So after I missed last season, and the Warpigs took the championship, we started again last night. With a lot of players missing it was like the old days. Outgunned and outskated, we desperately tried to stay within 3 goals.
And then it happened...
Cheap slashes on our fastest skater, bear hugging and throwing him to the ground, then throwing punch after punch usually causes a ref to do something. It took an off duty ref (who was just watching the game) to jump in and do something.
I don't expect a ref to see EVERYTHING in a game. Even pros miss calls sometimes. But if you can't see this brawl going on from the goal line to the red line, then why bother showing up. Maybe having multiple referrees on the other team has something to do with it? Hmmm...
We've put up with stacked teams. Many, many teams have multiple players from 2 and 3 divisions above us. We've put up with assholes who think they're in the NHL. But if a rink allows refs to play as well, it creates problems. They aren't going to call anything on their buddies and sometimes they ref games in the same divisions they play in. If it never affected the outcome then I wouldn't complain. Unfortunately, it does. It's such an obvious flaw in the system but they refuse to change (btw, some rinks don't allow refs to play in any division - it's the best way to go).
All in all, we'll keep playing because the good outweighs the bad. This location is most convenient for everyone to get to and the cost is cheap (you get what you pay for). Most importantly, the Warpigs have become good friends and nobody would rather go off somewhere else.
Following Bernie Ecclestone's fucked up statement "Women should be dressed in white like all other domestic appliances," which he said TWICE (and once to Danica Patrick), Ray Ratto's ESPN article voices my opinion quite nice.
Talking like a shithead is anyone's right. Laws actually protect that. Exposing shitheads and making fun of them is my right. Sometimes it feels more like a calling.
Mr. Ratto just says it perfectly.