but who's counting, anyway

I just got home from a field hockey game (more about that in a sec) and I'm so tired and wiped out that I couldn't even bring myself to take my shin guards off for the first hour of being home (part of that might be from also having a great but late-night-filled weekend).

kill bill 1 is on.  score.

I'm feeling old, or at least not in my high school field hockey playing shape (though I'm still wearing my high school gym shorts, go Flyers!).  Likely just the latter, but hard to know.

I'm hungry and can't even get myself to get up to microwave something, I will shortly.  You won't know the difference because this will all post at once...but trust me, I'll eat dinner.

Anyway, I'm playing on a local adult league that my good friend help to round people up for, and we just played our third game...

Some of the people on my team I played with in high school, and I have to say it's been one of the highlights of my week for these last few weeks.

I don't think it's a very fun game to watch, so much stop and go, lots of rules, the whistle blows constantly...aside from the sexy kilts we had to wear (roll up really short) in high school I'm not sure what anyone was doing watching us.

BUT despite all of that it's such a fun sport to play.

We have a small team, there are 7 of us, and we need 7 people on the field.  Your team has to forfeit if we don't have at least 5 at a given game...because of our schedules and the winter colds that I'm sure will come up, we've been playing man down or at least NO subs for each game.

We're talking running/sprinting (then a little walking) back and forth, for two-25 minute halves with a 30 second time out here and there.  I swear it's hard. I may or may not have wanted to vom the first half of the first game...but I managed to keep it together.

Some really nice players from other teams have been offering to play here and there on our team so that for the most part we aren't playing 5 vs. 7 (though its technically a forfeit if we use other players).

I'm not used to doing something that I'm not very good at.

Mind you I'm not being super hard on myself since I haven't played in about 10 years, and I'll improve I'm sure with each game, but it's not an automatic "Oh I kick ass at this".

(mmm Trader Joe's frozen Chicken Tikka Masala)

My default is to seek out things I'm good at, and I'm sure I'm not alone.

I think that despite the fact that I don't totally suck, I'm not the best.  This is tough for me on some levels in general, not even just in field hockey.  It's been teaching me instead to focus on having fun with it and improving myself (mainly my stick handling - insert inappropriate joke here)...versus worrying that I'm letting the team down when I miss the ball, or how I'm not a lead scorer.

I think this is an important exercise (physically and mentally) to push myself to do something that I'm not super wonderful at, and stick to it.  Pun intended.

There is also less pressure when you know you're doing something for the experience versus to impress someone else or to say I'm really good at this. 


Our varsity coach literally drained me of any enjoyment of playing my senior year.

I quit the team with 2 games left (then they went to tournament, damnit) mostly out of principle - aka anger.  I wrote her a letter explaining how she was a super bitch (not those words) and was unfair about not letting me play for many more than the required games, when I missed one for a legit reason, among other things she did that pissed me off.

I was decent, not awesome, but I had a lot of heart, I loved playing and she managed to strip me of this by her coaching "technique".

I say "technique" because it was more like she was militant and was good at making us feel badly about how we played versus encouraging us/inspiring us to dig deeper.  I'm not sure if I'd do it again, or if I'd stick it out to play the last few games now that I realize I was being a moody teenager, but at the time I felt like it was better to tell her she ruined it for me in hopes she wouldn't do that for future kids on her teams.

I'm not saying coaches shouldn't push their team hard and drive them into the ground to a certain extent, but there was an edge to her that just over the course of those seasons scraped away my love and passion for it.

If I had the choice I'd obviously be good at something vs. not, but being so-so is an opportunity to just enjoy it instead of feeling upset by it (like I did 10 years ago).

I'm glad that I have been reintroduced and still love it all these years later...

It is so fun despite our small team, no substitutes, it having been years since most of us played and our 0-3 record as of today, but who's counting, anyway.

We play with a lot of sweating, a lot of laughing and most importantly a lot of heart and it feels like a win to me.

I'm now much more apt to try something I might not be the best at, and I would encourage you to do the same.

(Maybe not the best time to recruit you our team when we play the next league...but I swear we are improving and with more players/subs we would definitely kick ass...if you're interested let me know.   Seriously. Do it.)

Until next time,
a tirEd fiEld hockEy playEr

I prefer the term, Sports Layperson.

It can't hurt the level of excitement over the Stanley Cup series, that one team is from the US and one is from Canada.  Not only are the home towns fighting for their title, but the country's are as well.

Facebook, Twitter, and the like, have been littered with anti-canadian messages, more than the typical jab to our neighbors up north (and likely the same towards the US also).  I have the feeling that it wouldn't be as tense or hostile if it was just another team in the US. Hostile still? Sure, it's hockey! However, I think this takes on a whole new "them" and "us" dynamic that is hard not to get wrapped up in.

Due to the intense first 4 games, and the much anticipated next 2-3...I figure I'd talk a bit about sports, and get this off my chest...

Okay, I admit it.

Fair Weather Fan. Bandwagon Fan. Woman. Whatever you want to call me.

I prefer the term, Sports Layperson.

I have lady bits, okay? Sue me.  I can't name all of our players.  I can't tell you the stats from 20 years ago, or even really last year.  Sometimes I forget who my team is playing that night or what the final score was yesterday.

I can, however, follow the games, understand the rules, get excited and cheer, get pissed and swear, get wrapped up in a good match and enjoy watching/being at a game, and I at the very least wish I knew and could remember all the details...Isn't that good enough?

Hey look, someone who enjoys the entertainment value of sports (but doesn't know our key baseball player's RBI this year, and doesn't want the other team to die) has an opinion! Weird.

Even though it is mid-June essentially I've so enjoyed this extended hockey season.  Actually hockey is like wine. I'll take it however I can get it.  My heart lies with college hockey, but pro hockey is a lot of fun on a big screen or in person.  There is something about the speed of the game that keeps me enthralled with it.  And if I'm being honest, even though I'm anti-violence in day-to-day life, the fights can be exhilarating and I eagerly await them.

I have little to no desire to watch golf on TV, but I've been to several pro golf tournaments and enjoyed them greatly (especially in VIP tents).  I of course stereotypically like golfers who wear flashy colors, are attractive, are Australian, and who haven't gotten caught railing 20 women who aren't their wives.  Surprising, I know.  Don't get me wrong I think Tiger is a phenomenal player, but there is no way around the fact that he's also a phenomenal player.  I feel like I'd like to try playing golf, I will probably get frustrated as I do when I'm not good at something, but in the off chance that I like it and can play okay, I think I should give it a shot.

Opposite to golf, I think I prefer football on TV.  There you can see everything, you don't have to be either in the blaring heat or the blistering cold.  Plus, in the nosebleeds the field looks as small as your TV anyway.  I've loved having Sunday Funday's with my girls from home, eating and drinking together and watching the games.  There is something special about football nights and I like that it's on a couch versus in the snow.  Consistent with other sports' final games, the Superbowl is really fun to watch.

Baseball, because of my upbringing, is an institution.  I enjoy it, it makes me think of summer and it's a thrill to be at a game and be part of what feels like history in the making. My grandmother is one of the most avid fans that I know, I'm pretty sure she's called the trainer for our team to tell them medical advice when our pitcher hurt his ankle a few years back.  I mean, she's invested.  I realize in my city it's blasphemy but I admit unless it's a very close game, once the 7th (sometimes 4th) inning comes around I'm ready to leave the park for bed, or to change the channel.

I like soccer/footie partially because of my European roots, but also because there are very few things that are as exciting as the World Cup.  I think there is something about this that rivals all other sports because it becomes about nationality versus just a game (kind of like the Stanley Cup this year but on a much larger scale).  This past World Cup, the Netherlands were in the finals and I felt very proud to have been born there (despite their ultimate loss to Spain).  It's more in line with the Olympics and how it can feel like pride and solidifying one's place in the world is riding on each goal.

Basketball.  Oh basketball.  I wonder if it's because I'm not particularly good at it, or because the 1pt, 1pt, 3pt, 1pt, 1pt, 1pt, 1pt, 3pt pattern of the game maxes out my excitement early on...and then is only reinvigorated in the last 2 minutes.  I really enjoyed the couple of pro basketball games I've been to, but I'd rarely chose to watch it on TV with the exception of March Madness (since that peeks my gambling interest).

I suppose my attention span is really only maintained when the game is very intense/close, the team is in the finals of some sort, or I feel particularly tied to the team for personal reasons.  I'm sorry, but this is the truth.  I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way, however being from an area where sports are religion I'm sure many people would not admit to it.

Everyone here appears to be a die hard.

Jumping on the bandwagon, is said like it's this horrible phenomenon. There is a reason why there is a term for it, a lot of people follow this route.  I guess I'd rather be a fan when things are close or are going well for my teams, so that I'm being more efficient.  It's better than not being a fan at all, right?

Women who are sports nuts? They're awesome.  I'm jealous.  I have some friends who grew up with older brothers who seem to know everything there is to know about sports and keep up with it all.  I think it's really a skill and I wish I could do it, but alas, I can't.  I have a hard time maintaining dates and names of major wars, never mind battles on the pitch.

I think the majority of men are sports obsessed.  There is probably a healthy balance and some people take it a bit far.  When it's the finals, by all means go all out and watch with unwavering focus.  However, with sports like Basketball and Baseball when there are 1,000 games a season (I know this isn't accurate), you can calm down and save some time, energy, money by varying your interests slightly and taking up another hobby.

This is rare, but in the situation where you happen upon the guys who are "eh" about any sports or any sports team, I wonder.   I wonder if they feel they don't have an allegiance to a particular city, if they didn't play sports as a kid or if they are more interested in the Ballet (not that there's anything wrong with that).  I mean I think that some enjoyment from watching and keeping up with sports is a good quality in a guy...but who am I to judge.  They don't need to be able to answer trivia about it to be okay in my book.  Frankly I don't even have a book or I'd be able to keep track of these damn sports stats.

Anyway, I do really like sports.  I'd even say I love sports when they are exciting (by my definition) and bring us together.

Will I be able to tell you who scored in tonight's hockey game? Probably not.  But like some of you I'll likely blame it on on the beer.

Until next time,

E