You've Got to Be Kidding Me

Sometimes in life, I wake up and see news that is so personally earth-shattering. I remember the Calgary Winter Olympics in 1988 with a perky young short-haired blonde as the "hometown favorite" that completely stole the hearts of an entire country plus one.

I remembered Liz Manley over the years and even special ordered and read her autobiography back in college. I had a little crush on her. Wouldn't most guys?

As it turns out, despite the age difference, this latest shocking news shows that hey, I coulda had a chance with her. But apparently, another hockey player beat me to it. I'll tell you. Hockey players have all the best wives!

Cradle robbing was not on Manley's romance radar back in 1998 when [Brent] Theobald, an 18-year-old forward with the Mississauga Ice Dogs, started chatting her up at the gala opening of Mississauga's Hershey Centre.

Well, sounds like this Brent guy is a very lucky guy. He's even younger than me at 26 to her 41 years of age.

It sounds like from the article that it will be a fairy tale romance for Manly who definitely deserves a good man.

Manley said no to a date but did exchange phone numbers with the Major Junior A hockey player. Eventually, her hectic traveling schedule on the pro skating circuit landed her in Toronto and the two had dinner.

"He was just the sweetest thing and he was 18 going on 30," said Manley. "He made me feel really, really good about myself again and I thought, `Maybe all guys aren't bad after all.' "

Their dating, the teenage hockey star and Canada's Olympic sweetheart, was hot news. So hot that Theobald's parents first found out about it in a gossip magazine.

Single ladies of the world: take notes! See, if you just give the nice guy a chance then things can turn out for the best.

"I told Brent, `I don't want to hold you back, I don't want to tie you down,'" she said. "I was starting to feel old and he was so young and I wanted to give him some freedom."

Theobald, who'd already decided not to pursue a pro hockey career in Europe, wanted quite the opposite.

On bended knee, Theobald set wedding plans in motion with a surprise New Year's Eve proposal at Manley's Aston, Pa., home.

And here's the real ironic stat! The date they've set for the wedding is a date personally important to me.

They will wed Aug. 19 in Trenton, where Manley spent her early years in an air force family. It will be the first marriage for both.

[Via: Toronto Star w/Hat tip to Neale News]