I Feel Pretty Old

I told you the next time I would be blogging I would be 26 years old. It feels really weird to say. You wonder where the time goes. I don't think I'm going to keep counting my age anymore though. I think 26 is it for me. Like I'll be 26 for the next 15 years, before people really start to figure me out. Even 26 seems old still though. I remember wanting to turn 21 so badly so I can finally get into the bars(legally) and not having to worry about using the old fake ID. It was worse when all of my friends were 21 and I wasn't and they decided to go to the best bars in town and I would have to pray the bouncer was half blind or just didn't care about his job. It worked most of the time, but there was nothing worse than getting denied from the bar and watching your friends go in. Oh wait, yes there is something worse. Never even getting carded anymore. Like do I look that old? I've seen guys with grey hair pulling out their license and then the guy just gives me the go ahead. I still like to think I have my boyish good looks and charm. My guess is that he knows I'm just a sweet guy and wants my business, but I would still like someone to humor me and ask for back up or something. For lack of a better term getting old sucks. In college everything was handed to you on a silver platter. Not a worry in the world. Need food? Swipe the terrier card for a meal or have mom and dad cook for you. Need some clothes? Hey Mom and Dad I need a new shirt. Bam what color do you want? Where am I going to live? Here's a brownstone apartment in Boston for the price of on the house. I used to drink a few busch lights with the boys before we went out, grabbed 40$ and had a great night with money leftover for a cab and a snacks from 7-11. My go to's were the microwavable ham egg and cheese sandwiches, the tacquitos or honey bun. Yummmmmmyyyy. Now I have to cook my own food, buy my own clothes, find my own places to live and 40$ barely gets me in the door on a Saturday night.(Side note: Craig Sanders, when he was not in the boot racked up the largest tab at a 7-11/Campus Convience I've ever seen after a night out. I want to say it was around the 37$ range. Kid LOVED late night food. Craig, I know this is 2 jabs at you in two blogs, but hey like you said, "if they're not making fun of me, they're probably not my friends" Make it 3 Jabs. I still love you pal.) Not sure where I was going with this rant, but ipso facto getting old sucks.

I'm sure everyone is sitting at the edge of their seats wondering, "Hey I wonder how Schaeff spent his birthday on a Saturday night in Vegas??" Well to tell you the truth, I didn't do much at all. The team was away at a game on saturday and since I'm hurt I didn't make the trip. I got to catch up with an old buddy and loyal blog reader Greg Manzi who has moved out to Las Vegas after leaving BU. I've known Greg since our days playing street hockey at Stimson Middle School. He is married and has a baby daughter out here and doing well for himself as a teacher. We chatted it up, had a few beers while watching some football and then grabbed a quick bite at Zaba's Mexican Grille. Zaba's has a great burrito and rivals the big boys of burrito places like QDoba, Cilantro, MOE's and Chipotle. Anyway it was a solid low key day while the boys were on the road. Sunday would be a little different.



We started out doing some day drinking at Todd's English Pub in Aria's CityCenter. I highly recommend this place. Good service, good atmosphere. They had a mini basketball hoop set up at the bar and if you hit the shot, you get a free drink. I don't think we need to discuss whether I made the shot or not cause we all know I drained it nothing but net. They had some other good drinking contests going on so we all had a good time. After that we hit the casino for a little bit and I won 70$ at the roulette table. I wasn't betting much but obviously 3 red hit. Always does! I then immediately gave half of it back to the casino. Still up though! We then slid over to Planet Hollywood to meet up with the rest of the guys before heading off the strip to a local country bar near our apartments. I'd rather go to these places any day of the week and twice on sundays. It ended up being a long day, but a fun one.

Yesterday, we went to the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospital for Children Golf tournament at a local course here. We scored some tickets from a former terrier who is working for the tournament, so big ups to her! It was a pretty cool event. We got to see JT, Doug Flutie, a few former NFL guys and a few of the major golf pros like Rickie Fowler teeing it up. Good times.

Two Home games this weekend and then Halloween party. Hopefully I will have some good blogging material on costumes, parties, etc. That's all for now. I need to get off my couch cause I've been sitting in the same spot for the past several hours. Oh I almost forgot, I saw Jackass 3D today. It was really funny. Pretty gross at some points, but that's to be expected. Overall it was worth it. That's all for now. Catch you guys on the flip side. And Ghost Ride the Whip!!

Is this the real Caesar's Palace?

So last time I wrote I was sitting in a hotel in San Antonio, Texas at training camp. What I didn't tell you guys is that I was sitting there resting my ankle as I was the recipient of a slew foot heading into the boards and got a high ankle sprain. It hurt like a mother and they put me in a Craig Sanders boot and on Crutches. (Craig Sanders has the best work ethic in BU history and was forced into a boot after an ankle sprain of his own. Due to this work ethic he was out of the boot faster than anyone else). No more training camp for me. As I lay there in bed, I said to myself I have two options. I can throw a Kevin Schaeffer pity party, with a guest list of 1, or I can suck it up take some Alieve and start typing. Everyone saw the option I took. That's just the kind of guy I am. I'm here for you. The ankle is a long way from the heart, and fingers. Soon after I was sent to Las Vegas to get settled into my apartment and get going on doing some rehab with our athletic trainer. I must admit the trip down was a little embarrassing though for me. Since I had my foot in a huge boot, on crutches and had a few bags with me I asked if I could take a ride on one of those golf carts they have at the airport. Unfortunately they did not have any, so I was confined to being carted around on a wheelchair. Talk about depressing. Here I am a healthy, average looking guy with an above average personality, that plays professional hockey and works out for a living, being carted around in a wheelchair with the 90 year old grandmas and grandpas with the oxygen tanks hooked up to their noses. That was a real shot to the mojo. But hey, I did what I had to do. To add insult to injury I lost my ipod on one of my flights. I guess you can call that trip to San Antonio unsuccessful....to say the least. I am now nicely settled into Sin City though. Let "The Hangover" quotes begin!




My first time walking around the strip I felt like that little kid after the dentist. I thought to myself "Is this real life??"(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txqiwrbYGrs) Well I'll tell you what. This place is not real life. Las vegas is fake life. The stuff that goes on around here is incredible. Rules go right out the window. Gambling is all around you. I walked into a CVS to get some vitamins and there was a row of slot machines. You see some real creatures working these slots too. You can be completely wasted walking around with open beers or huge margaritas. There are illegal immigrants handing out pamphlets showing "Girls For You in Under 20 mins!" I saw Batman walking the streets next to a man with a snake wrapped around his head. As most of you know I'm severely afraid of snakes, but I love batman so I was really torn on what to do. Then I realized that the Batman was fake and the snake was real so I ran away. There is so much going on in one area it makes your head spin. Everyone is trying to sell you something, most of the time illegally. On the other hand there is a lot of awesome stuff going on here. My first weekend here I was able to see Rob Scuderi and the LA Kings play against Brandon Yip and the Colorado Avalanche at the MGM Grand Arena. That was cool as I got to see some buddies play in the game and and my sister and the kids came out too. I've seen some friends who were visiting and some other friends are in the area as well. I know more people are going to be showing up as well. I took in a show here the other night called American Superstars where people impersonate celebs. It was pretty cool as I saw Elvis, Carrie Underwood Lady Gaga and Michael Jackson. They were all pretty good performances too. I got to meet "Carrie Underwood" and "Lady Gaga" too. Maybe I can meet the real ones some day too. A lot of stuff going on here and I'm excited to take it all in. But let's not forget the reason I am here. Playing for the Las Vegas Wranglers.

We have a pretty good setup here. Nice apartments about 10 mins off of the strip. Great group of guys here too. You know why it's a good group of guys. Cause almost all of the guys here played in college. Lots of hockey east representation for the Wranglers too. Gotta love it. The arena is located in the Orleans Hotel and Casino which is about 5 mins off the strip. Practices have been going well and training camp is wrapping up with our first game this saturday. Unfortunately I can't play in it cause of my ankle, but I am making some real good strides in my recovery. The ankle is feeling good and I've been on the ice the past few days, so I'm shooting to be back for the home opener in two weeks. It's too bad I will be home alone in Vegas on a Saturday night, on my birthday. (Hint Hint). Ohh well, I'm excited for the season to start and to get back on the ice. Here is a quick mobile upload of what my ankle looked like a day after I sprained it...And it got much worse looking than this.




In unrelated news, everyone knows I'm a big music fan so here are my latest jams I've been listening to.

Great song, great cover.



You may have heard this in "The Town" during the ending credits:



This last song is making it's way around the internet. It's pretty funny.



And I downloaded some 50cent as well. Just to stay gangsta ya heard. In case you didn't hear me the first time my birthday is Saturday. I can give everyone my address for care packages and presents. Thanks. Also, I've used my signoff line here "take care comb your hair" a few times here. My coach here said it to the team the other day. Is Ryan Mougenal head coach of the Las Vegas Wranglers reading my blog?? I'll have to get to the bottom of this. When I blog next I will be 26 years old. Wow, where did the time go. I'm old. Not like for the earth, but for this club. Peace in the hair grease!