Practice Makes Perfect

Last night was rugby practice. Now, for the most part, my legs have been holding up and I've gradually added some more impact into practice so if I do wind up in a match, my body can withstand the hits and the pressure...you know the drill.

We started off with a tackling drill and, for the most part, I've been eschewing these drills as I know that I'm still not 100% (or close to 90% for that matter) and don't want to risk any extra injury that would make my third attempt at playing a season another loser. My first few rounds through the tackling drill had me taking some good hits and landing without much of a problem. A few of the newbies learned that I'm not an easy person to tackle as they had their hands way too high and couldn't bring me down. And of course, I wasn't trying to make it too easy on them.

We opted for one last run through before we broke for a water break and I was the first person to step up to put this guy through the gauntlet. His hands got a little too high and pretty much I was being shoved backwards and trying to maintain my balance all at the same time so I didn't injure both of us. Finally, after more struggle than necessary, he planted me on the ground and my head hit hard with a lovely sickening thud that made me black out for about a second. Trust me, not pretty, not fun, and surely not...well...something I would really want anyone else to go through. The newbie was overly apologetic but hell, it's happened before to me and will probably happen again.

I was able to make it through the rest of practice joining in on a few scrums helping the new guys learn where their heads and hands were supposed to go and then...surprise of all surprises, it was time for the end of practice fitness drills. Now, I know that my ability to run isn't that great. Knowing how I've done during the entire practice gives me an idea of how far I can go in sprits, if I can go at all. I knew that I was a little tender and after taking that huge hit to the ground earlier in practice, I opted to sit back and do my physical therapy exercises while they ran through their sprints.

At one point, I was talking to the formerly illegal (as in sexually illegal) newbie (who has now turned of legal age since he joined the team who I will call Legally Blonde for obvious reasons) as I was laying down and doing my leg lifts, crunches, and other exercises. Somehow the entire conversation took a flirty tone on his part (because trust me, eighteen year olds are not my thing) and then he took off running in his sprint. I just cracked up and went back to the crunches. Now for some reason, I was talked into taking part in the last sprint session which I gimped all the way through. As I made my way to the start line, I saw Legally Blonde massaging the shoulders of another teammate and I jokingly said to him, "Whoring around on me already? Slut."

Now, I didn't hear the first part of what he said but I did catch what he called me.

Daddy.

God...make me feel older than I already am....

And I haven't even turned 30 yet!

Daddy.

Geez.

To this I don't know what to say.