Meet Your Neighbors: What's the difference between a pit bull and a Reston hockey mom?

Lipstick. Mauve lipstick.

"The hockey mom seems to be the soccer mom on steroids," offered Matthew Grose, general manager of the SkateQuest rink in Reston, where an hour on the ice costs $325 and teams are run in large part on volunteer hours that parents put in.

How Palin's vision of pit bull hockey moms fits into the hockey world of Washington is debatable. Chris Kelly, president of the Reston Raiders, jokes that "anyone who doesn't think hockey moms are pit bulls hasn't been around this club."

But not all hockey moms see such ferocity in themselves. Reyne Salacain, 46, an Ashburn mom of two hockey players, puts it this way: "I was kind of thinking more of the dog I have, a retriever. You go and get things all the time, and you're warm and friendly."

Yeah, but she's from Loudoun County, where people apparently can't take a joke.