You love him.
You hate him.
He's David Blubaugh.
He has been a perennial member of the Stickmen and recently made the very controversial move of joining the Blue Devils, starting on the night they played for the Keg. While juggling commitments to both teams has been a little awkward, the times ahead for both teams look to be rockier still.
David had a chance to move up in his field and that also meant giving up his Saturday nights. I guess we can all see where his priorities lie.
David has always been one of the best goalies in our league statistically, but putting himself in the middle of controversy was certainly one of his greatest talents. I will miss him.
I've gotten to know the sometimes abrasive goaltender, and I appreciate his competitive drive and his ability to, get this, have fun on the ice. Some time back he and I staged a fight (Nate's camera phone sucks!) between periods, which he claimed to have won, and we had planned on playing one game in tandem, switching out at every whistle (Pointstink would have loved that), and who knows what other crazy antics would appear on the horizon. If you haven't noticed, I put fun ahead of just about everything on the ice, and I thought that it was amazing that he apparently had a similar desire.
Of course, as a member of this blog, I will miss his negative stuff, too. You might have your own personal axe to grind against Blubaugh, you wouldn't be the only one, but I'll let you in on a secret: the blog thrives on controversy. I do try to cultivate the camaraderie and the competition and all of the positive aspects of our league, but if you look at the posts with the biggest reactions, it's usually the ones about ringers, or reckless penalties, or something David did. A double secret: he welcomes that aura.
This weekend will be the last time to see Blubaugh in I-league.
So good-bye, David. . .
How long until you're back?
What controversial figure will be next to leave our ranks, my sources say it could be Rahul Sharma!
P.S. Isn't there someone out there interested in trying their hand at goaltending? How many games will I have to play before someone puts me in my place?
22 comments:
dang....about 23 teams in the euless i league just lost their goalie.. :)
favorite DB moment.
last summer stickmen play the patriots. the sticks get smoked like 7/8-0 whith a goal scored at the end of the game. Blubaugh skates through the handshake line and flips of the guy that scored at the end. it was greatness!
Sirkis
Favorite DB moment:
D League - He came out of the net to beat up a forward on the oppostie team
I League - He came out of the net to beat up a forward on the opposite team..
All great times! Gonna miss you man.
Supergirl
everytime i saw DB in a handshake line he would always say...
"you didn't do S&^T nate"
greatness!
We're gonna miss you on the BDs, dave.
Hodges
My memory of Dave is the time my line got 3 pucks past him, and each time we would, he would come out of his net to punch someone in the head. I found it more humorous than offensive (especially because it was Sean Kier who would get punched). Later I spoke to Dave about it and he smiled and said he was just bringing some competitiveness to the game. PS: I have been wanting to try my hand(s) at netminding, but am not sure how to get started.
Favorite DB moment
DB had already coughed up four or five goals in less than 2 periods.
After the whistle, he comes out to the face off circle and slashes one of our best players (who didnt see it coming) in the back/ribs.
The guy had already scored a couple on him (and I think he scored a couple more later on).
As the guy is face down on the ice, writhing in pain, DB says "Oh come on--that didnt hurt--I slashed you in the butt."
Our guy turns and says "Well,I hate to tell you this, but you missed my butt and slashed me in the ribs. Kind of like you missed those last 4 pucks that ended up in the back of your net."
The refs were laughing so hard they couldnt figure out what kind of penalty to call on DB. One of them finally said, "Well, since there's no penalty for stupidity, then we'll just call it slashing."
Pure gold...
Yeah, we heard the same "competiveness" speech after he was the third man in and jumped on top of one of our players, beating him on the back of the head with his blocker.
Finally, we agreed that the game would be more competitive if he would stop allowing so many pucks to get past him...
Actually, that didn't happen like that. David said the guy he hit (who was sitting in front of the crease) had just hit him in the neck with his stick while crashing the net. Yeah, he shouldn't have hit him, but at least try to get your story straight. Nothing was really said between David and the guy he hit, but nice creative twist.
Oh yeah, good job on showing that the Patriots are crybabies who can't let something that happened almost a year ago go.
I'm glad to see the fat bastard leave.
Good luck with the new job at Pizza Hut, Loser!
I was fortunate to never recieve a slash or a blockersandwich from DB when I skate near his crease. Especially with my trash talking mouth.
I remember last season I put a comment on the blog to antagonize DB and get under his skin so he would not be focused in the game. It worked just enough were the Chiefs beat him 3-2.
DB, your're a great competitor and I wish you the best of luck. Return to the ice soon!
the dude is leaving guys, why is every favorite moment of DB "after he let in 4 goals" or lost his temper. Doesnt anyone remember the great wins of DB's career........anyone.....
sorry DB, will miss u in a non gay way.
Rahul Sharma
PS what is the over under on DB's return. im guessing 1 season.
Before everyone gets all worked up, although it looks like saturday will be my last I-league night for awhile, it's not in stone yet. I just started a job with Bombardier Flexjet (kinda like pizza hut in the since I get paid for work) and I haven't been assigned a shift yet, but it's looking like I'll be working the weekends. I won't know until tomorrow though. I called Jon because I wanted to make arrangements to play the entire stickmen game just in case it's my last.
Now for some corrections:
My first game on the Blue Devils was actually back in may against the Titans. And, the Blue Devils were my original euless team, but before my first session started, I was traded to the stickmen for three pitchers of busch light, and one pitcher of bud light. So naturally, when they needed a goalie Mike Redmon came to me. I don't see what the big deal is.
That's not the way that incident with the patriots happened. Yes, Butch hit me in the neck, yes I hit him in the back, but other than that, Mr. Anon Patriot was a little off in his story, but who cares? And as for the other Patriot and his story, get with your buddy and learn a little more about creative writing. At least the first guy made it interesting however untrue.
And thanks Mr. Sharma. You continue to deserve my description of you as "freakishly nice".
Now if you'll excuse me, I have some pizzas to flip.....er....planes to fix.
And thanks for the article Jon, it's real sweet. I promise that we'll do the tandem thing as soon as we can fit it in and you find a team willing to let us.
True and false
As I remember it...and I have slept since then
I did crash into Mr. Blubaugh but I was pushed into him by his own teammate from behind. All 3 of us were going for a loose puck outside the crease. Mr. Blubaugh dove for it as I was reaching for it and then all heck broke loose.
He did slash me in the back
It did sting
There was no blood
I honestly didnt remember who the goalie was or who we were playing against until I was alerted to all of this.
I dont remember saying the missing the last 4 pucks comment that was made. But I wouldnt put it past me..
I dont remember anything about the refs laughing
And Im certainly not one of their best players
It really wasnt that big of a deal (to me)if truth be told...He thought I took a cheap shot so he returned the favor.
When you're 48 you tend to (easily)forget the stuff that doesnt really matter in the grand scheme of things. I hope Mr. Blubaugh can forget it, too
Good luck to you, Mr. Blubaugh.
Butch
rework the title, for a moment I thought he had died....
It really did look like that.
Since it looks like everyone is done bashing me, who's going to yank ryan's chain and get that segment of the comments going?
blue devils suck
how's that?
nate sucks
the fat guy on the stickmen sucks
which one?
...regarding Ryan's chain....probably not so much a chain as it is a string
So it turns out last night someone else who has been there longer decided that they wanted the weekend shift, which means that as the new guy I get stuck with the week shift. That means I can continue to play on saturday nights. Everyone look forward to the retraction that Jon is currently working on.
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