Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Whats fair in war is not in hockey


So I had my first game with my second in-line hockey team tonight. I've been having a good spring thus far, a resurgence of my in-line hockey career if you will. Towards the end of my MSU days it all finally clicked for me; I understood how to play better, shoot better and that it wasn't all about speed. It's a complete testament to guys like Mack, Howard and the A team that I improved at all. So moving down here and developing my physique and game every weekend has really made me happy on the rink and I've had at least personal success on the high level talent team even though we're 1-2, and I was set to shine in the beer league tonight.

We had an interesting game, we lost 7-5, and I scored 4 times. I had a pretty shitty game, really shoulda banked 8, but I was not mentally in it tonight and I'm sporting a 13 inch bruise on my thigh from a blocked shot last week. I had fun though, these guys are great beer leaguers, good men, fun to be with. And this is what pisses me off.

The referee comes up to me during the game and invites me to play on his team one level up on Wednesdays. I respectfully say thank you and I would be interested, but I'm really broke and can't afford to pay to play more. He said we'll discuss it after the game. So afterward I walk to the score keeper and ask him to jot my number down for the ref, and he responds "Yea, we need to move you out of this league, it isn't fair." Now this is where I am confused and hope its a communication error. If I'm being told I have to leave so this guy gets me on his team since I won't pay more to play, thats bullshit. We didn't even win this game. Granted I can play much better, but thats not the point. Politics may belong in the NHL or even elite in-line leagues, but not in beer league. When I score 10 and we mercy teams, then you can tell me to leave, don't try and yank me for yourself after 1 game. You'll find me missing the net a lot more than you did in this league if you catch my drift.

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