Oh Baby!

... as JD would put it.

Last night was the weekly Roller Hockey game with the other fat old guys from the neighborhood. I'm always wiped out on Fridays because the game rarely ends before 11:45PM, but it is absolutely worth it. Who wants to get work done anyway?

I got into the game about a year ago. I've always been a hockey fan, but never played. An email went out from one of the Synagogues we belong to saying they were restarting the game they used to have. After a bit of thinking (oh man, they're all great players & I've never played & I'm going to suck, etc.) Mrs. Skinny said "what's the big deal? Go, try it, see what happens." I married a very smart woman (though some might ask how smart she could be if she married me, but...)

Anyway, I did suck, but so did a lot of the other guys, and I have gotten a lot better over the last year. There's no set teams, so you never know who you'll be playing with. Last night I ended up with the best player in our group - fun, but challenging. He's always thinking ahead, and you really have to try & get in position for him to make a play. Plus he can get frustrated because the rest of us can't always keep up to his level. Playing against him is an equivalent challenge, and I consider it a successful night if I manage to stop him once or twice.

Last night started slow - because of holidays and rainouts, we haven't played in a few weeks & I was feeling rusty. I got into it, and ended up with three goals, two of which were actually nice plays on my part. We don't really keep score, so I didn't exactly win the game for us, but I'm always glad to contribute. I did take a wicked slap shot off the back of the leg. The guy taking it started winding up, and I made one of those calculated moves - 1) get out of the way (this was actually my plan); 2) face forward and risk damage to some fairly sensitive body parts; 3) turn around, which is what I did. Naturally, shin guards only cover the front of the leg, so I took a hard shot right off the calf. Like a good player, I stayed on & skated it off.

I also reached out & caught a clearing attempt with my hand - my right thumb is turning a lovely shade of purple. One shot also went off my ankle, so I'm a hurting puppy at the moment.

Now That's Hockey!