In your visits to this wee blog, whomever "you" may be, "you" may, or may not, have noticed that, for the duration of my most recent rec league hockey season, I kept the team schedule on the sidebar there (that thing to the left). "You" may also have noticed that I kept said schedule updated with my team's wins, losses, ties and the respective score attributed to each game. With that said, if you've paid attention to that sort of thing, HOW 'BOUT THEM SHARKS, HUH? HUH? Yes, it's pretty apparent that us "Sharks" had ourselves a tidy little season down at the World Arena Ice Hall. For me personally, it was a reminder that, while I know that I'm nothing special, I'm not the worst goalie to ever lace 'em up and, if I get hooked up with the right team, I can still stop some shots and (God forbid) win some games. Now, kids, WE KNOW that winning isn't everything, but think about this...If you lost every time you played, regardless of what it is you play, you'd probably get pretty damn fed up with playing "it." That's what WAS happening to me before I joined the Sharks...Seasons like the one we just had are what makes it easier to keep playing.

Look, I like to win. IS IN MY BLOOD!..Anyway...

Hey, getting back to that whole "you paying attention" thing...Well, if you have been, you'll have noticed that my subhead (that thing up top...No, not ALL THE WAY...Under the "thing." Yeah, that.) was recently changed to read "...Jon Giles is a Pussy..." Not nice, I know, my mom already got on me for that, but it's TRUE! Look, this is more than just my personal feeling on the matter, but also a direct quote from one of the Shark defensemen, whom we'll call "Schultzy." In fact this negative opinion of Jon Giles' manliness, or lack thereof, is pretty much universally shared amongst all of the members of the (now infamous) Sharks team for a very specific reason...Read on and you'll find out that it's not just that we don't like Jon, Jon doesn't like us...

You crave background information and foreshadowing...I MAKE SUCH THINGS HAPPEN!..

The Jon Giles in question happens to play on the APA Pool Players team in the same league that we Sharks most recently had our stellar season in. Jon also happens to RUN the aforementioned league singlehandedly, without committee or chain of command. It is, for all intents and purposes, a dictatorship with Jon Giles as it's Hitler. Or Napoleon. Or whatever...Anyway, Jon started said league with pretty much one purpose in mind...That would be to give the APA Pool Players hockey team a place to play and, at the same time, give the APA Pool Players team other teams which they could beat and, subsequently, they could all feel better about themselves. Look, I'm not making this stuff up, besides, it gets better...Much like a mad scientist, Jon HIMSELF actually assembled our Sharks team from the "leftovers" - players which had expressed interest in playing in his little league, but that didn't have a team to play on. Jon Giles created us, though it wasn't all Frankensteiny and stuff...In fact, after last season, which was the first one which us Sharks had been together, Mr. Giles expressed the fact that he was "pleasantly surprised," not to mention "pleased" that us Sharks had represented ourselves so well, considering we were just a bunch of leftovers...

Yeah, I got a "pleasant surprise" for ya buddy...Anyhow...

Jon's "pleasant surprise" MOST LIKELY stemmed from the fact that, even though they didn't finish at the top of the league last season, his APA Pool Players DID compete pretty well and did, in fact, beat us Sharks on a couple of occasions. Jon's enthusiasm for our strong play faded pretty frickin' quick, though, when we started the most recent season on a 4 game win streak that included a pretty decisive win (an ass-kicking) over his APA team. It wasn't long after that happened that we were hearing how much we were "hated" by all of the other teams and how, despite the fact that we DID, in fact, lose 2 games and, to call a spade a spade, lost them badly, we were not liked because we "played too hard" and (God forbid again) "won too much."

Can you fucking believe THAT? We tried TOO DAMN HARD to win games. Oh, gee Jon...I'm sorry...I forgot that this whole league was supposed to be your own personal ego boost...Do you need a hug?..Anyway...

Fast-forward to the next-to-the-last game of the season, during which we played Jon's APA team. We played "Sharks hockey" and effectively ended up "kicked their ass," despite the fact that THEY THEMSELVES NEVER STOPPED PLAYING HARD and were, in fact, very close to taking the lead at one point in the game. The simple fact of the matter was that we played hard in that game because we had to, no doubt about it. APA wanted to win just as bad as we did and never gave up, which I wouldn't expect them to, or want them to, for that matter. Not helping matters, though, during the game itself, there was an "incident" wherin one of the game officials, whom we'll call "Scott Staudte," because it's his full given name, began verbally accosting one of the Sharks players whom we'll call "John." Words were exchanged, tempers flared up and John, ultimately, was kicked out of the game. Of course, that, combined with our repeated ass-kicking of the APA team, was enough fuel for Little Jon Giles' fire. He used that incident to justify (in his mind) the removal the Sharks, HIS creation, from his league completely...

You read that sentence right. We got kicked out of his league, in essence, because we never let him win anymore...Poor little Jon...

Anyhow, we WERE "allowed" to play our last game of the season, albeit under the watchful eye of leetle Heetler Jon himself, who showed up to watch us play from the safety of the scorer's box and, of course, our favorite official Scott Staudte, The game itself ended in a tie, securing the Sharks' position as the best overall team in Jon Giles' personal hockey league. I wonder if we tried too hard to tie the score there at the end of the game...I also wonder whether I tried to stop too many shots, in order to give my team the chance to tie said game...I wonder if Jon Giles is that much of a pussy that he was probably thinking those exact things while the game was going on...Who knows...Ass...

Anyhow, despite our expulsion from the World Arena, us Sharks will not be without a place to skate for the upcoming season...We have, in fact, decided to skate in the advanced league at the Chapel Hills Ice Rink, a place that I was sure I would never skate again...To call a spade a spade, we'll probably not do very well in this particular league, but it was the only league that fit everyone's schedule. Keeping the team intact was apparently the first priority and, frankly, it was either get into a league that we'll just be kicked right out of, or find a league where we'll lose. There's not much middle ground, oddly enough...I have made peace with the fact that we may lose (a lot), though, despite my lust for wins...This is due to the fact that it really is fun being a part of a team like the Sharks. I haven't been with such a good group of people in a long time and, even if we lose every single game, It'll still be ok because I believe in them and they, in turn, believe in me. Without getting sappy and sentimaental, if we all go out and give it our best effort, we'll have no reason to hang our heads...So take that, Jon Giles...Maybe YOU should play a little harder, then you wouldn't have to cry so damn much when you get whupped...

Whew...Now I can change that subheader...Also, I'm glad to have all that off my chest, Thank you all. Come back again at your earliest convenience.

Labels: hockey stuff, misguided rantings, sports, tales of triumph