Are you reckless?

[WhiteSteve]

I’ve always been a cautious person. I drive the speed limit and don’t take risks. I’ve never climbed a tree, haha. Anything physically risky growing up, I was always the “I’m good. You dumbasses can do that shit if you want” kid.

Yet in sports…. I put my body on the line, almost unconsciously. I play beer league hockey, which is the short way of saying “bums with day jobs who suck and make zero dollars playing hockey”, lmao.

A lot of guys won’t even think about blocking a shot and get out of the way. But most of them have played their whole lives, I’m still like three years in. I’m not fast like them, I don’t have “silky mitts” (ability to do nifty maneuvers with the puck)…. but I’m pretty big and I don’t fear the puck (except on offense…. “AHH!!! Here, YOU take it!😰” Hot potato, lmao). So blocking shots has become my forte.

This guy has arguably the hardest shot in our league, and I finally got to try it on. Spicy🌶️😂

Dude actually said to me “You’re psycho, Steve.” Rink audio picked it up too😂

Then last night I ate one in the ribs. Pretty sure I have a bruised lung🤣

Everyone thought I was going to be hurt and stopped, that’s my favorite part🦾😂

#20, when we were down at the other end was like “DUDE…are you okay?”, lmfao. I said I was, and skating away I hear him say “Kid’s a fuckin’ savage” to his teammate, I think the original shooter, I’d have to go back and look. The crowd of like 7 went wild😝 The pointless respect is my “why.”🤦‍♂️😂

The hockey gods gave it back to me, and I scored on the same shift, thanks to a sweet behind-the-back leave from my teammate…

The breathing difficulty was just starting to set in🤣

My old man side-eyes me when I show him this stuff, but that dude used to skydive for fun, so I was like “Pops, kindly STFU”, lmao. Ol’ plane jumpin’ ass….🙄😂

But enough about me, what about you? Are you reckless? Or are you cautious? Or are you like me, and inexplicably overcautious AND simultaneously putting yourself in harm’s way?😝

[Beckybooboo]

I'm cautious but like you, when I played sports, I did play with some reckless abandonment. I actually had a concussion and a case of whiplash, as well as the typical cuts and bruises playing soccer through the years. I think it's great that you play recreational hockey! I had a neighbor that played for Tampa Bay Lightning. I remember going to a couple games and being impressed with how good of athletes they are! Unfortunately, I stopped going because he was what you would call an overly aggressive player. I didn't like seeing my friend acting crazy and getting in fights 😂😂

[WhiteSteve]

Soccer gets kind of a bad rap because of the pros flopping, but it absolutely can’t be underrated as a great way to smash coconuts with someone else, lmao, as well as knees and shins and all that. Soccer is definitely more dangerous than most people give it credit for🫡

Yeah, just picked up hockey in my 40s but it’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Maybe not for safety, but for fun and fulfillment😂 That’s cool you had a neighbor that played in “The Show!” I could only dream, hahaha. There’s a kid in my league who’s SO GOOD relative to us, who mostly played growing up and in high school because this is a hockey hotbed around here in Boston. But he just played club hockey at Florida Gulf Coast, wasn’t like he was playing for Boston University or U of Minnesota or something. He’s average-sized, maybe that’s the problem, but compared to us, he’s RIDICULOUS. So even a bad NHL player must be so far out of our league🤣

But yeah, the scraps are part of the game at the NHL level, especially if you’re not a superstar, it’s good to have that in your toolbox. I’ve loved that even more than hockey itself since I was little🤣 That was kind of the dream for me, lmao. Had a few fights early on, but not much lately because I think I established myself as “not the guy you want” in a couple tilts. People still remember, lmfao. Plus I just know most of the guys now, so it’s a little more difficult to get to that level once you’re cordial with each other. Plus the league discourages it. But I got to live the dream, however briefly, so that was awesome😝 But yeah, the ladies typically HATE IT, lmfao

[Beckybooboo]

My first concussion is when I played in college and we had a scrimmage against the high school boys team. I accidentally got kneed in the head by a 6' 190lb junior 🤦 We got slaughtered 15-1 but we had a lot fun when we'd play them lol It's good to stay active and play something you enjoy at any age, good for you. Yeah, my neighbor was a solid defensive player-very fast, brought some toughness to the team, he was also very dedicated and worked hard and it seemed his teammates respected what he did on the ice. I know fighting is part of the game but I always felt it's unfortunate, because they are SUPERB athletes and I think a lot of people don't view them that way because it can be a violent sport! It's also strange seeing how he acts on the ice, because off the ice he's a dad, a husband, a neighbor, a friend... So if you and I were friends in real life, I definitely WOULDN'T go watch you play 😂 I'd wait until you were done playing to hang out with you lol Good luck!

[beebella]

Probably not so much now. I think I'm much more cautious about things than I was as a child. It seems like back then I was always doing things that could cause a serious injury (although, I've never climbed a tree either). And I did get injured doing some things, like the time I completely fell on my forehead and hit straight concrete, but we don't have to get into that.
But yeah, totally not that reckless nowadays. 😂

[WhiteSteve]

NO MORE CONCRETE FACEPLANTS. STOP THAT🙅‍♂️😝

[msc545]

I surf large waves and race sailboats, but I'm also a very powerful swimmer so I don't worry too much about getting killed or badly injured in the water. Although on the boats it can happen to people and I've seen it.

[WhiteSteve]

Oh that’s right, you’re a sailor! I love the ocean but it’s also scary as fuck. You’re just a little dot in a body of water you can see from the moon, lmao. Can just swallow you whole with no effort, and never spit you back out.

One of my grandfathers loved boating. He sailed and even built his own tugboat in retirement. He worked at a huge shipyard as a machinist back in WWII, and built subs and battleships and all that.

I was a late baby, but my cousins, who are like 10-12 years older than me caught younger Grandpa Smitty, so they have sailing stories where they were out on the boat with him and his buddy Admiral Schmidt, lmao. And it was back in the 70s when no one gave a shit about the well-being of children😂

Apparently, they’d take these turns that would have the boat practically on its side, no seatbelts of course, haha, and not even life preservers. Just out there reckless in shark-infested Cape Cod waters, like 8 and 11 years old🤣

Shout out to that old movie Wind, haha⛵️

[DryGermanGuy]

No, but I accept certain amounts of risk in certain situations. E. g. traveling alone in an unknown country, investing in some startup stock, driving very fast on the Autobahn...

[WhiteSteve]

Measured risk, I like it👍

I’d never make it on the Autobahn🤣🤣🤣

[dustybiker2]

Wait a minute you play hockey and you consider yourself a careful person? From the way you've always spoken I always thought the absolute opposite. Shows what judge of character I am. I need my Doberman for this stuff.

[WhiteSteve]

I’m probably just delusional, lmfao, most of my life has revolved around contact sports. But I think that’s all of my risk bandwidth, haha.

So I’m on the road out here like Sweetchuck from Police Academy🤣

[dustybiker2]

"I wear gear."

And great clip. haha

[sage2021]

On the contrary, although I was a dare devil in my younger days. I liked going really fast in a car, at the go-cart race track,.

[WhiteSteve]

Oh man, I miss go-karts, haha. We won the championship in Little League one year and our coach took our team to one of those “family fun centers” to celebrate, with go karts, bumper boats, mini-golf, batting cages, an arcade, etc.

We kept driving too aggressively and getting banned from the go karts. They drew a black ‘X’ on your hand that had your “unlimited rides” bracelet, but one of us quickly figured out we could wash it off in the bumper boat pool🤣 A bunch of us got back on the go karts before one of the employees recognized us figured out the ruse, lmao, probably from continued reckless driving and bumping random kids on the track😂

[sage2021]

@WhiteSteve

That's so cool 😎

[Nikki1989]

I suppose I have taken some risks with Bungee Jumping and similar activities, but I do not consider them to be reckless.

[WhiteSteve]

Oh my lord…. Heights are my Kryptonite. I simply could never😅 You’re way more courageous than me, lmao

[exitseven]

I used to be fearless. My nickname was Crazyman. I had a good handle on what could get me killed but I did not always follow it.

[WhiteSteve]

Hahaha, love it. They call me Crazy Steve in this league, between this stuff and my demeanor when the rough stuff kicks off🤣

You sound like more of a daredevil than me though

[exitseven]

Years ago that was true. Now I do not even like to go up a ladder to clean out my gutters. I think there is some inner ear thing I have going on.

[Abbycado]

Nope. I’m not the reckless type.

[WhiteSteve]

SafetyCado🥑

[Abbycado]

Yes indeedy XD

[Anonymous]

Yes, very much so. I attach very little importance to my life , or anyone else’s. The only things I really care about are tattoos, pussy, and drugs. LOL jk , kind of.