the hustler

puck me


on monday nights, i play a style of hockey known as "puck wap-o". the rules of puck wap-o are simple. you skate around as hard as you can, try and keep the other team from making good passes, and hit, or "wap-o", the puck toward the other team's goal if your opponent and your composure will afford you the opportunity. this requires what is known as "good hustle", and for lack of any tangible skill, i possess this in spades.

yesterday i was hit by the puck on three different occassions. the one that looks like it hurt the most was the slap shot to the chest that i "took" while trying to block the view of our opponent's goalie, leaving a perfectly puck-shaped bruise right where my dignity used to be, and robbing my teammate of a scoring opportunity. this is what is known as "bad hustle". no one will actually say "bad hustle" to you, as hustle in general is appreciated. but it's quietly understood that this is not the "good" variety.