Ice Hockey and Airplanes

At the beginning of the summer the captain of a team I used to play with asked if I'd be interested in playing as a sub. I said sure. I haven't played with this team in years. After tonight's game I remember why I stopped playing in this league. It's full of assholes. This league is the entry league where players with no hockey experience, and minimal skating experience start. I think, this allows fantasies of one day joining the NHL. Anything that darkens that fantasy -- like, say, someone who can skate better than you -- causes anger. I got knocked around tonight and endured some childish name-calling, and it isn't like I'm even a good hockey player. In the leagues where I normally play, hockey is not nearly so much a fantasy, but an enjoyable pastime, something that precedes drinking beer. The games are so much friendlier, everyone understands that it truly doesn't matter what happens. Not sure how much I'll keep subbing in with my old team. Mostly it just pisses me off that I let things get under my skin. 

Tomorrow I travel to a sort of distant city to attend a conference and give a talk. I've given various versions of this talk five times already. What I would really like to do is get this current paper hammered out, submit it, and start working on something new. I feel like it's been a while since I've been able to sit down with pencil and paper and actually do math.