Stupid Juvenile hockey

So I was all set to have a pretty quiet evening tonight. I'd stop by my ref meeting for half an hour or so but otherwise, it was looking like I might get a night where I actually spent time at home doing...well, whatever I want but preferably nothing. Don't get me wrong, I like staying busy but sometimes I need a break. Anyway, I got a phone call during poker last night and my ref assignor pulled me into reffing a Juvenile game tonight. For those that don't know, Juvenile is what comes after Midget in the hockey levels, so the guys are 19 and 20. Usually it's pretty laid back but has some decently skilled players that are just looking to continue playing hockey. Sometimes though, you get the odd occational idiot that just can't seem to stop whining or loses it for no good reason. Tonight brought both situations out. Why, when a player gets a penalty for something obvious, like clipping the goalie, does he feel like he has to complain? He knows it won't do him any good (in this case it got him tossed for continuing for so long and so loudly). And why can't a team just accept a goal scored late in the game that might put them away? Why does the defense feel like he has to punch out the guy who made a nice play to pull the puck back in front and score on an out of position goalie? Of course this started a "fight" and then everyone but the goalies got into it. Since it's near the end of the season and almost no real punches were thrown, I decided to be nice and only call a few minor penalties instead of kicking them all out. You would think the players would accept this but no, they have to complain about every little thing. Okay, I'm done ranting for now. I just don't understand the stupidity of some players when you either cut them some slack or when something painfully obvious happens and they just can't let it go.

Other than tonight's hockey game, it's been a good week. I won at poker again last night (both by playing well and by hitting some good cards) and I won the payday 50/50 at work! Granted the 50/50 was only $23 but hey, I won for once, and that's what counts. I was feeling lucky so while filling up on gas (at some crazy prices) I thought I'd go in for a couple Super 7 tickets too for the $15 million jackpot. We'll see how far this luck really goes; I may be pushing it.

This weekend looks to be pretty busy with ski patrol on Saturday and Sunday (race patrol on Sunday) as well as a pot luck at the hill on Saturday. I also have curling as usual and then a Chinese fondue Sunday night. Should be busy but a lot of fun. Hope everyone has a good weekend.