In addition to the helmet, sliders, shoulder pads and various other pads that are provided to the football team, this year we've accumulated several extra pieces of equipment. Mind you, these aren't coming from a provided list that we received at the beginning of the season. No, that would be convenient and make sense. Usually these are the result of a late night, after practice run to Big 5. John will get in the car after practice and say something like, "...coach wants me to have (insert random sporting good) by tomorrow." Practice generally lets out between 7pm and 7:30pm, and Big 5 closes at 8pm. Therefore, it becomes a stressful game of Beat-the-Clock getting there, knowing that if they don't have it we're at least in for a trip to Sports Authority and possibly of having to go all the way to Dick's (in Vista) in search of said suggested item.
Not only is this late-night-game-show a barrel of fun (not!), but it can also be pricey. That's why I thought that gift cards to sporting goods stores would make a good gift; then he can decide if it's an item that he wants/needs enough to use his money on it. See how smart I am?
For your viewing pleasure, and because I have absolutely nothing else to blog about today, I am providing you with a picture of this year's Beat the Clock winners.
At the top we have a chin strap. This looks like a harness. Or something else that I don't want to mention. Yep. It's a chin strap.
Next we have the lineman gloves. Don't know exactly how they help. I think their primary function is to add that dead animal/leathery smell to his gear bag. Seriously, it smells like a small animal lost it's life in there.
Moving right along, we have elbow pads. But they're not really pads; they're more like compression sleeves. According to the box, they're supposed to keep the elbows warm and therefore less likely to sustain injury. We found this out (and purchased these) after John displaced a ligament in his elbow several weeks ago. It might have been nice to know about these ahead of time...
Finally, there are ankle braces. You think the gloves smelled bad? These are a zillion times worse; they're in constant contact with sweaty feet! At least these stayed in his locker all season. They came home last night when the lockers were cleared out, they've been washed and now they'll await next season.
So there you have it. If you're looking for something to get my eldest for Christmas, please consider a gift card. I'm reasonably certain that next season, or this off season even, will produce more and more do-dads that he'll want to get.
2 comments:
I'm glad you put in a description of each item because I thought the things at the bottome might be a corset.
Looks like a Christmas tree. And yes, I am really, really happy you explained the top item, ahem, it does look like something else.
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