Kapp, You’re Soft

For people who do not know me, or have just met me, they usually get a false sense of who I really am. Most people will see a built, strong 6’4 man who looks like he could hurt anyone. A common question I get is “wow you must kill kids in hockey”. I usually play the role and respond “you know, here and there.” Once people get to know me, they realize I am not the tough man everyone thinks I am. You see, I have this problem. I am too nice, most noticeably in sports. This sin started when I was little. All my friends at the time were a lot shorter than I was, this caused me to play hockey like a small person, not the giant I was. This caused me to become as some would say “soft”. As the years kept flying by, I got taller, but still had this sin. My sin is the worst in hockey. The niceness sin took a bad turn during my fall travel team season in 2016. During an injury timeout in a game against the New Jersey Ironmen, we each went back to our benches to await for the assessment of the  injured player. My coach yelled “Where’s Kappelmann?” Turns out I was standing at center ice having a nice chat with some kids on the other team. I still talk to these guys to this day. My team’s reactions varied from “you might as well play for them” to “your supposed to hurt them not talk to them” and the greatest “we’re playing hockey, get numbers after the game.” I did not see anything wrong with this sin, what’s wrong with being nice and making new friends? In the games that followed I was always talking to the other team. Not ever trash talking, just getting to know them and hanging out. This sin carried on into the Hebron Men’s Varsity B Hockey season. Especially in the Kents Hill game. I played travel with many of the kids so we planned out before the game fun things to do in the game. This consisted of playing pass in warm ups, trying to find a time to fight (in fun of course) and constantly slashing each other. Coach Fidlers reaction was “Kapp,  you’re an idiot stop being so nice and hit someone.” This niceness stopped for the last three hockey games of our season. We were losing to Cushing, and some of our players were scared of the big team. I finally said “I’m done being nice, let’s hit someone”. That next shift I became the Ryan everyone thought I was and started hitting. This only lasted three games, I was soon back to my regular self. Ben, Quinn and Mason will constantly tell me “Kapp, you’re the softest kid I know. How can you be so big yet so soft?” When baseball  season started, Fidler was the first to ask “Kapp can you not be so nice this season?” Well, my sin only grew for baseball. While playing first base, I was able to talk to every player that reached base, even made a cool handshake with one kid from Gould. I am always told to just be mean and hurt someone, but that’s just not me. Not only do I enjoy this sin, it helps me play better. When I talk to the other team, it takes away my stress and helps me to stop overthinking and just play. So, is this the worst sin in the world? No. Would it be better if I was meaner? Of course. But, I am not a mean person. This is me, a gentle giant. I am more than happy to wear my letter which is the letter “N” standing for nice with typical things I will ask people during games.