Swiss Goalie (full of holes but neutral)

I survived the 3 on 3 tournament and actually had fun. I think I played 5 15-min games in 5 hours, though it felt like more.

As much as I was dreading the effort level of 3 on 3, I really didn't see more shots than 2 goalies would normally see in 15 minutes of play. Which, at the novice level, isn't a tremendous amount. There was effort defensively (which I'm sure my high-quality goaltending inspired) and in general, apart from a few ringers, was relatively not-insane work. It was just more constant work, so from that perspective, it was pretty fun. I was busy but never "pleasegod, someoneshootthepuckovertheglass" exhausted.

What was really interesting was the mental side of it. Obviously for pride's sake, I wanted to play my best regardless of which team was shooting on me at the moment (and honestly, I wasn't always sure). But it was so easy to let go of bad goals and really, the outcome of the games was almost entirely inconsequential to me, at least objectively.

In this type of play, where you're the goalie for both teams, assuming you're doing the best you can do given the level of fatigue (which got pretty bad as the night wore on, even though I buzzed on adrenaline until well after sun-up), it's a pretty even match. I can honestly say, from my perspective, the team that won the championship was, on average, the most skilled team. They capitalized on my weaknesses a few more times than the other teams did, and that was enough. I let in soft goals, but I let in soft goals for both teams.

They were organized, too. A cheering section with signs and t-shirts. They had a warm-up routine and seemed to know each other well on the ice. I didn't know any of them, but knew just about everybody on the other 3 teams, so I was personally biased toward my friends. Yet I had this team in Every. Single. Game I tended. Which is how I know they were better, because even if I had subconsciously favored the teams with my friends on them, they still managed to win or tie.

Ah well, good for them. They worked hard and had fun and earned their medals. And their cheering section was loud and proud. And they liked me a lot, too. Go figure. Would have preferred some boos or something.

Anyway, once that was all done, we had some breakfast at about 5:30 a.m. at Katz's. Apart from not having bacon (kosher!), I delighted in stuffing my face and then coming home and crashing for a few hours. I think all I did today was sleep, eat, and do laundry. Lemme tell you, I've had worse days.

Though after nap #3, the soreness set into my legs, especially the left one with the bum knee. I only have about 90 degrees of bend in that knee at the moment, which sucks. And it hurt pretty bad all night during the tournament. Butterflying is NOT my friend right now and I'll definitely be wearing knee pads Tuesday.

It's so swollen that if I press at the point where my quad connects to the knee cap, I can feel the fluids or whatever moving all the way down at the base of my kneecap. Eww. But I'm icing and Adviling and really, it 100% feels like an overuse type of thing rather than a pull or something acute. So I'm not too worried. It's mostly just annoying and uncomfortable and makes me wish I didn't live in a 3 story house.

Even better is the nice bruise just above my knee where a line drive from the high slot beamed me unprotected. I yelled so loud when it hit, everyone around the net started asking if I was okay. I was, but the pain startled me and left an immediate bruise. Good to have a war wound (other than the swollen knee) commensurate with the battle. :)

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I'm even bored by this post. Sorry. I was reading back through some old posts during the season, and find that I'm more interesting when crusading about something. Fired up, passionate, indignant, etc. I got nothin' at the moment. Just little ol' me playing some hockey, hobbling around, being a dork. Summer in Ms.Conductland, limping through to October.