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Drink break. Where's the god damn beer. By this point my helmet is so
freakin' tight that my head is numb, I am sweat soaked like I have never been in my life, amazingly nothing hurts (but my head), and my nut-hut is still in place. Good to go. Ok….light colored jerseys onto that bench…dark colored jerseys on the other. Huh? Are we practicing jumping over the wall? Nope. 5 on 5 game for 30 minutes. Seriously? I take a quick inventory…ego? Gone. Self respect? Gone too. Numb head? Yup. Everyone else suck this much? Yup. Lets go. My turn. I figure, play defense. If nothing else I can work on my best skill…flopping on the ice. After what seemed to be 3 hours, I go back to the bench. Grinning. I observe. We all suck. This is great. We all
sucky-suck so bad that it's like watching an old Saints/Falcons game. They both suck so bad that it's a good game. My turn again. After sitting on the bench for a few minutes everything starts to tighten. I jump over the wall and fall. Again. Grinning. I'm so freaking slow to realize what's going on that I find myself in the middle of the ice. An errant puck heads my way. I piss my pants (you can't tell though, everything is wet). I snare the puck, turn around, skate 20 feet, find my winger, flip a pass, he gets it, he scores. Joe gets his first cherry picking assist. History is made. I'm all tear-y eyed. It's a moment to be shared. Then someone yells, "Nice pass cherry picking
dumbass". Perfect. My run again. I am planning on making another historic run at it. This time, I find myself all alone in the offensive end. The puck is resting against the outside of the net. I can't believe my luck (hey, you make your own luck). Now, any Duffer could easily have just grabbed the puck and twisted a little tap into the net. Not so much here. I go flying past it, manage to poke the thing with an out-stretched stick, slam into the wall (who put that there?). Our team scores again. 2 assists for yours truly. Its making my head swell, which sucks because my helmet is too small. Last turn. I figure I would see how long I am out there. The clock says 11:14. I jump on the ice and fall. I skate my little heart out. Up, down, left, right, poke, crash. I've had enough. Surely its been 10 minutes. Get to the bench. 11:15. What a
putz. Game over. We get killed. I'm grinning like a virgin in a Navy port brothel. Yup, that's right. Bring on the next game. 2 hours of absolute dumb-ass jamokedness in pads. Admittedly, being 6'4" 240 lbs, I have not been blessed with the graceful gene. I don't run, I lope. I don't dance, I bounce to the rhythm of another song. Now, put on skates, give me a stick, put me on ice. Limbs flopping all over the place. Sticks flying. Missing pucks. Not even seeing the puck. Laughing so hard my glasses are fogged up. The Duffers will never be the same.
Joe Evans Comments
Outstanding!. I'm in tears its so funny. Somebody has got to send this to Hockey News. Congrats Joe. You will make a fine Duffer. Thanks for sharing Bill. Take care, Perry
Joe, say it's not so, awesome, I can't wait to give you your first slow foot on the Duffers and see you go sprawling all over the place. I will buy you a beer after the game though so it will be worth it. Darrin/Lu: Great time in Nashville, I need to get my ass to Canada soon, or the Duffers have to have more than one trip a year. Rags
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