Well that sucked

Used to be that my Tuesday drop-in was a time slot bought by one guy and everyone paid him to play. But I guess a while back it turned into a regular, rink-driven drop-in.

And before, the goalies were somewhat controlled by the guy who paid for the ice, though there were sometimes still too many or not enough. But it was during this time that he asked me to basically be his reliable goalie and always be there and I'd be guaranteed my own net if I wanted it.

Well, if there are 3 goalies. I wasn't going to be an ass and make the other two share a net. I did do it once because I was missing part of an Aeros game to be there.

Anyway, now nobody's regulating the goalies and the rink guys don't even have a goalie limit. It really should be at 3 or 4. 4 is pushing it for an hour and a half ice time unless it's an All Star Game.

Tonight we had FIVE. Luckily one of the guys l.eft after his second 10 minute shift, but I drew the bad straw timing wise and also only got 20 minutes total in net. And I think I let just about every shot in. The only good save I had was in minute 19, which was a mere 15 minutes before the ice time was over. Talk about playing ice cold the whole game, I had 20 minute breaks between my 10 minute shifts. BOOOO.

But that was only half the issue.

My head just wasn't in it. I drank a bunch of Dr. Pepper to get through a work project that I basically spent all night last night on. I knew I shouldn't but it was DUBLIN Dr. Pepper and I was tired and not being rational.

Well, caffeine in medium to large doses causes panic attacks for me. And sure enough, here one came when I was heading to the rink. This one came to me in the form of a horrible sense of impending doom. I just had a terrible feeling that I should not go to the drop-in.

But I knew somewhere inside that I needed to press ahead. So I headed to the rink and on the way there, I realized, "OHHHH, this is a panic attack!"

I even laughed out loud at myself for not realizing it sooner. But at least I realized it at all, and instantly settled down as a result.

But at some point in there, I turned off and shut down for the night. And yet I still had to play. So my head was not in it at all. My eyes are super tired, too, so I wasn't focusing well and my exotropic eyes were challenged to track the puck even on simple shots.

Bad night all around. Worst part of all is that I turned down an invite to go get my beer on for it. Of all the things I did wrong tonight, I won't make that mistake again.