The Money Has Made You Soft, Boy!!

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I've suspected for years that professional athletes were getting soft in respects of practicing their craft. Often they are sidelined by petty shit like a dislocated finger or a bruised thigh. Bullshit stuff that would garner them an ass-kicking by childhood friends back-in-the-day or even more so, by those surpassed in the pursuit of glory.

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I've heard stories about pro athletes, hockey players, more specifically, who'd spend hours and hours outside in homemade rinks, playing the game they loved most. Hockey! No matter the temperature outside, they would, along with neighbourhood children, play for hours, re-enacting their favourite moments of NHL games past. Dreaming, themselves, of one day playing their beloved game for a living.

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So fast-forward to this weekend. Tomorrow afternoon there is something called a "Heritage Classic" taking place in Calgary, Alberta, CANADA. There was an expose on the event on the Weather Channel. Covered by this medium, as the game in question is to take place outside, in front of thousands of screaming (and freezing) fans. The teams to lock horns, the Montreal Canadiens and the Calgary Flames. The interviewer spoke with several players from both teams, inquiring how they might battle the frigid temperatures. With smiles on their faces, they revealed a couple trade secrets, which include heaters for the players on the bench. As well, they added, they'd have to "work a little harder on the ice". One player, even went so far as to reveal that during his childhood, growing up in Thunder Bay, Ontario, that he was used to the mercury dipping down to minus thirty degrees Celcius.

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Watching intently, I was curious as to how cold it was in Calgary, that would have these gladiators of the ice so concerned. So I waited and waited for a country-wide forecast. When the current temperature was revealed, I was almost floored. Not by the low low temperature, but by the way the media and the players alike, was making the even sound like it was the end of the world. Minus seven degrees Celcius, was the temperature posted. That's about 19 degrees Farenheit, for you American readers.

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Minus seven degrees? That's it?!? I f*cking wear shorts in that kind of weather. Sometimes no jacket, I find it so f*cking warm. And you guys, with your multi-million dollar contracts, who used to play for hours outside for FREE in all sorts of weather conditions.., you f*ckers have the audacity to complain and, in some cases, fear the "bitter" cold? I say for myself and all those hopefuls you left behind growing up, all those who's dreams of playing in the NHL one day were dashed, I give you a very hearty "F*CK YOU!!!"

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I can't skate, nor did I ever wish for a career in the NHL, but I've had many a dream dashed, and while it hasn't left me bitter or even resentful, I can appreciate the opportunities, none-the-less. You f*cking athletes, have to remember. You're playing a f*cking game. A f*cking game. You get to "play" for a living. While others have to put their nose to the grindstone, and break their f*cking backs to make ends meet, you get to "play a game" for a living. Have fun and reap the benefits. Live in your big houses, drive your sporty cars, sleep with your gorgeous wives, while the rest of us, work on not having a f*cking heart attack or a nervous breakdown. When the temperature dips a few degrees, we have to work even harder. Where do you get off complaining about anything?

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You f*ckers have gotten soft. The money, has made you soft. You've forgotten that, it's a privilege to play the game you grew up loving so much, as your career. So the next time you dislocate your finger, or get a little bruise on your shin, or the temperature dips a little, just you never mind. Suck it up and just f*cking do it. Play your f*cking heart out! Show us, the fans, that you deserve to be in that spotlight. Give us those memorable moments. So that we can look back with fond memories and inspire our children so they can replay those memorable moments for hours and hours out on the rink, in those mind-numbing teeth-chattering sub-zero temperatures.