Dear Blog,
I’ve been neglecting you, I know, and I’m sorry. I’ve just been so busy lately. Life, unfortunately, is no day at the beach (except for when I’m actually, ya know… at the beach). I miss you though; I really do. I think about you more often than you probably know. I hate to say it but, with the Capitals playing tonight and all, I probably wont be able to blog until tomorrow at the earliest; unless of course I get an intense urge to blog under the influence.
Please don’t be mad at me! I feel awful about it. I have all these stories and ideas that are just begging to be written about and honestly it’s been quite stressful for me; not being able to blog whenever I want. I know what you’re thinking… “Hockey!?! What the…!?! You’re putting hockey before ME!?! Guurrrlll you better get your priorities straight!! Since when are you a hockey fan anyways??!” Since Monday actually. I don’t expect you to understand. How could you? I’ve never written about hockey before. Hear me out. On Monday I watched the Capitals destroy the Rangers in their quest for the Stanley Cup. It was in-fucking-credible. It’s non-stop action. NON-FUCKING-STOP!!
You know how much I love football… well, this was like football on ice (although obviously totally different; that’s just what I equate it to). I’ve found my favorite football off-season sport. Before Monday I didn’t really care about any sport other than football; now I feel like I’ve found a home with hockey. If you really loved or cared about me at all you’d be happy for me. I honestly believe you’re gonna love hockey too once you learn a little more about it. Just listen, I swear you’ll be glad you did…
When a player gets a penalty they have to sit out on the bench for 2 minutes; leaving their team with only 4 players on the ice instead of the normal 5 (besides the goalie). This is called a power play for the opposing team: They have the obvious advantage for 2 minutes playing 5 on 4 hockey. There’s never even a real pause in the game! You know how in football the refs blow the whistle all the time and the game stops so the teams can regroup or make substitutions? I’m sure I’ve told you about that. Well, not in hockey! The whistle hardly ever blows! Players literally jump on and off the ice from the bench making pauses almost obsolete! And that’s not all; not even close. During a power play, the remaining players can still get penalties. When that happens, the penalized player gets sent to the penalty box making the game even more exciting! Then instead of 5 on 4 hockey it turns into 5 on 3 hockey or 4 on 4 depending on which team the penalized player is on.
Sometimes, after a few penalties, the power plays can get hard to keep track of! For example: Penalty called on a Rangers player= Capitals power play for 2 minutes… then 30 seconds later a penalty is called on a Caps player and he’s sent to the penalty box= 4 on 4 hockey for the remaining minute and 3o seconds of the first power play. Then the initially penalized Rangers player is freed and they jump back on the ice= 5 on 4 hockey and the Rangers have a power play for another 30 seconds (penalties are always 2 minutes long). Then the Caps player is free and jumps back on the ice= 5 on 5 hockey again. Multiple penalties can be called during power plays; so you can see how this could get hard to keep up with (esp after a few drinks).
And the fighting!!! Oh blog… most sports break up fights as soon as they begin and even fine the players involved sometimes. Not. In. Hockey. Fighting is almost encouraged on the ice!!! Seriously!! Players slam each other against the glass trying to get the puck. Confrontations are common; and fights break out causing complete chaos. Yes, the refs do break it up eventually, but not like in other sports. A fight can erupt and the refs will just stand there and watch it escalate! It’s wicked fucking awesome.
Wanna know what else is wicked awesome? The Capitals are actually really fucking good. And this is the playoffs. We have to win tonight to stay alive; and win we will. We killed the Rangers on Monday, 4-0… on their own ice! Tonight’s a big deal blog. I really hope you understand now. At least try to… for me. I’ll be back before you know it I promise. I can’t wait to tell you what’s been going on in my life the past few days. A lot can happen in a few days! I met a guy, had an incredible drunken heart to heart with bff, discovered the most adorably picturesque town ever not too far from where I live, succumbed (again) to my now-seriously-almost-out-of-control shopping addiction, got to work on time (Whoa… I know) and that’s only a fraction of everything that’s been going on.
I guess that in the time it took me to write this letter I could have written about what’s been going on… but it would have been a half-assed post. I’m just not focused enough (or unfocused enough) to write a blog worthy post right now. I did feel like I needed to explain myself and the reason behind my blogging absence. Please don’t call my mother; we aren’t in grade school anymore. Writing you this letter wasn’t easy for me and I’m hoping that tomorrow we can put all this behind us and blog-on like this short hiatus never even happened. I love you blog. If you had a forehead I’d kiss it right now and if you had hands I would squeeze one of them in a reassuring sort of way. Pretend I just did that. I’ll talk to you tomorrow…
xoxox
<3
Me
