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Hockey bravado at its finest....

Possibly the biggest hockey fans I know are my boyfriend's neighbors, Bob and Lex. Last season they had season tickets to see the Philadelphia Flyers and the Phantoms games, but they have been attending games for many years. Lex is definitely a hockey nut, and Bob could probably tell you any hockey stat that you wanted to know.

Everyone knows that guys can't sit still while waiting for their women to get ready to go out. One Friday as he was waiting for Lex before a Flyers game, Bob decided to clean the leaves off of the pool cover to pass the time. It started out well, but in his scooping and slopping of the wet leaves, he failed to realize how slippery the ground had become. One misplaced step caused his untimely misfortune.

Slip-Whack! Bob plunged downward and smacked his ribs on the concrete edge of their in ground pool. Pain shot through his body and his breath left him. Struggling with all his might, Bob pulled himself out of the pool and across the grass toward the house.

Without the strength to lift his body up, drag by drag, crawl by crawl, he finally made it from the pool to the house. Bob poked his head through the doggy-door and pulled himself halfway through it.

Humored and in disbelief, Lex looked at him and continued to vacuum. Breath rushed in and out of Bob's mouth as he panted and attempted to relay what had just happened. Everything seemed so exaggerated, so she was sure he was just being a goofball, trying to get a rise out of her. Playfully vacuuming the floor around Bob's face and arms, Lex finally noticed that he was, in fact, short of breath and soaked with pool water below his knees.

The die-hard hockey addict that he was, Bob declined on Lex's offer for a ride to the hospital and insisted that they attend the game. It is doubtful that anything would ever keep Bob from his beloved sporting events! Throughout each period and intermission, the pain did not subside. Hunching forward to avoid the agony as best he could actually drew the attention of a young female fan sitting nearby. Her query, "What happened to you?" resulted in Bob's bravado "I threw my back out playing hockey." The hockey player that he was, Bob preferred not to admit to his unintended plunge into the pool, thereby facing further humiliation.

And this was just the beginning. Of all nights, Bob and Lex had tickets for a Phantoms game soon after the end of the Flyers final period. There was no denying Bob of his hockey. Insisting again that they must attend the game despite his discomfort, he endured another two and a half hours of labored breathing and dire pain from the fall. Somehow, by sheer will I suppose, Bob made it through the second hockey game. The next day was a different story...

Saturday morning came and with it, an excruciating reason for Bob to remain in bed. Finally, sliding out of bed straight as a board, he slipped to the floor in an effort to get up for the day. After some major coaxing, Lex finally convinced him to go to the hospital on Sunday.

The doctor was not pleased. "If you would have come here on Friday," he began, "I would have admitted you." As it turns out, Bob had injured himself rather badly from his slip into the pool. Two bruised ribs, two broken ribs and a collapsed lung penalized Bob with three weeks of recovery. The mending process encompassed the worst and most painful three weeks of his life.

Though we felt bad about Bob's injuries and the accompanying pain, we laughed our tails off at Lex's description of Bob panting, hanging halfway through the dog-door!