Diary of a recreational athlete

Oh the possibilities of the blank page./Pexels.com

Hey, hey, it’s just an ordinary day

Last issue I wrote my just-an-ok-athlete diary in follow-up to our sports editor’s initial athlete diary. This week, for my final installment of the athlete diary, I am going to take you through an ordinary day in the life of a campus rec athlete.

It’s Tuesday. I’ve been at school all day and I finally get home and have something to eat for the first time all day. I sit down and turn on Netflix to relax for a little bit while I eat. 9:30 rolls around and I’m exhausted, so I go upstairs and crawl into bed, only to realize that I have a floor hockey game in an hour, so I get back out of bed and get ready for the game. Get to the gym about ten minutes before the game when I get a few texts from five different guys saying they wont be able to make it. I guess I’m getting my cardio workout for the month today. I get changed, tape a fresh sock on the blade of my stick, and shoot around as a warm-up for a few minutes.

When everyone is ready to go, we line up for the face-off, and the game begins. We’re playing one of the worst teams this week, so even though we are missing a few guys, we should still win, or so I think. Before I know it we are down 3-0, which really angers me because, did I mention we’re playing the worst team? As captain and a former goalie, I try to keep morale high by giving our goalie a few pointers. Just little things like, “That one was your fault,” “Keep your damn stick on the ground,” and “How many times do I have to tell you to keep your glove up?” You know, the things a good leader does.

Adding to my already agitated state is the fact that the other goalie brought pretty much a full set of equipment, and thinks he is Carey Price or something with his Montreal Canadiens jersey. Despite that, I manage to put one past him after a slick little toe drag to get around the defenseman. By half time, we are down by five goals, our whole team is gassed, and I’ve got a big bruise on my finger because of a slash I got while trying to get a shot on goal. Just when it looks like we might be able to turn it into a close game, our goalie lets in another weak goal. So, like earlier, I give him a nice friendly morale booster. Something to the effect of, “Are you fucking kidding me?”

Needless to say, I don’t think we will be coming back to win this one. Equally needless to say, we definitely did not make a comeback that would be honoured in the floor hockey Hall of Fame, if there was such a place, and we lost 6-3. Not much we can do now except immediately forget about this crushing loss and grab a beer or two from The Owl before we all go home. So is the life of a just-ok-athlete