So DUMB!

first thing's first.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOHAMMED!

i apologize that when you read this, that my post on your birthday is gonna be a negative one.

secondly..in reponse to Emily's comment from the last post.. "Game 4: 5-0 W" means that that it was our 4th game of the season, the score was 5-0 & we won (W). the score was a 6-0 mercy (although in my mind, they really called the game after 5 goals). that's the official score, 6-0.

all italicized phrase are taken from http://www.athletics.uwaterloo.ca/CampusRec/Intramurals/SOC.aspx

in the University of Waterloo intramurals, there's something called the Spirit of Competition (SOC) Program. this is pretty much a sportsmanship score ranked by the teams we play. they rank us, we rank them. or rather, the captains do.

The Spirit of Competition emphasizes that Integrity, Fairness, and Respect are the foundation of the intramural leagues. By voluntarily participating in a Campus Recreation league or tournament, ALL participants agree to the following:

• Participate with integrity, and to strive to win only by legitimate means;
• Respect and adhere to both the written rules of the sport, including the eligibility and conduct terms, and the accepted rules of fair play;
• That violence and intimidation have no place within Campus Recreation and refuse to use such tactics;
• Maintain control of myself and my teammates;
• Respect official’s and accept their decisions without argument;
• That teammates and opponents are worthy of my respect and shall be treated accordingly;
• Behave graciously in triumph or defeat;
• Not to play under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

i don't agree with the scores we have received thus far this season (you'll see below). i checked it just now, & our avg SOC score is 1.8 out of 4. i think that's bullshit. if anything, The Waterloosers & C-Cups should have lower scores than us 'cuz they check and slash respectively. A LOT! but we're so nice about it that we give them perfect scores anyway. all the time practically. i guess i wouldn't make a good captain huh!

here's the rating scale for the SOC as defined by the website:

+2 Excellent - Excellent team sportsmanship towards opponents and officials, i.e. Team always maintains an outstanding attitude, captains always question officials in a respectful manner and entire team shake hands at the end of the game.

• Entire team in self-control at all times.
• No major penalties/incidents or Conduct Report.
• Penalties are next to none, i.e. 0 to few.

+1 Good - Entire team in self-control for the game. Good team sportsmanship towards opponents and officials.
i.e. Team maintains a good attitude towards opponents and officials – no conflict at all.

• • Entire team in self-control for the game.
• • No major penalties/incidents or Conduct Report.
• • Penalties are very few (lower than average).

0 Average - starting point for rating teams. Fair team sportsmanship toward opponents and officials.
i.e. Negative attitudes are limited to an individual rather than the entire team.

• • Lack of self-control is limited to an individual, not the entire team.
• • No major penalties/incidents or Conduct Report.
• • Average number of penalties.

-1 Poor - Poor team sportsmanship towards opponents and officials. Lack of respect shown towards opponents and officials. Use of profane and/or vulgar language.

• • More than one team member shows lack of self-control.
• • Major penalty(ies) have been issued.
• • More than average number of penalties.

-2 Terrible - Terrible team sportsmanship toward opponents and officials. Frequent use of profane and/or vulgar language, acts of verbal or physical intimidation.

• • The majority of the team shows lack of self-control and respect for opponents and/or officials.
• • Major penalties and/or Conduct Report has been issued.
• • Numerous amount of penalties.

i dunno. it pisses me off. but then again, maybe the last game was my fault since i was a little vocal, in a negative way. but whatever man. the other team didn't even deserve a score of 4. but we get a big fat ZERO? psh, whatever man. so garbage.

here's our little history for this season. our SOC scores are after the game scores. & the opponent after their names (scores we've given them, including the refs):

Game 1: 5-3W SOC: 2 C-Cups SOC: 1
Game 2: 5-0W SOC: 2 Puck Bunnies SOC: 3
Game 3: 5-2W SOC: 3 The Waterloosers SOC: 4
Game 4: 6-0W SOC: 2 C-Cups SOC: 3
Game 5: 7-1W SOC: 0 The Waterloosers SOC: 4

honestly, & maybe in a biased tone, i don't think we've played rough or anything. we haven't tried anything too fancy. we just played. is it wrong for us to go after goals that we can get? is it wrong for us to be able to outskate their defence to a loose puck & go in for a breakaway? is it wrong for us to "lay back" after we've built a good lead? if the other team rather us mercy them if we can, should we do it? do they take us "laying back" as an insult? maybe they do, maybe even the refs think that too. but either way, it seems like we'll lose 'cuz we can beat them by mercy or playing "laid back" hockey.

this is a non-contact league. we don't even push, check, slash, hack or anything. if anything like that happens it's by accident (especially the checking, some of us can't even stop properly). we're not exactly the strongest of skaters out there, but we get the bad SOC score out of the game anyway. do i think it's fair? no.

maybe it's true that we don't belong in this division, but it's not like we had a choice. we didn't know that it would become like this. we didn't know that most of the C Level teams would make the jump to Intermediate Level after the changes in levels for this term. we thought that half the teams would jump up and half the teams would stay in Beginner Level.

bottom line is..i think it's stupid that we get penalized not for playing "sportsmen-like" hockey, but for the reason of maybe running up the scores. it's not like we do that intentially. we try to make the best of our opportunities. not our fault that we can outplay them. in any league there's bound to be a team that will take the top spot, & in this division, it's us. what are we suppose to do?

am i wrong to be thinking like this? is it rational? is it fair?

what happened to hockey being fun? it's not fun when the other team thinks we're playing like we don't respect them & shit. it's not fun when the other team is breaking the rules 'cuz they're down, & the refs are letting it go. we can't do anything about it! it's not fun when the other team is checking, slashing, & hacking us when we're not even doing it to them, in a non-contact league. we don't even retaliate. they do all that illegal stuff, i just rather hurt them on the score board. it motivates me to score even more when they start playing that style.

so fed up with all this shit. i'm done bitching.