Collingwood boasts two international rookies this year with Shae McNamara and Paul Cribbin playing footy for the Magpies in season 2011. McNamara, who hails from the US and Cribbin from Ireland, will be keeping supporters up-to-date on their experiences playing for the Magpies. This is McNamara's second entry on how the players entertain each other over the season.
Read his first blog entry: "What a difference a year makes".
For those of you who follow me on twitter (@bigdyman) and on Facebook, you know that I get pranked and messed with a lot by my teammates.
Coming from America or "the yank" as they like to call me, I am seen as the oddball in the group. They know from my athletic background that I am not new to the locker room scene (I have my fair share of stories from Germany and in college at Marist that would make you crack up!)
For as long as I have been an athlete, I always seemed to be getting pranked or pranking my teammates.
In this blog I will share some funny and messed up stories from my Collingwood brothers that may have crossed the line at times but all of which were meant for fun.
It was Valentine’s Day earlier this year when for the third day in a row, one of my little rascal teammates moved my shorts from my locker and placed them elsewhere in the room.
I thought it was funny the first two times but the third was a little different. This time they had my wallet and keys!
The fact that it was Valentine’s Day only made matters worse and I was the last to leave the club due to extra training I did.
I had everyone at the club search for me and found nothing. I even sent a mass text sent out, because an hour and a half I felt was long enough.
Eventually I had to take a taxi home and it ruined my plans for my lady for the night. The next day, some sneaky cat placed them back with no apology.
You might be thinking, why did up you not lock the door? Well, it was because they had taken my locker keys a few days earlier! And no, I still don't have the key to my locker.
On a lighter note, I will share a few other funny ones without mentioning any names...
When I first came to the club, they didn't have my number 50 locker made yet, so I used number 23. The boys always gave me crap for using it, and as a joke they would move my gear from the number 50 to number 23 locker and back on a regular basis.
It was always a good laugh for them, as I stirred up whoever was laughing first and made them my target for the rest of the day. It was an endless cycle!
Lastly, I will never forget the time that I put my mouth guard in after a few weeks off and immediately started freaking out. I found thwhaat someone put hot sauce in both my mouth guards. My tongue was on fire for the rest of the day!
I had to wash the mouthguards out with hot water and soap and soak them in Powerade to get a good flavour on it. It took a few weeks of repeated washing and soaking in Powerade to get them right, but the memory lasts forever.
I have made myself out as the victim here but that isn't the situation at all. I love my teammates and wouldn't have it any other way. I am no angel at all times either, although I am getting over the childish games now as I get older.
I know that being in this culture that if your peers are messing with you in a "fun" way, then you are accepted as their own.
To me, no matter what happens in my career, I will look back at these funny times and always cherish them with pride.
Oh and one more thing, somehow whenever I walk past the hot tub and ice baths, I seem to always get soaked! Hmm...I must be doing something right! ;)