I can see both sides of this. Part of me wants to say, "But you're essentially the same team that rocked the league a few months ago. Why aren't you now?!" And part of me knows, this is their job. We all have days when we're just not up to peak job performance, days when we could do more but, eh, will it matter if we do? So I get it. I do.
I think what frustrates me more is how the play is such a roller coaster. One day they're on fire, the next day they're just not. And I don't understand how they manage to play games with Matt in net and hold the opponent to 17 shots in a game yet, when Flower's in net, he may face 17 shots in one period. I know the team is used to Flower bailing them out, holding them together in the early season, and he's trying. But he's facing his own challenges and could use their help. More than I hate the losses, I hate the feeling that the team is hanging Flower out to dry. (And I really didn't appreciate it when, after Geno nailed Matt and Flower took over, Sully later said "it made sense" to leave Flower in. Why? So Matt, who had already allowed two shots, wouldn't see his stats lowered and Flower could take the hit?!)
I love what Sully did for the team last season, but I feel like he favors the baby Pens over the core, Sid included. And that bothers me.
I've only been a sports fan/Pens fan since June 2015. I endured the start of last season and appreciated the end of last season all the more because of it. I feel like I can handle loss, that I know they're not going to win every game, that everyone has off nights. But the whiplash is killing me, as is my frustration with Sully and how they're treating Flower. I'm told it's a long season and that it's too early to get this stressed. After last season, I get that. I guess my problem is, I'm not stressed for the team, its record or whether the Pens repeat. I'm stressed for the people on the team. That's harder to handle.
So, yeah. I'm up for endurance tips, too.
(Reading fic does help! I wish I could say writing fic was helping at the moment, but the words are being astoundingly silent. sigh)
Thanks! The non-writing project was totally worth it, but I really do want to get back to writing. To writing this fic, particularly. I don't know if it's a mental block because of its potential length — it could turn out to be the longest thing I've written — or if it's just a mental block because ... writing!
There are things I can write in a room full of people. Fic — G-rated or not — usually isn't one of them. I've heard of professional writers who shut themselves away in a secluded cabin for a week or two when they have a deadline approaching, so they can concentrate. I feel like that would help me from a fic standpoint! (But explaining that from a professional writing standpoint seems like it would be easier than telling my family I have to leave them to fend for themselves for a couple of weeks while I go write fic!)
I was writing a thing. It got put on hold while I worked on another (non-writing) thing. And that thing is now finished, so I want to get back to writing. But words are being hard. I can tell you the entire story in exposition, but making it have conversation and action, etc., is killing me! I keep hoping for a break-through, but ...
It's cool that you were able to fit so many in when you have a set time frame!
Sounds like a great trip! I'm working my way up. Started with one hockey game (a Pens road trip near me) last season. I'll have two Pens games at home this season. Maybe next season I can follow them to Canada!
Did you know what games you'd manage to see when you scheduled your trip or are these mostly subject to what was available when you'd be here?
Sorry you're still feeling bad. (Is it still the Con crud?!) Hope you're better today! Cute fic! I like Tater! (Just checking ... did you realize anyone following the glitter stag link can see all of your other photo albums, too?)
Gonch being (affectionately) annoyed at being caught between the awkward puppies in love is one of my favorite hockey tropes! (In part because it only happens when there are awkward S/G puppies in love! And in part because it's always hysterically funny!)
Maybe the Con crud is to credit for that pound. (There should be some perk for feeling bad all week, right?!) :-)
Enjoy the kitty cuddles!
If they had broken Geno with that stunt ... I was so done with that whole pile-up.
But while a friend and I spent the game sharing our mutual dislike of hockey fighting, I spent today listening to various hosts on NHL radio talk about how great the fights during the Pens-Caps game were (even as they debated what the league should do with players who are suspended as repeat offenders). It's enough to give you whiplash! (Or a concussion.)
I'm so glad Flower played so well! And Geno rocked!
I think it was pretty intense! :-)
Your reading habits sound so much like mine! That one where Sid and Segs were friends with benefits was brilliant, because it was a chance to enjoy Segs in context (my theory is that he's fun, but not serious relationship material) and still end up with S/G! (With just a bit of jealous!G terrorizing Segs!)
They seep in around the edges, don't they? I mean, I have two ships that I count as "my ships". One hockey, one not. But, hockey-wise, I've now read Segs/Benn, because I have a friend who ships/writes it. And Ovi/Nicky, because they occasionally seem to find their way onto my mostly S/G/Pens dash. I've read just a bit of S/Claude, to see what it was about; and, well, I can read S with just about any Pen, if it's done properly. (Except Sully. Maybe it's just the one I read, but I only read one and, just, I couldn't.) I don't count any of those others as my "true ships", but they just seep in and, next thing I know, I've enjoyed reading yet another pairing!
The first S/O I read was actually S/O-S/G-O/N, in which S and G had a thing early on but it fell apart. After he retires, S ends up with O, kids and all. G visits. I would say more, but it's really just a good, good, achy-but-good fic. It's somewhere in the S/G tag, I'm sure, because I doubt I would have found it otherwise. (I can find it again, if you want.)
I had no idea Eddie Izzard was in "Hannibal"! (I've never watched it, but he makes me want to!)
It sounds as if you had an amazing time!
And now I have a Sid/Ovi fic marked for later, too! (I haven't read much S/O -- because S/G! -- but I've enjoyed what little bit I've read. I assume this will be the same!
Oh, and sorry you're feeling bad. Hope the con crud doesn't linger!
Yay! It's now on my to-read list! (I'll have to see if I can get it on my tablet before I leave town today!)
Fun! (It takes a unique personality to have fun with something like that and make it fun without going too far. Looks like he enjoyed himself!)
Joining the club (of people worrying about Sid). I take comfort in the fact that he was able to attend Fan Fest and the ring presentations. He knows what to look for, surely, so I don't think he would take stupid risks. And I like to think the Pens wouldn't either. I want him to take all the time he needs to heal. But I'm also hoping for his sake that he doesn't need that much time.
(I want him to be able to play as long as he wants to play, and I want him still to have a happy, healthy life once he stops playing. Which, ideally, includes a happy, healthy brain.) (And neck. And body, overall/in general.)
For me, all writing (well, fic writing) takes a long time. I write short and concise in the real world. Writing long(er) in fic goes against (almost) everything my job teaches me. But I love the creativity of fic, and I love the feeling when I actually make it happen (and I love reading the results of other people's struggles), so I muddle/struggle through!
The number of times I ask my beta, "But is it hot?" is probably beyond ridiculous. But it's so much easier to visualize a sex scene in my head than it is to type up all the details that go into that mental picture. (If a picture paints a thousand words, how many words does a smutty gif paint?!) I always worry!
Kudos to everyone who is struggling with it at the moment and determined to win!
Everything about this was amazing! (I love that Geno essentially stood right where he stood the first time. I think Obama would have understood the humor had Geno actually pulled out his phone to take another photo at that point!)
And Sid recalling the Secret Service agent blows me away! I do good to recognize people I met yesterday -- especially if I meet them in a different place. To recognize someone from eight years and 250 miles away? Just ... amazing!
Yay! for tentative successes without broken bits!
I create Google doc folders by ship and then by author folder within the ship.
One can't blame you for being distracted! Those words are highly, um, distracting!



hockeyhockeyhockeyDo the Pens have Hockey Fatigue? (Do I have Hockey Fatigue?)Nov 26, 2016 at 10:47 AM