If you're lucky enough to find them, there are some pretty sweet jobs out there. Who among us wouldn't want to be a taste tester for the New Glarus Brewing Company, a high-profile movie star or a supercar reviewer? I would probably say any job that would pay me a decent amount of money to talk about sports would be the best gig in the world.
But Mike Bolt has all of those dream occupations beat.
Sure, Bolt's job involves some heavy lifting, he spends almost all of his time on the road and his partner gets all of the credit and fame. Still, I'd take his job in a heartbeat, and I guarantee any other sports fan probably would, too.
That's because Bolt is a ""Keeper of the Cup"": a Hockey Hall of Fame representative who, for the past 11 years, has brought the Stanley Cup around the globe to hockey legends and fans. In the past decade, Bolt estimates he's covered more than a million miles with Lord Stanley's chalice, going everywhere from the hometowns of cup winners to active war zones in Afghanistan to Camp Randall Stadium last week as part of the Camp Randall Hockey Classic.
""Any time you travel with any of the players when they get to bring it home and be welcomed and congratulated by their hometown, it's always very cool,"" Bolt said.
During the offseason, each member of the championship team gets a day to take the cup anywhere they want. Bolt tells the story of taking the trophy with Sidney Crosby after the Penguins won it last season.
""We were at a golf course about a week after they won, and Sidney rolled up in a golf cart with the cup, and somebody goes, ‘Oh, Sid, I'd love to get a picture with you, I don't mean to bother you.' And he goes, ‘It's not a bother, I would take pictures with that thing all day long,'"" Bolt said.
""He looks up to the cup, he's star struck with the Stanley Cup,"" he said of Crosby. ""A lot of hockey players are because that's what they grew up with.""
Like countless hockey fans growing up in Canada, Bolt dreamt of winning the cup one day. Even though his dreams of playing professionally never panned out, this job probably isn't a bad alternative.
Bolt's job has given him an inside look at hockey players in their most personal moments as they show the cup to their parents.
""They get to bring it in and show it to mom and dad and thank them for allowing them to go after their dream of being able to win it,"" he said. ""That's really cool to sit back and watch a player being able to share that moment.""
Bolt has also been privy to other interesting moments with the Stanley Cup. Wisconsin alumn Brian Rafalski took it out onto a lake when it was his turn, while Tampa Bay Lightning General Manager Jay Feaster brought the cup to NASA and took it inside a space shuttle.
Other times players have gotten a little carried away with the trophy, like the day last summer when the cup took an unplanned swim at a pool party hosted by Penguins legend Mario Lemieux.
""We took it out of the pool and let them know you don't do that with the Stanley Cup,"" Bolt said. ""They respect trying to win it, they should respect it when they have it.""
And while Bolt's job is awesome, it's certainly not without a little workplace stress, and when you travel 320 days per year there are bound to be a few slip-ups. A few weeks ago Air Canada accidentally sent the cup to Toronto instead of Vancouver.
""It wasn't a good day,"" he said, slightly understating the issue of misplacing the most legendary trophy in sports.
Even with the long hours and stress, I would gladly take Bolt's job, and I doubt he would trade it for anything.
""It's really neat to be able to spend the day with it,"" he said. ""For me as a hockey fan to go meet some of my idols like Wayne Gretzky and Bobby Orr and spend time with them [and] the cup is always cool.""
""To be able to hang out with Martin Brodeur and Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby,"" he said, rattling off a laundry list of NHL players he has met in the past few years, ""I could sit here and throw name after name after name at you.""
I'm sure he could, and that's why Mike Bolt has the best job in the world.
Think someone out there has a better gig than the ""Keeper of the Cup""? E-mail Nico at savidgewilki@dailycardinal.com.
