Is there anyone that agrees with me that shin guards aren't neccessary in a friendly pick up game? It seems the guys wearing the shinguards are the ones going in hard on tackles and playing a more agreesive style game.

I personally don't see a need for them unless you are trying to hide a britney spears tatoo.

w

Hey Walter,

Originally I agreed with you, however you know, we could *not* play aggressive and still use shinguards. Even when it's just our friends, accidents happen and people step on each others shins.

Shinguards aren't needed when people use running shoes. Now that most of us are using cleats, a foot in the wrong place means some serious bruising.

I'm thinking of buying shinguards. Not big heavy ones, just some light padding or something. I won't play more aggressively (I hope), but at least I'll have fewer bruises when I stick my foot out to get the ball a little faster than someone else, and they accidentally (no fault of their own) step on my ankle/shin with their cleats.

The thing we should make clear that is not welcome is *real* tackling. That one night where a new guy did yes, a legal tackle, he tied my lower leg up so tightly that if I had fallen a different direction, my leg would have been broken in half. That's what we want to not have happen.

Whatdoyou think?