俺が日本人であることは確認されました。

今日花粉症になりました。生まれて初めての花粉症です。

クソ杉やろう。

ニッポン人ってツライですね。

Some time in January, I was skating with a friend in Chiba. The place was just packed and I couldn’t stand it so we were gunna get out of there — after one last lap. On the last lap I noticed a guy flying around like he thought he could skate. After looking more closely, I noticed he was wearing goalie skates. So I hurried over and talked to him about it. Turns out he was on an old man’s team and they had practice later in the evening so he wanted to do some warm-up skating. After talking with him so more he invited me to come watch practice that night.

I came back later in the night and watched practice. The team wasn’t terrible, but they weren’t great either — just an standard old man’s team. Afterwards I talked to the coach and he said since they only have the one goalie, they’d love to have another one in practice. They even had a set of gear that I could use from their other goalie who can almost never make it. So the next week I practiced. It was my first time in something like 3 years.

When I came back from vacation in the states the other day, I made sure to bring back as much of my hockey equipment as possible. But I couldn’t bring my leg pads or any sticks. But it wasn’t a big deal because they had a full set of gear I could use anyways.

Last week I went to Chiba again, but this time for a open-tournament game. I played the first half (switching mid-way through the 2nd period) and the other guy played the second. I gave up two goals, both pretty weak, and the other guy five so we ended up loosing 7-2, but it was still great fun.

The team in Chiba is called Rai’s is a group of really nice guys — and they play at an amazing rink. The problem is it’s pretty far away from me; about 2 hours on the train and then someone has to pick me up at the station and take me to the game. Since old man’s hockey is done late at night, the trains have already long since stopped running by the time the game is over. In fact, I take the almost last train just to get there. But like I said, everyone is really nice and someone will come get me at the station and let me stay at their place, then take me to the station the next morning. But it’s just so far, and since practice and games are on Saturday night, it just completely ruins my weekend — something that will become more precious once school starts back up in a few weeks. So I needed to look for something closer to home.

There is one rink in Saitama, in Kawagoe. It’s not that far, only 20min on the train and then a 10min walk to the rink, so one day I just went there to check it out and see if there were any teams that needed goalies. I asked the girl working at the desk, and she said that her team, (well, not really her team; they have separate guys and girls teams for the games, but they practice together) Striders, didn’t have a goalie, and they’d love if I could come play for them. Great. They too had some leg pads that I could probably use, and they could come up with a stick if need be. But the rink didn’t look too nice.

On Tuesday I went and watched practice. I had wanted to skate, but I got a cold and there was no way I was gunna be able to practice. Striders is probably a little better then Rai’s, and they had a coupla of guys that thought they were pretty good flying all over the place hootin’ and hollerin’. But the rink was just trash. No glass. They put a net up around the rink so the pucks didn’t go flying. And really they did have glass, the boards. The boards were about 6″ too low, and see-through. Well whatever, I decided to give it a try.

So today is Thursday, and I just came back from practice. I think they went out and bought a stick for me because it looked brand new, and had a brand new tape job in it. The pads were probably 2 sizes too small (32″, I probably need a 34″) and old. But they did have inside knee pads so I was able to manage with them.

But the rink is just terrible. Something I didn’t notice when I was watching them practice, is that the paint wasn’t just faint, it was non existent! Only the center red line and the two blue lines were at all visible. That meant no face of dots, no crease, and no goal line. The net wasn’t centered, it was too far back, probably crooked, and I had no idea where I was.

It was really frustrating because people would seem happy when they’d score on 2-0 drills when really they should start crying whenever they don’t. (If you can’t score on a two vs. none breakaway with a goalie who has no way of telling where he is, you have a problem.) But whatever, just glad to play some hockey.

For the last 30min or so we did some scrimmage, and that was alright. But sure enough the two hot shots were flying all around weaving in and out (with their heads down mind you — a big no no) thinking they were tough. But they never really shot, they’d always try and setup passes to the slower people, so they weren’t complete jerks about it.

Over all it was an alright experience.

But now I’m stuck. Which team do I want to play for (if either)? Even though they’re in two different prefectures, which means they’re in different leagues, and will never play each other in an official situation) I can’t join both teams and play in official games. If I officially join one team, then I can only play in that one teams official games — but I can still practice with the other team and play in open tournaments.

Rai’s:

Pro’s
-Everyone is really nice
-Beautiful rink
-Decent pads I can use
Cons
-Really far away
-Only one practice/game a week
-And it’s on the weekend
-Would be a three goalie rotation
Cost: 3,000yen/month (but I don’t think they’d make me pay it in exchange for them winning more games.) ~$25

Striders:

Pro’s
-People are nice enough
-Close
-Practice twice a week, during the week (Yes, this is a pro, not a con. Won’t be a problem for school because it’s late enough that I wouldn’t be studying anyways.)
-I’d be the only goalie, guaranteed starter
-Could possibly be the top team in the prefecture (they finnish about 3rd with no regular goalie every year)
Cons
-The rink is a big problem
-I’d absolutely have to get my own pads
Cost: 10,000yen/month (And I don’t think I’m gunna get out of it.) ~$85

So, what should I do? Rai’s, Striders, Join Neither, Look for a team in Tokyo? (Would be far and not be able to return home at night.)