I've played 3 on 3 hockey at Hockey Workout all summer. We were originally supposed to be in the lowest division, where we could have had a chance, but the schedule got screwed up and we wound up at the wrong level. We've lost every game and in the end, haven't had very much fun. All along I'd asked the owner to move us to the right level but it never happened. Last night was the last straw. Even with extra subs, we still lost. The owner saw how full our bench was and started bitching. I told him that we were trying to pull out a win and thought we'd give it a shot.

After the game, he asked if we were playing 5 on 5 (in my mind, real hockey) and that this season had been very disapointing to us. He replied that sometimes it takes time for a team to sort out the divisions. At that point, I'd had enough and launched into a speech that had been brewing in my mind for some time. Below is a reconstructed transcript of that speech:

"We signed up for the right division but you placed us in the wrong one. Even though we'd asked to move back to the division we signed up for, it never happened and we've lost every game. This season has been no fun for us. No fun. We're done playing here."

I stomped off, relieved that I'd said something. A few minutes later, he came over and asked to talk to me. JeneRae, my most excellent assistant captain (I'm lucky enough to have 3 of them on the 'real' team this season and my workload is a LOT lighter thanks to their efforts) came along too. The guy said 'I have a deal for you...', I said I hoped it involved a 1979 El Camino. He offered us a deal I couldn't refuse -- to play in the fall season as a team, for free, in the right division. So we're coming back, at least some/most of us are. A couple of the guys on this team have left the 'real' team to play on the other team so I'm sure they'll find our new, lower division, to be the wrong place, which is fine. I have a couple of people on the 'real' team who could benefit from this chance.

I'm glad I said something. In the past, I didn't and it just left me with a lot of frustration. Now I see that a couple of carefully worded sentences can have a huge impact.