Shark Tales: R.J. Enga December, 1997

by Sharon Meadows

When you talk to Richard Jason Enga, otherwise known as R.J., you can not help but notice what a nice guy he is off the ice. On the ice, you notice right a way what a good player he is. R.J. is currently leading the team (as of 11-23-97) in assists and is second only to Cal Ingraham in goals scored.

Although R.J. was born in Germany, he grew up in Colorado where he attended Colorado College with both Jimmy Paradise and Shawn Reid. (Apparently Jimmy was busy this summer recruiting old teammates, for which I am truly thankful.)

R.J. described himself as a mischievous child who was constantly getting into trouble both at home and at school. Often, R.J. and his sister, Kristen, who is a year older, were co-conspirators and both apparently have a penchant for decorating.

One day, his sister climbed up on the bathroom counter and got out the Band-Aids. She opened them up and pulled off the tabs and gave them to R.J. who stuck them all over the bathroom. As you can guess their mom was less than thrilled. According to R.J. this was one of the many, many pranks he pulled as a child.

R.J.'s older brother, Dan, never really got into trouble with the other two; he was too cool to hang out with his younger siblings. R.J. can remember back when Dan was in high school and enjoyed torturing his younger brother. R.J. would come home from grade school with his backpack and his lunch box. Dan and his friends would be waiting to ransack the poor little guy. (I'm sure R.J. never did anything to deserve it.)

But R. J. said that was just part of being the youngest and, like most siblings, as they have grown older they have became very close. R.J. is looking forward to seeing everyone this Christmas in Colorado.

R.J. played football in high school (not surprising since his father is a football coach at the Air Force Academy), but never got very serious about it. He claims that football players are freaks of nature because they are so big.

R.J. also enjoys playing soccer, which is very popular in Colorado, and outdoorsy stuff like camping, hiking and fly-fishing. Reading books, especially on those long bus rides, is a favorite past time and he just finished The Rainmaker by John Gresham.

R.J., like most of his teammates, is enjoying the nice Tallahassee weather especially since it is giving him a chance to work on his golf game.

As for his future in hockey, R.J. does not know where he will be next year. He told me that it is according to how he feels and what happens this year. He just takes it year to year and whichever way it goes, it goes. (He is obviously not a planner.)

R.J. is equally vague about his plans after hockey.