you say something often enough, then 
you'll start to believe everything that you say". Well in Jimmy's case, 
I'd say that "if you say something often enough, then everyone believes 
it"! It's his dominating personality, no doubt.
 
My personal thoughts on Jimmy:
 
Well I have personally witnessed the exploits of Jimmy "red light" 
Garoufalis on occasions. On some nights no matter how well his team 
played, the game was lost due Jimmy's pathetic goaltending. 
 
I have also seen Jimmy the "great" in action, I am probably one of the 
privileged few. Some of us can remember the World Cup of Ball Hockey. 
Jimmy won it because of his legendary performance that night. 
<Greco-Roman-Asia> We won't go into the performance of the rest of the 
team as it's not relevant to this article. 
 
Jimmy the "cut throat" is also an identity that I am familiar with. In 
our quest to win the CASC Championship, many significant decisions are 
made weekly. In the CASC Community these decisions affect many lives 
to the extent that I wouldn't have dreamed possible a couple of years 
ago. Jimmy the "cut throat" is respected and at the same time is also 
criticized by various members of the CASC.
 
In reference to Jimmy the journalist, well I have read all his stories. 
There is no doubt that Jimmy is an excellent writer: some of his work is 
absolutely brilliant. Of course I certainly enjoy reading Paul Iacurto's 
stories also. I will say that I learn much about Jimmy and Paul's 
personalities from their articles! I certainly thank both of them for 
providing readers with such interesting insight. Ultimately who is the #1
CASC journalist? Quite an interesting question, is it not? Jimmy the 
self-proclaimed #1 CASC journalist wants my answer. However, readers, I 
have no answer for you today. 
 
It's always great to play hockey with or against Jimmy. He takes it so 
seriously that everyone else gets excited about playing. I especially 
enjoy scoring on my friend. You see he takes it so seriously and 
personally, that it makes it all the more worthwhile. It seems outright 
cruel of me to take pleasure is someone else's suffering, although it 
is not the personal pleasure that motivates me. That is just not in my 
nature! The truth is that I'm hoping to slowly shatter his massive 
"EGO". This would allow Jimmy the opportunity to experience the true joy 
of life! There is a world where it doesn't matter if you can keep an 
orange ball out of a <6 x 4> net. To some it is only a rumor, but I have
seen the "LIGHT" and can validate it's existence.
 
I would be one who criticizes his attitude which has earned him the name 
"cut throat". And also his arrogant nature and self centered demeanour.
In spite of all this, Jimmy is my friend.
 
Whenever I play hockey, I'd like to have my friend guarding our net. 
On some nights the "legend" will lead us to glorious victory! On other 
nights, we may suffer agonizing defeat in the presence of "red light". 
The truth is that these two identities are the same person! We both share

the passion for life and more importantly "HOCKEY"!