Okay, kids, here's a pop quiz. And no copying off your neighbor's paper.

Q: What's the most responsible position to play in sports?

a) Baseball pitcher

b) Football quarterback

c) Hockey goalie

If you answered a) pitcher, I'm afraid you'd be wrong. If he makes a mistake, there are eight other guys out there to back him up.

If you answered b) quarterback, that's also incorrect. He may handle the ball on every snap, but if he messes up, his defense can bail him out. Plus he'll still get all the girls after the game.

The correct answer is c) goalie. If he makes a mistake, the puck's in the net. And one little error can make the difference between winning and losing.

You parents of pitchers and quarterbacks may disagree, and that's okay. But you're still wrong - go write your own article.

And I submit that being a parent of a goalie, especially on a team that doesn't win very many games, might be the toughest job in sports-parenting, if there is such a thing.

We've had our son Sam, who's 11, in Arvada Hockey for five years, and three years ago he told me that he wanted to become a full-time goalie. I've played the same position for a long time, and at some point I guess he decided he wanted to be like his dad.

I thought his mom and I raised him to be smarter than that.

So I taught him everything I know, which took around three minutes, and he has made a competitive/travel team for the past two seasons. Unfortunately, both of his teams have struggled, and they have a combined 10-44-1 record, including tournaments. Last season, Sam had to wait four months to get his first win.

Boys and girls, that is a whole lot of losing. There are two goalies on a team, so he only plays in half the games, but still ...

Through it all, Sam has always remained upbeat. He likes the kids he plays with, and while he hates to lose (I wonder where he gets that), he really enjoys playing the game. He works hard every practice, and never says a negative word about a teammate, which makes me much prouder than if he was winning every game.

And you know what? The kid can really play. I know I'm being a typical hockey dad here, but I'm also a coach and a student of the game. He's small (lousy gene pool), so he has to make up for that with positioning and desire. He has more natural ability now than I've ever had.

Because the goalkeeper has so much responsibility on his shoulders, as a parent sometimes it's almost unbearable to watch a game. Along with all of the kids on the team, Sam tries so hard, and you're just dying to see him have a little success.

You find yourself doing illogical things, like wearing a lucky hat, or standing in a lucky spot. In a close game, you communicate with God, Buddha, Allah and Tom Cruise, just to make sure you have all the bases covered. I'm not asking for a lot - just a little reward for his effort.

And then every once in a while, something happens that recharges the batteries, and gives you hope. The hockey gods threw us a bone a couple of Saturdays ago.

The boys were playing against a good Fort Collins team that had a winning record in league play, which usually spells doom for us. But we came out flying, and got a big goal early. And then another in the second period.

Meanwhile, the little guy between the pipes for Arvada was "standing on his head," a hockey term for playing out of his mind. About halfway through the game, he made maybe the best save of his life, diving across the goal crease with his stick to rob Fort Collins of a certain goal.

We made it 3-0 about halfway through the third, and it was pretty much "game over." The only question remaining: Was Sam going to keep that zero up on the scoreboard?

His mom committed the cardinal sin of a goalie parent with three minutes left: She said the "S" word out loud. That word is shutout. It slipped out, and she knew what was going to happen the instant she said it. Thirty seconds later, Fort Collins got a breakaway and finally found a way to put one past Sammy.

As Jim Croce once said, "You don't tug on Superman's cape, you don't spit in the wind", and you don't say "shutout" when your goalie has one going.

But he finished strong, and ended up stopping 20 of 21 shots. We picked up probably our best win of the season, and I got to see my son getting mobbed by his teammates when the final buzzer sounded.

And that's the ultimate reward for a goalie parent.

In the locker room, Sam won an award called "The Hammer," given to the game MVP by the head coach. It's a hockey puck with a chain attached, and the winner gets to wear it around his neck until the next game.

Sam wore it to bed Saturday night.