You Be The Judge

Yesterday, I informed my friend that I am not a complete goalie whore, and had a story to prove it. Her response? "I know you're not, because you don't slobber over Maaaaaarrrtyyyyy". She has a point. However, that didn't stop me from telling her my story. But she had a completely different take on it, so I bring it here for you all to be the judge.

I've known for a while now that I really need to invest in a new glove. Mine is, in addition to it's layer of slime on the inside, completely discolored with sweat on the outside, missing several key pieces of lacing, and rusted where there are metal eyelets. This is not a high quality glove. I got it on clearance maybe 4 years ago, in an effort to replace the one I'd bought without thinking, which was slightly smaller than a satellite dish. It served me well, but it's past time to upgrade. So, off GoalieHusband and I went to the local Hockey Monkey, for a little shopping.

I'm not completely married to a brand, but I do tend to like Vaughn. My pads, pants and blocker are all Vaughn and I love them. Naturally, I figured I'd be in the market for a Vaughn glove as well. Since I have dainty girly hands, senior size is too big (hence the satellite glove), so we were looking at intermediate sized gloves. I went straight for the Vaughns, but they didn't fit quite right. The break in the palm was just a tad off. I tried a few other brands and styles, one of which fit perfectly. I didn't settle on it then and there though. The problem? It was a ghastly bright yellow-orange. The tag said "Bauer RX8 SE - Bruins". For a split second my brain went "OOOOOOOOO! Bruins!" and then the logical part took over. That glove would just look hideous with the rest of my gear (and jerseys).

I am not one of those goalies who is all nutso about their gear being perfectly matched.  My pads and blocker are both Vaughn, yes, but my pads have a maroon graphic whereas my blocker has black. So it really wouldn't bother me if the glove was white with black, black with silver, etc. But..... gold??? Talk about an eyesore. And imagine that with my black and red, or predominately red Quarry Cats jerseys. Ewww. It would look right at home with the gold-yellow Hawks jersey but we never know from season to season what we're doing, so that's not something to bank on.

And so, I didn't buy it. It was the only one in the store, so I went online and ordered it in a different "colorway". I got the Chicago 2 color... closest to what wouldn't look awful with the rest of my gear and jerseys. I told my friend this story, and pointed out that I could have just scooped it up because it was "Tuukka-colored" but did not, and therefore I am not a complete goalie whore. Do you know what she said? She said "That doesn't prove you're not a goalie whore, that just proves you're a chick who is worried about her gear not matching."

Now. I know plenty of boy goalies who are pretty particular about their gear. Not all of them, mind you, but most of them. So I leave it to you readers to decide. Proof of logic trumping fandom? Or proof that I'm really just pretty girly after all?

(I do feel the need to point out that neither Rask nor Thomas uses a Bauer glove, so I'm not sure what the deal is with the whole "Boston" thing. Rask uses a Vaughn and Thomas uses a Piku..... but somehow I don't think this statement is helping my "I'm not a goalie whore" cause that much so I'll just shut it right now....)