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Now it's Tuesday. When will the weekend get here??!? I've spent a little time today working on little touches to my program and some menial chores that I should do (like reply to e-mail). With the break over, some e-mail has started to trickle through and I want to get as much out of the way before the term goes into full gear. Another thing I want to get out of the way is this entire broomball business. Last term, we were informed during the captains meeting that the format for broomball was to be changed (of course they didn't tell these changes to us when we were paying for our teams). There were a couple of major changes. First of all, there is a fee deposit which would be returned at the end of the term. However, you'll lose the deposit if you miss a game or do something "going against the spirit of competition" (I guess I can't keel haul the opposing goalie). Still, this was actually a change that I applaud. I've been to a few too many games where only one team shows up (mine) and we have to play a tiny (3 on 3) scrimmage instead. The next change was not good. Games would be played on half ice. Two games simultaneously without any partition (to block any stray shots) in the rink. That was silly. The reason? Well, apparently "people" complained that they weren't getting the ball. Alright, I can't remember the exact words, but that was the general gist. For those of you who don't play broomball (even though you should), playing on half ice sucks. It's five plus a goalie per side, and when you only have half of the ice, that gets really crowded. Hell, even those 3 on 3 practices (where we put the nets widthwise instead of lengthwise) were pretty intense and up close. This also meant that there would be less running and less use of the boards (which is an integral part of the game). I'd just stand near the net and act as a second goalie since the opposing net is so close I can pummel it from that distance. And since I'd be standing, I'd get no exercise, but I'd be shooting all the time. Good lord, shrinking the size of the playing field won't help those who couldn't "get" the ball, but it would make them easier to hit..
Still, enough griping, the main reason why they wanted to implement this new format was to get rid of the "legacy" players. People like me. I pulled out my teams from the league as did a couple of other people. To "make up" for losing full ice play in co-rec broomball they have added a new competitive league this term (Though it doesn't make up for the term of broomball that I missed). Oh, I didn't mention that broomball here was only offered in a co-recreational league. Basically there are no rules, (well, there are RULES, but no referee, and no score keeping) and we just played for fun. And it was. If our team started to crush the other side, we would offer to mix up the teams a bit (I always like taking shots on Stripes) and that would make the sides more fair. Though this offer was usually turned down (they would want to play together as a team). Anyways, back to the competitive league, the only problem with the competitive league is that, first of all, it's more expensive (twice the cost), you can only play on one team, you only get five games (plus playoffs), you have to follow the rules, and there is a ref. So it's full ice, so what? I have a funny feeling that competitive may become physical, and that would not be a good thing. I want to have fun, not try to smash some guy's head into the boards.
Well, enough about that, I'll be joining Riston's team (note the singular reference - I used to play for at least 2 teams a term) since he's losing Mr. Broomball and Rog for the term. (Rog indefinitely - ah, and what a swing he doth had.) We'll have to see how the term pans out, broomball at UW won't ever be the same, that's for sure, whether it will get better or worse, we shall soon find out.
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