Karma sucks

My sucky rec/wreck hockey league sucked at scheduling so that we have to play on a weeknight, instead of our usual Sunday. We also have to take a long sucky drive to a different arena for the privilege. That sucks. Of course, since its the playoffs and no game can end in a tie, we might start later than our 9PM slot. Also sucky.

I wanted to get home a bit early so I could have some relax time. I get to the train station; my train: Delayed. Shit.

Wait a few minutes after notifying DW of my plight.

Update over the PA: Train cancelled. sucks twice. So much for getting home early.

Managed to catch the next cattle-car local train, now double-loaded with passengers and my DW picked me up annd drove me home. Biff love her...

Things were fine until one of my car-less players called telling me that his ride was sick and had bailed. Shit. Down another defenceman. This really sucks. So I give him a couple of phone numbers and leave a few messages because, of course, this call comes shortly before I headed out the door. At this point I'm wondering who *is* going to show up, instead of who's missing.

The drive was uneventful and I get to the other arena with tons of time to spare. Park somewhere in the neighbouring area code, drag all my shit inside and check the board for our room. Red rink? Nope. Green rink? Nope. Hmmmm. Gold rink? Nope, not there either. Uh-oh. Um, Blue rink? Nope. Oh shit. This isn't good. Mental panic ensues. Did I get the wrong night, the wrong time? Just then, one of my players calls me back.

"Hey, Dave. Where are ya?"

"I'm about 10 minutes from the arena, why?"

"Which arena, dude?"

"The ****, 9PM on rink 3. That's what you said, isn't it?"

Me: " "

I'm. At. The. Wrong. Arena.

More panic: Did I tell everyone to come here?

Did I mention that I'm not only the goalie but also the team's admin person? So, like, I remind the guys where to play, and when??

One of my few virtues (although the jury is still divided as to whether I have any virtue at all) is that I'm almost always riddiculously early for things; and this time it paid off.

Game time: 9:00PM
Now: 8:23PM
Race to other arena
Arrive: 8:30 PM

Now, these arenas are not exactly co-located and I actually had to get back on the highway and test out the low-altitude flight handling characteristics of the Mighty Intrepid.

(Ever see a goalie in a panic? It's not pretty. )

As it turns out the only one who had cranial-rectal inversion about the rink locations was me. My teammates were there, somewhat relieved at my arrival.

The bad news? Only 9 skaters showed from a team of 15, not including our 2 subs. Also absent. The bad guys? 14 skaters.

We did our best but we ran out of gas. It's a rare occasion when I know I played well but we lost anyway.

It was a long drive home and a late arrival.

The saving grace? My DW was still up.

Maybe the evening didn't quite suck after all.