Edit note: No intentions of trying to call the
game into disrepute…
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I was watching the USA blue-white scrimmage last night
and witnessed Paul George’s nasty injury—I won’t even take the time to say
which tib/fib break was worse: his or Kevin Ware’s, but boy, it made me
light-headed. I couldn’t look away… To be fair, I’m not totally fazed by seeing sports injuries.
Sounds dark, yes? Eh, my entire childhood of school holidays was spent inside my
mother’s classrooms at UNC-Greensboro and Westfield State. I was typically
doing one of two things: trying to memorise gigantic words to impress my friends with or
inside the training room sneaking crushed ice from the machine to munch on from
an official Powerade cup (they just don’t make ice like that anywhere else in the world).
I would also be that kid in the back of the classroom yelling that he wanted Napoleon McCallum’s injury replayed again for the class. I remember my mother pausing
the video after Dan Patrick said, "This would be his final play of the night and maybe his final play for sometime". She stated, “No, that would be the injury that ended his career”.
I digress.
Any injury I see, it reinforces why I constantly tell
people, “I don’t care how many goals I score or how many plays I make – I just
want to be able to skate off that ice on my own”. At times, I do put myself in precarious
situations mainly because I am a competitor, but I go to university. That’s job one,
whether I see it as such, or not. I just happen to continue playing ice hockey
for fun alongside it. What am I trying to get at? Look, it’s quite obvious I’m
not compensated for my play. In actuality, I’m probably in the red because of
my addiction. £15 per game adds up, but I shell out because I love it. I’m
earning a degree; I don’t have $20 mil sat in my bank account. The only bread I’m
currently putting on the table is Kingsmill 50/50. I don’t go home to Gisele
Bundchen, although to be fair, Ken MacKinnon was a pretty good substitute when I had my concussion. You should see him topless, eh? Well known that the ticket lady at Southampton couldn't contain her wandering eyes. Lastly, if I
get hurt, I could be sat in A&E for hours and hours until I’m seen – I probably
don’t have enough money to even prank call Dr Andrews.
All I know is, there are some folks who, in the heat
of the moment, forget we are all students and faculty who have to get up the
next day and go to work. Our livelihoods are away from the rink as much as we
might hate to accept it. I encounter two types of individuals: those who cannot
take a hit and those who cannot properly hit. Both are equally dangerous. There needs to be a trust between yourself and your opponent. I won't sugarcoat it. I don't always get that sense with everyone. Some folks just aren't ready to take the next step safely. I’m
not going to call out individuals, but the BUIHA and rec hockey are never going
to be the place to try and make yourself “look tough” – you look stupid; don’t
be a bonehead. It’s not cute. Play the game. Cos breh, if we going into the
corner at full speed, we’ll battle it out for the loose puck, but I’m never going
to stuff your neck into the boards just because you said something about my
mama. She could easily beat us both up with her pinky.
Likewise, I cannot count the number of times we’ve
shown up to a game and the referee has come up to me and gone, “I’m still
learning all the rules”, “This is my first official game”, or “Is this game
checking? I’ve never refereed a checking game before”. It’s kind of strange, and
haunting. Playing ice hockey in the UK is one of the most gratifying
things I do as an international student. The Cup Competition set up is very “British”
and it makes me chuckle – the home/away legs, “fixtures” instead of
schedule/games. It’s cute. It wouldn't be the BUIHA without it's quirky characteristics. It needs to be protected.
All I know is, Manchester Metros A were decimated by
injuries this year and one in particular always sticks out as one that could
have been avoidable. Shayner, as I roll with, sustained an injury to ligaments
in his knee because a player on the opposing team decided it would be great to
pre-drink before the game. Now, I’m all for having fun, that’s what the BUIHA
is about, but at the end of the day, when it jeopardises another’s safety, that’s when it becomes a
bit ridiculous. Shayne’s got to go into work, take care of his kids, et cetera.
That’s all I’m saying.
Sports tread such a fine line and that’s why I go out and
compete. It’s fragile. You can’t script it – unless it’s the 1919 World Series
I guess, so that’s not totally true,
but for the sake of my point, go with it.
Let’s be safe, boys and girls.
Countdown to the new BUIHA season? Anyone know?
