Game 3 took place today under the clouds and quite pleasant temperature of a nice Autumn day in Washington, DC. Team Mocha took the field against a nemesis team from last season, team Green. The Green team was only a nemesis in that they beat us two times including the heartbreaking 4-3 loss in the playoffs, which still haunts me to this day.
Today, with Bill out of town, Peter and I agreed to share the goalkeeping duties. I started the game between the pipes determined to not have a repeat of the episode from game 1 where I bobbled the early ball and gave up a cheap goal. Team Green has a player named Bruce who seems to always be looking for trouble. He is similar in temperament to Eric, the prick bastard from the gray team of last season, but not quite as bad. Eric is dangerous to others, where Bruce is mostly just dangerous to himself.
Team Mocha started the match with 12 players available and only one substitute. Team Green had 4 substitutes and lots of good ones at that. I have noticed that in these situations in the past, our team has responded with very good play. It is like we know we can't play too much long ball, so we concentrate on passing the ball. Since soccer is a game of possession and passing, this is usually a good thing.
The first half seemed to be fairly even. Despite having a number of good strikers, team Green failed to get any quality shots due to great defensive play from Brian Siever, Brian Sklar, Ken, Gail, Greg and Brian Trackman. This keeper was truly blessed to have such an amazing effort in front of him. We took a number of long-range shots that didn't really threaten their keeper, but it did give us a chance to rest while they chased the ball down into the trees behind the goal. Halftime score: 0-0.
The second half was absolutely nuts. Less than 10 minutes into the half, team Green took the lead on a ball that skidded weirdly under my foot through the midfield and then found one of their strikers. He beat the defense and put in a nice low shot to the near post.
Down a goal, Mocha put the offensive pedal to the metal. We started sending more folks forward and were threatening their goal. After many missed opportunities (many by yours truly), Mocha evened the match with 15 minutes to play on a goal by Brian Sklar that deflected a little off the defender's foot and found the inside of the left post.
The action went back and forth until one of our players was red-carded with about 10 minutes to play on what the ref deemed to be a retaliatory kick to a green player. Like most of these situations, the ref neglected to call the shirt pulling the preceded the incident. Now we were a player down and holding on for dear life. With about 2 minutes to go, team Green took the lead again on a ball that seem to hang around our goal and finally find a Green striker's boot.
With little to lose, Mocha attacked with all that we had. We won a corner kick and I had an excellent chance to tie the match after heading a perfectly placed kick from Ken on goal. Unfortunately, the opposing players blocked it and my rebound kick was deflected out of bounds for another corner. Seconds later and with seconds to play, Brian Siever tied the match on a brilliant screaming shot from the top of the box to the lower left part of the goal, just inside the post. Final Score: Mocha 2 - Green 2.
I cannot remember the last time we victimized a team like that. It always seams like we are the team that has such bad luck, but today our fortunes were different. A great match by everyone to come up with a well-deserved point.
I don't normally do this, but today's match will be an exception. I feel the need to specifically note part of the great contribution everyone played in this match.
Marie had some great feeds to the wings and some good shots on goal. Lisa played the right half with poise and made a lot of good stops and feeds. Neil had some good shots, a ton of excellent feeds and should have had more than one assist. In addition to his stellar defensive stops, Brian Trackman had a great assist on the final goal and came close to scoring himself. Greg played his normal all-around excellent game and did a great job not letting Bruce get under his skin. Angel played tough on the right side and disrupted a number of plays. Peter played a great first half in the midfield and distributed well. He was peppered with tons of shots in the second half and kept us in the game with many nice saves. Ken played a stalwart game of defense and had some great corner kicks that should have been converted to goals. Gail was solid as ever (and as usual) and thwarted many attacks on defense. Brian Siever saved our hides on defense and then saved our hides on offense and played a really top-notch game. Our captain, Brian Sklar not only got us on the scoreboard, but played a whale of a game at stopper. He wasn't feeling so well after the game, so everyone wish him good health!
What a good way to start the week!
Monday, September 26, 2005
Fall Soccer Game 2
You may recall from the last post our team is not yet given a name since we did not have jerseys prior to the first game. We were told we would have jerseys prior to the start of game 2, but game time rolled around and there were none to be found. A mystery indeed.
The mighty men and women of TOIC A took the field with our light jerseys again, determined to reverse the curse of last week. I will call our opponent TOIC C for now just to keep consistent. This week, the field we played on also had the unique pleasure of not having soccer lines on it aside from the touchlines. No goal box, no penalty box and lots of weird dotted lines.
Peter and Bill were going to share goal duties today and were determined to make everyone proud. Peter started the match in goal and played a very good half. The match started slowly for both teams. There was a lot of change of possession in the midfield and few good scoring opportunities for the first 10 minutes or so. TOIC A took the lead on a goal from Bill that was similar to his goal in game 1. So far it looks like Bill is going to have an excellent year offensively and in goal!
There was a play that happened in the first half that seemed quite innocuous at the time, but it foretold of disastrous consequences later so I will tell you now rather than create an even more hideous run-on sentence. One of the TOIC C strikers called for the ball and was a good 2 yards behind our last defender. The ball was played to him in his clearly offside position and I asked the ref to call it. He did not. Luckily, Brian Siever tracked the ball down and did not let the bad call cost us a goal. The ref insisted the player was even with me (the player told me after the game, he knew he was WAY offside) and the ref was quite belligerent. I thought at the time that at least our defense won't have to deal with this ref in the second half. Score at the half: TOIC A 1 - TOIC C 0.
At halftime, we received our jerseys for this season. I kind of poo brown. I don't know who we pissed off in the league office, but man, these jerseys are reminiscent of the Brown Sound episode of South Park. Many ideas were immediately floated for our team name, most of them scatalogical. The only clean one was "mocha". So here is what I will do: When things go well, I will refer to us as Mocha and when things go poorly, we will be Skidz.
The second half featured a lot of weirdness. Having a one goal lead is nice, but it is also precarious. It helps to pick up another goal to give a good cushion for the inevitable strange goal of the day that always seems to happen to us. The action was very tight, but we started to get some chances. Team Mocha extended its lead to 2-0 about 20 minutes into the second half on a controversial goal by Jon Rose. We had played a corner kick into the area. It was semi-cleared by Team Yellow (formerly TOIC C) to one of our players who played it to Jon who was still right by the goal in what looked like offside position. The referee (same one from the first half) did not call offside and when the Yellow players argued with him and tried to explain the rule (which he demonstrated earlier, he does not understand) he gave a red card to their captain (and best defender) and a yellow card to another one of their players.
From there the floodgates opened. Neil scored a few minutes later by practically walking the ball in. Jon Rose added another nice outside shot from the top of the penalty area to the inside of the post. Greg capped Mocha's scoring with about 8 minutes to play. Team Yellow kept fighting hard and got on the board with less than five minutes to play on a header that seemed to have its own eyes for the net. Final score: Mocha 5 - Yellow 1.
A very nice effort from our team. The red card and goal #2 really changed what was a close and fairly even game to a lopsided affair. I can't think of anyone who played poorly on our team today. A great effort all around!
The mighty men and women of TOIC A took the field with our light jerseys again, determined to reverse the curse of last week. I will call our opponent TOIC C for now just to keep consistent. This week, the field we played on also had the unique pleasure of not having soccer lines on it aside from the touchlines. No goal box, no penalty box and lots of weird dotted lines.
Peter and Bill were going to share goal duties today and were determined to make everyone proud. Peter started the match in goal and played a very good half. The match started slowly for both teams. There was a lot of change of possession in the midfield and few good scoring opportunities for the first 10 minutes or so. TOIC A took the lead on a goal from Bill that was similar to his goal in game 1. So far it looks like Bill is going to have an excellent year offensively and in goal!
There was a play that happened in the first half that seemed quite innocuous at the time, but it foretold of disastrous consequences later so I will tell you now rather than create an even more hideous run-on sentence. One of the TOIC C strikers called for the ball and was a good 2 yards behind our last defender. The ball was played to him in his clearly offside position and I asked the ref to call it. He did not. Luckily, Brian Siever tracked the ball down and did not let the bad call cost us a goal. The ref insisted the player was even with me (the player told me after the game, he knew he was WAY offside) and the ref was quite belligerent. I thought at the time that at least our defense won't have to deal with this ref in the second half. Score at the half: TOIC A 1 - TOIC C 0.
At halftime, we received our jerseys for this season. I kind of poo brown. I don't know who we pissed off in the league office, but man, these jerseys are reminiscent of the Brown Sound episode of South Park. Many ideas were immediately floated for our team name, most of them scatalogical. The only clean one was "mocha". So here is what I will do: When things go well, I will refer to us as Mocha and when things go poorly, we will be Skidz.
The second half featured a lot of weirdness. Having a one goal lead is nice, but it is also precarious. It helps to pick up another goal to give a good cushion for the inevitable strange goal of the day that always seems to happen to us. The action was very tight, but we started to get some chances. Team Mocha extended its lead to 2-0 about 20 minutes into the second half on a controversial goal by Jon Rose. We had played a corner kick into the area. It was semi-cleared by Team Yellow (formerly TOIC C) to one of our players who played it to Jon who was still right by the goal in what looked like offside position. The referee (same one from the first half) did not call offside and when the Yellow players argued with him and tried to explain the rule (which he demonstrated earlier, he does not understand) he gave a red card to their captain (and best defender) and a yellow card to another one of their players.
From there the floodgates opened. Neil scored a few minutes later by practically walking the ball in. Jon Rose added another nice outside shot from the top of the penalty area to the inside of the post. Greg capped Mocha's scoring with about 8 minutes to play. Team Yellow kept fighting hard and got on the board with less than five minutes to play on a header that seemed to have its own eyes for the net. Final score: Mocha 5 - Yellow 1.
A very nice effort from our team. The red card and goal #2 really changed what was a close and fairly even game to a lopsided affair. I can't think of anyone who played poorly on our team today. A great effort all around!
Fall Soccer Game 1
F-ing website lost my first write up of this game. So I will attempt to recreate the literary masterpiece that it was.
I have been quite delinquent in writing up the games for my soccer team this season but I think I will be able to do a better job going forward. Demands on my time (work, job hunting, naps, and uber naps) have kept me from posting more often. Since countless 1's of people visit this forum every few months and since it is a place for current events knowledge in and around my house, I will endeavor to improve my performance.
This season our team will be experimenting with a goal keeper by committee approach. Bill, Peter and me will share the duties equally. Basically, two of the three keepers will split each game. You can kind of think of it like a soccer version of Rochambeau. You may ask yourself, "How do I work this?" Ooops. That was the Talking Heads. You may ask yourself, "What does this have to do with the outcome of game one?" Absolutely nothing! Since this is my blog, I get to be self centered about this and explain how the whole thing affects me!
Onto the game one highlights:
This season, our team of indeterminate color (TOIC A) played another team of indeterminate color (TOIC B). At this point, you may ask yourself, why the indeterminate colors? Well, the league in its infinite wisdom and with much prior knowledge of the exact start date of the season, did not order jerseys for the league on time. So we showed up with light and dark shirts and chose to play light based on the shirts the other team brought.
Historically, TOIC B has given our team great problem when we play. I cannot remember ever beating them. They have a lot of younger and very skilled players that dribble well, pass well, and defend well. They also seem to be pretty fast. Not a good combination for a team like ours.
As mentioned above, I started the game in goal and with the best of intentions. Unfortunately, an offseason of no practice and definitely no thought of playing keeper, does not leave on with the sharpest skills. About 2 minutes into the game, the first ball I handled I bobbled and it fell right onto the feet of a TOIC B striker who touched the ball right into the net for an early lead. Luckily, that would be my game one blunder of the day.
TOIC A evened the match a few minutes later when Bill volleyed a cross from the left side right into the left side of the net. The rest of the half featured good chances from both teams. I was forced to make a couple of saves and to charge out of the box to break up some attacks. One ball did get past me, but Jeff scrambled back to make and excellent save and kick the ball off the goal line. Halftime score: 1-1.
The second half was owned by TOIC B. The got back to their ball control ways and kept peppering our goal with shots. Bill made a ton of great saves but was beaten by two excellent shots from TOIC B strikers. The first was a good shot ripped to the near post from inside the penalty area about 20 minutes into the second half. The TOIC B striker had received the ball outside of the penalty area and beaten me to the outside. He then made a bee-line for the goal and hit a pretty shot just past Bill's outstretched hand.
The second goal was a looping shot to the upper left hand corner that looked pretty unstoppable to me. Our team kept fighting and tried very hard, but it was just not meant to be on this day. Final score: TOIC B 3 - TOIC A 1.
I was impressed by our overall effort and thought everybody did a good job trying to get back into game shape and get back into the mental aspect of playing. I feel good about this season, which will likely be my last for a while. But more on that in later posts....
I have been quite delinquent in writing up the games for my soccer team this season but I think I will be able to do a better job going forward. Demands on my time (work, job hunting, naps, and uber naps) have kept me from posting more often. Since countless 1's of people visit this forum every few months and since it is a place for current events knowledge in and around my house, I will endeavor to improve my performance.
This season our team will be experimenting with a goal keeper by committee approach. Bill, Peter and me will share the duties equally. Basically, two of the three keepers will split each game. You can kind of think of it like a soccer version of Rochambeau. You may ask yourself, "How do I work this?" Ooops. That was the Talking Heads. You may ask yourself, "What does this have to do with the outcome of game one?" Absolutely nothing! Since this is my blog, I get to be self centered about this and explain how the whole thing affects me!
Onto the game one highlights:
This season, our team of indeterminate color (TOIC A) played another team of indeterminate color (TOIC B). At this point, you may ask yourself, why the indeterminate colors? Well, the league in its infinite wisdom and with much prior knowledge of the exact start date of the season, did not order jerseys for the league on time. So we showed up with light and dark shirts and chose to play light based on the shirts the other team brought.
Historically, TOIC B has given our team great problem when we play. I cannot remember ever beating them. They have a lot of younger and very skilled players that dribble well, pass well, and defend well. They also seem to be pretty fast. Not a good combination for a team like ours.
As mentioned above, I started the game in goal and with the best of intentions. Unfortunately, an offseason of no practice and definitely no thought of playing keeper, does not leave on with the sharpest skills. About 2 minutes into the game, the first ball I handled I bobbled and it fell right onto the feet of a TOIC B striker who touched the ball right into the net for an early lead. Luckily, that would be my game one blunder of the day.
TOIC A evened the match a few minutes later when Bill volleyed a cross from the left side right into the left side of the net. The rest of the half featured good chances from both teams. I was forced to make a couple of saves and to charge out of the box to break up some attacks. One ball did get past me, but Jeff scrambled back to make and excellent save and kick the ball off the goal line. Halftime score: 1-1.
The second half was owned by TOIC B. The got back to their ball control ways and kept peppering our goal with shots. Bill made a ton of great saves but was beaten by two excellent shots from TOIC B strikers. The first was a good shot ripped to the near post from inside the penalty area about 20 minutes into the second half. The TOIC B striker had received the ball outside of the penalty area and beaten me to the outside. He then made a bee-line for the goal and hit a pretty shot just past Bill's outstretched hand.
The second goal was a looping shot to the upper left hand corner that looked pretty unstoppable to me. Our team kept fighting and tried very hard, but it was just not meant to be on this day. Final score: TOIC B 3 - TOIC A 1.
I was impressed by our overall effort and thought everybody did a good job trying to get back into game shape and get back into the mental aspect of playing. I feel good about this season, which will likely be my last for a while. But more on that in later posts....
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Team Work
Team work is a concept that lots of folks talk about and few actually believe. At my current employer, I find that teamwork is not rewarded. Individuals are rewarded for achievements even though their achievements are often due to contributions from many other people. I happen to get a bonus when the company does well financially, but the people who I depend on to finish projects, make new products, and help out from time to time do not get such bonuses. So when it comes down to it, they have no incentive to help me finish projects that increase revenue because it is not going to affect their bottom line. Since the company eliminated end of the year bonuses a few years ago, there is not even a sliver of an incentive in place other than vague threats to replace people.
Another nice concept at play is what I refer to as "when the going gets tough, get mean as hell" management. I am driven to do my job in the same manner whether times are good or whether times are bad. When times are good, management leaves me alone and asks few questions about what is going on. When times get bad, all of a sudden I have to answer picayune questions regarding every decision that I make. Not only is this demoralizing, but it is a waste of time. Time that could be spent doing my job, is instead spent answering worthless questions. The same level of work that was outstanding a few weeks ago, is now "unacceptable".
Needless to say, this leaves very little incentive to do more than look for a new job. Please keep a good thought out for me as I try to extricate myself from this employment hell-hole.
Another nice concept at play is what I refer to as "when the going gets tough, get mean as hell" management. I am driven to do my job in the same manner whether times are good or whether times are bad. When times are good, management leaves me alone and asks few questions about what is going on. When times get bad, all of a sudden I have to answer picayune questions regarding every decision that I make. Not only is this demoralizing, but it is a waste of time. Time that could be spent doing my job, is instead spent answering worthless questions. The same level of work that was outstanding a few weeks ago, is now "unacceptable".
Needless to say, this leaves very little incentive to do more than look for a new job. Please keep a good thought out for me as I try to extricate myself from this employment hell-hole.
Goal Keeping Experiment Ends
It looks like yours truly has hung up his goalkeeping gear for good after only one season. Not a totally unsucessful effort, but not stellar by any means. The team deserves someone in there who can do a better job keeping the ball out of the net and I guess I proved that person is not me. It will be back to the field for what looks to be my last season of organized soccer.
I guess I can find other athletic pursuits that do not require the time commitment of playing on a team and give a good sense of accomplishment. I will miss the game, but there are very important things to take care of on the horizon and I am looking forward to those things!
I guess I can find other athletic pursuits that do not require the time commitment of playing on a team and give a good sense of accomplishment. I will miss the game, but there are very important things to take care of on the horizon and I am looking forward to those things!
Monday, August 29, 2005
Driving in Virginia
My apologies for being away for so long, I will try to be more regular with these communications.
I have lived in the DC area for 8 years now and drving in Virginia never ceases to amaze me. What an unbelievable system of signs they have there. If you do not have first hand knowledge of your route, you may as well count on getting lost because there will not be sign to help you navigate how to get around.
After finally seeing the latest Star Wars movie, Revenge of the Sith on Saturday night at the Arlington Drafthouse, I thought it would be a simple matter of reversing my directions from the theater to get home. Basically, I had taken the beltway, to the GW Parkway, to Route 50 west to the Arlington Drafthouse. So when I hop on 50 and head east toward DC and see a sign for the GW parkway, I naturally turn onto it. The only problem was it was a southbound only entrance.
WTF is wrong with that state? How hard is it to add "Southbound Only" to the huge sign that directs folks to the GW Parkway from Route 50? For all I know there is a northbound entrance later down the road, but there aren't any f-ing signs that would give you a clue about that.
Needless to say, this continues to leave me with the impression that Virginia is a state less interested in actually planning wise responses and more interested in randomly reacting to them.
I have lived in the DC area for 8 years now and drving in Virginia never ceases to amaze me. What an unbelievable system of signs they have there. If you do not have first hand knowledge of your route, you may as well count on getting lost because there will not be sign to help you navigate how to get around.
After finally seeing the latest Star Wars movie, Revenge of the Sith on Saturday night at the Arlington Drafthouse, I thought it would be a simple matter of reversing my directions from the theater to get home. Basically, I had taken the beltway, to the GW Parkway, to Route 50 west to the Arlington Drafthouse. So when I hop on 50 and head east toward DC and see a sign for the GW parkway, I naturally turn onto it. The only problem was it was a southbound only entrance.
WTF is wrong with that state? How hard is it to add "Southbound Only" to the huge sign that directs folks to the GW Parkway from Route 50? For all I know there is a northbound entrance later down the road, but there aren't any f-ing signs that would give you a clue about that.
Needless to say, this continues to leave me with the impression that Virginia is a state less interested in actually planning wise responses and more interested in randomly reacting to them.
Monday, August 01, 2005
Chelsea Out-Arrogants ManU
Good for Chelsea.
In one year they have managed to become more arrogant than Manchester United. As an Arsenal fan, I could really care less if ManU fell off the face of the earth. At least ManU established a dynasty of titles and solid play in Europe that their fans could be boastful of. One season in which Chelsea wins the league title and doesn't win the FA or Champions League and their general manager is talking about "dominating" European Football.
I imagine I will not be the only one to say "that's a shame" when they get their asses handed to them this year.
In one year they have managed to become more arrogant than Manchester United. As an Arsenal fan, I could really care less if ManU fell off the face of the earth. At least ManU established a dynasty of titles and solid play in Europe that their fans could be boastful of. One season in which Chelsea wins the league title and doesn't win the FA or Champions League and their general manager is talking about "dominating" European Football.
I imagine I will not be the only one to say "that's a shame" when they get their asses handed to them this year.
Monday, July 18, 2005
Green Holds on for Win Over Blue
I am sorry this post is not very timely. I have been unusually busy and have not had time to be quick in my analysis of our last game of the season. Plus the result was fairly painful and I was not really in the mood to relive it.
Recap
Green got on the board early with two goals in the first 10 minutes of the game. Goal number one was a breakaway on a counterattack following a corner kick from our team. Their striker came down the right side of the field and beat me fair and square to the far post. He had me dead to rights and there was little to do to stop his shot. Their second goal resulted from a throw in the was allowed to linger in our penalty area too long. Eventually it landed at the feet of their other good striker and he put it away.
Blue fought hard and evened the match before halftime. One goal was a nice header following a cross from the left side of the field and the other was somewhat similar to the Green team's second goal. It landed at a Blue player's foot and he calmly put it away. Halftime Score: 2-2.
The second half was eerily similar to the first half. Green scored early on another counter attack down the left side. The same striker beat me to the same side of the goal. You would think I could learn from the first goal! Blue fought back and tied the game at 3 apiece with about 15 minutes to play on a ball that ping-ponged around the Blue net before finally getting put away.
As time wound down, I was convinced we were looking at overtime, but alas it was not meant to be. With about 2 minutes to play Green crossed the ball from their right side and one of their players put it toward the net. Following a miscommunication between me and another Blue player, the ball bounced around and finally landed right at the feet of the Green striker who scored goal #2. He put away the winner and that was that. Final Score: 4-3 loss.
I have to give the Green team a lot of credit. It was a hot day, they had fewer subs than we did and they played just well enough to beat us. I am very proud of our team for not backing down, for coming back from behind twice, and for scoring three goals. I am equally proud that our defense did well to limit two very talented strikers from having more opportunities than they did.
This season has been tough. We lost more games than I thought we would, but everyone came out and played hard each week. I am excited that everyone seemed to have at least one game where they really excelled, sometimes against opponents who were physically superior to us. At the end of the game, I like to ask myself the following:
Did you play as hard as you can and play your position well?
If you feel you can answer "yes" to that question then you have much to be proud of when all is said and done. Isn't that why we play? Don't we like to see if we can push our boundaries a little and do something we shouldn't be able to do?
I hope everyone come back for the Fall season ready to build on some of the improvements we made this season. I hope everyone wants to bring a positive and productive attitude to team and let's see if we can just go out and have a great time playing the greatest game in the world.
Recap
Green got on the board early with two goals in the first 10 minutes of the game. Goal number one was a breakaway on a counterattack following a corner kick from our team. Their striker came down the right side of the field and beat me fair and square to the far post. He had me dead to rights and there was little to do to stop his shot. Their second goal resulted from a throw in the was allowed to linger in our penalty area too long. Eventually it landed at the feet of their other good striker and he put it away.
Blue fought hard and evened the match before halftime. One goal was a nice header following a cross from the left side of the field and the other was somewhat similar to the Green team's second goal. It landed at a Blue player's foot and he calmly put it away. Halftime Score: 2-2.
The second half was eerily similar to the first half. Green scored early on another counter attack down the left side. The same striker beat me to the same side of the goal. You would think I could learn from the first goal! Blue fought back and tied the game at 3 apiece with about 15 minutes to play on a ball that ping-ponged around the Blue net before finally getting put away.
As time wound down, I was convinced we were looking at overtime, but alas it was not meant to be. With about 2 minutes to play Green crossed the ball from their right side and one of their players put it toward the net. Following a miscommunication between me and another Blue player, the ball bounced around and finally landed right at the feet of the Green striker who scored goal #2. He put away the winner and that was that. Final Score: 4-3 loss.
I have to give the Green team a lot of credit. It was a hot day, they had fewer subs than we did and they played just well enough to beat us. I am very proud of our team for not backing down, for coming back from behind twice, and for scoring three goals. I am equally proud that our defense did well to limit two very talented strikers from having more opportunities than they did.
This season has been tough. We lost more games than I thought we would, but everyone came out and played hard each week. I am excited that everyone seemed to have at least one game where they really excelled, sometimes against opponents who were physically superior to us. At the end of the game, I like to ask myself the following:
Did you play as hard as you can and play your position well?
If you feel you can answer "yes" to that question then you have much to be proud of when all is said and done. Isn't that why we play? Don't we like to see if we can push our boundaries a little and do something we shouldn't be able to do?
I hope everyone come back for the Fall season ready to build on some of the improvements we made this season. I hope everyone wants to bring a positive and productive attitude to team and let's see if we can just go out and have a great time playing the greatest game in the world.
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
Playoff Bracket
Here is the bracket for the Spring 2005 DCJCC Playoffs.
It is an interesting way of setting up a 12 team tournament and one I have never seen before. I personally would have thought giving the top four seeds a bye would make sense, but then you have lots of teams not playing that first week.
Our team is the 9th seed Sklar. Go ahead and print out the bracket and make your predictions. Just note that the #1 team finished with 7 wins, 0 losses and 1 tie and the #12 team finished with 8 losses.
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
Playoffs, Playoffs?!
Much to the chagrin of Jim Mora, team blue has made the playoffs despite a record of 2 wins, 4 losses and 2 ties.
In truth, Jim Mora has nothing to be chagrined about as every team in the league made the playoffs. We finished in 9th place out of 12 teams with 8 points in eight games. Despite our record, our goal differential was only -4. We will be taking on the dark green team that beat us 2-0 a few weeks ago. I personally thought we could have won the game, so I am hoping they will come in over-confident.
Still to come this week: A downloadable bracket so you can follow all the action and start a pool with your friends and coworkers!
In truth, Jim Mora has nothing to be chagrined about as every team in the league made the playoffs. We finished in 9th place out of 12 teams with 8 points in eight games. Despite our record, our goal differential was only -4. We will be taking on the dark green team that beat us 2-0 a few weeks ago. I personally thought we could have won the game, so I am hoping they will come in over-confident.
Still to come this week: A downloadable bracket so you can follow all the action and start a pool with your friends and coworkers!
Monday, June 20, 2005
Blue ties Red, 1-1
A good effort that was not indicative of the final score.
Seems to be a recurring theme for us. Eventually you figure that we will have to catch a break and have something go our way, but I guess it was not meant to be. Perhaps all of our fortunes will change in the playoffs (stranger things have happened).
As I mentioned at halftime, I had a dream the night before that we were trailing in the game by one goal at the half (2-1 in dreamland, but 1-0 in reality). In the second half of my dream game we scored 4 times to blow the game wide open. I guess the big lesson learned is that my dreams are not indicative of jacksh....
Recap:
The first 10 minutes of the game was fairly even for both teams. Blue took control and had the vast majority of chances in the first half, but failed to find the back of the net. Red scored on a counterattack breakaway that I should have charged sooner. Blue continued to own the left side of the field and created numerous opportunities with lots of shots on goal. Halftime score: 1-0.
The second half was very similar to the first except that we took control right away. We finally evened the match about 20 minutes into the half on a pretty shot from the new Mike from just outside the box. Despite many chances, we did not break their defenses again in the game and the score remained 1-1 at the end of the match.
Looking back on the game, there were many solid performances: lots of good passing combos and feeds to the forwards, tough defense, and fairly good positioning. I only remember making about 5 saves and it seemed like their keeper must have had to make about 15-20. While I feel like a broken record in thanking everyone for good effort despite the result, I don't want to downplay the very positive attitude that everyone has shown this season. I have been very proud to play with all of you. Hopefully, we will have some playoff soccer to look forward to and make up for some unlucky bounces here and there.
Seems to be a recurring theme for us. Eventually you figure that we will have to catch a break and have something go our way, but I guess it was not meant to be. Perhaps all of our fortunes will change in the playoffs (stranger things have happened).
As I mentioned at halftime, I had a dream the night before that we were trailing in the game by one goal at the half (2-1 in dreamland, but 1-0 in reality). In the second half of my dream game we scored 4 times to blow the game wide open. I guess the big lesson learned is that my dreams are not indicative of jacksh....
Recap:
The first 10 minutes of the game was fairly even for both teams. Blue took control and had the vast majority of chances in the first half, but failed to find the back of the net. Red scored on a counterattack breakaway that I should have charged sooner. Blue continued to own the left side of the field and created numerous opportunities with lots of shots on goal. Halftime score: 1-0.
The second half was very similar to the first except that we took control right away. We finally evened the match about 20 minutes into the half on a pretty shot from the new Mike from just outside the box. Despite many chances, we did not break their defenses again in the game and the score remained 1-1 at the end of the match.
Looking back on the game, there were many solid performances: lots of good passing combos and feeds to the forwards, tough defense, and fairly good positioning. I only remember making about 5 saves and it seemed like their keeper must have had to make about 15-20. While I feel like a broken record in thanking everyone for good effort despite the result, I don't want to downplay the very positive attitude that everyone has shown this season. I have been very proud to play with all of you. Hopefully, we will have some playoff soccer to look forward to and make up for some unlucky bounces here and there.
UF Baseball Advances in CWS
UF's baseball team defeated Nebraska 7-4 Sunday night in the College World series in Omaha. The gators now need only one victory to advance to the championship series where they would face the winner of the other semifinal pod.
Here is a schedule of games to give you a better idea of how the tournament works. Basically the final 8 teams are broken into two groups of four. Each group of four plays a double elimination tournament. Once a victor is determined from each group of four. Those two teams play a best of 3 series to determine the national champion. UF has never advanced to an NCAA baseball title game.
Here is a schedule of games to give you a better idea of how the tournament works. Basically the final 8 teams are broken into two groups of four. Each group of four plays a double elimination tournament. Once a victor is determined from each group of four. Those two teams play a best of 3 series to determine the national champion. UF has never advanced to an NCAA baseball title game.
Friday, June 17, 2005
Update on Dry Cleaning Thieves
F--- Dry Clean Direct. There is a low price Dry Cleaner near Grosvenor Metro station. They can take my money for crappy service from this point forward.
Dry Cleaners
Is it just me or do Dry Cleaners take too much advantage of the "Not Responsible for Items Left in Clothing" policy they all seem to share? I wonder if this policy is actually a fringe benefit for the lower wage employees of the store.
Dry Cleaner: You should come and work for us, the payand working conditions suck, but you can keep anything you find in the garments you handle.
Scrub: Sweet!
Yesterday, I took some items into my normal Dry Cleaner, the DryClean Direct in Silver Spring. They do a fair to below average job with the items I bring in, although I have noticed that if there is a stain on any garment, it will remain there unless I explicitly point it out. I had put the headphones from my iPod in my suit jacket pocket the day before and had meant to take them out prior to dropping the clothes off at the store. I, of course, forgot and realized this mistake less than 30 minutes after I had originally gone into the store. I went back and while they found my asthma inhaler (which has no value to most people in the world), they did not "find" the premium headphones in my jacket.
In the grand scheme of things losing a $35 item is not that big of a deal. It is just irritating that I believe they found it and just don't give enough of a crap to have their employees do the right thing and save items for their paying customers. If I thought that any other dry cleaner was different I would switch, but experience has taught me otherwise. My previous dry cleaner couldn't find a new sweater I brought in for my wife and suggested that perhaps I lost it. So, since the current one is cheap and convenient to where I work, I will stay with them until a better priced competitor opens or a more conveniently located one appears.
Dry Cleaner: You should come and work for us, the payand working conditions suck, but you can keep anything you find in the garments you handle.
Scrub: Sweet!
Yesterday, I took some items into my normal Dry Cleaner, the DryClean Direct in Silver Spring. They do a fair to below average job with the items I bring in, although I have noticed that if there is a stain on any garment, it will remain there unless I explicitly point it out. I had put the headphones from my iPod in my suit jacket pocket the day before and had meant to take them out prior to dropping the clothes off at the store. I, of course, forgot and realized this mistake less than 30 minutes after I had originally gone into the store. I went back and while they found my asthma inhaler (which has no value to most people in the world), they did not "find" the premium headphones in my jacket.
In the grand scheme of things losing a $35 item is not that big of a deal. It is just irritating that I believe they found it and just don't give enough of a crap to have their employees do the right thing and save items for their paying customers. If I thought that any other dry cleaner was different I would switch, but experience has taught me otherwise. My previous dry cleaner couldn't find a new sweater I brought in for my wife and suggested that perhaps I lost it. So, since the current one is cheap and convenient to where I work, I will stay with them until a better priced competitor opens or a more conveniently located one appears.
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Heat and Air Travel
Heat
Man, it has been hot in Metro DC this past week. It has regularly been over 90 degrees and the humidity has not helped. I was able to contrast the heat here yesterday with that of Toronto, where I had to go for business and it was quite a difference. It felt warmer in DC stepping off the plane after midnight that it felt in Toronto at noon.
Air Travel
I have travelled quite a bit over the past 7 years for the various companies I have worked for and business travel has become fairly unbearable. It used to be merely inconvenient but now it is downright deplorable.
Yesterday I experienced a 45 minute delay leaving DC because the flight attendant didn't show up for work. I agree that this is not the airline's fault that an individual employee screwed them over. I point this out only because 7 of my last 9 flights have experienced a significant delay for one reason or another.
Coming back home, the pilot of the plane was asked to deliver some parts that were needed for planes located at Dulles Airport. We were told it would be 5-10 minutes before the parts arrived. 20 mintues later, the pilot announces that they still say the parts are 5-10 minutes away. We finally push back from the gate after waiting 45 minutes and take off a full hour late. When your plane is departing at 11 PM, this is a big difference.
Once airborne, the pilots typically turn off the Fasten Seatbelt sign after the plane reaches cruising altitude. On the 53 minute flight with no turbulance, our pilot decided to keep the light on for an extra 20 minutes for no apparent reason (remember, this is following a 1 hour delay on the ground). Take into account that planes board 20-30 minutes before scheduled takeoff and it had been approximately 2 hours of time on the plane without an opportunity to move around. The reason I mention all this is because over such a time span, certain biological functions naturally occur and one will likely need to relieve oneself. Also note that if you have taken a previous flight, you may have just come in with a tight connection schedule, and it is likely that when you consider descending, deplaning and moving to the new gate, that it has more likely been close to 3 hours between times with access to a restroom.
Unfortunately, I do not see much hope for better prospects in the future. Even the friendly airlines such as Southwest and JetBlue had significant delays the last time I flew them. At least they are nice about it and try to keep you informed.
Man, it has been hot in Metro DC this past week. It has regularly been over 90 degrees and the humidity has not helped. I was able to contrast the heat here yesterday with that of Toronto, where I had to go for business and it was quite a difference. It felt warmer in DC stepping off the plane after midnight that it felt in Toronto at noon.
Air Travel
I have travelled quite a bit over the past 7 years for the various companies I have worked for and business travel has become fairly unbearable. It used to be merely inconvenient but now it is downright deplorable.
Yesterday I experienced a 45 minute delay leaving DC because the flight attendant didn't show up for work. I agree that this is not the airline's fault that an individual employee screwed them over. I point this out only because 7 of my last 9 flights have experienced a significant delay for one reason or another.
Coming back home, the pilot of the plane was asked to deliver some parts that were needed for planes located at Dulles Airport. We were told it would be 5-10 minutes before the parts arrived. 20 mintues later, the pilot announces that they still say the parts are 5-10 minutes away. We finally push back from the gate after waiting 45 minutes and take off a full hour late. When your plane is departing at 11 PM, this is a big difference.
Once airborne, the pilots typically turn off the Fasten Seatbelt sign after the plane reaches cruising altitude. On the 53 minute flight with no turbulance, our pilot decided to keep the light on for an extra 20 minutes for no apparent reason (remember, this is following a 1 hour delay on the ground). Take into account that planes board 20-30 minutes before scheduled takeoff and it had been approximately 2 hours of time on the plane without an opportunity to move around. The reason I mention all this is because over such a time span, certain biological functions naturally occur and one will likely need to relieve oneself. Also note that if you have taken a previous flight, you may have just come in with a tight connection schedule, and it is likely that when you consider descending, deplaning and moving to the new gate, that it has more likely been close to 3 hours between times with access to a restroom.
Unfortunately, I do not see much hope for better prospects in the future. Even the friendly airlines such as Southwest and JetBlue had significant delays the last time I flew them. At least they are nice about it and try to keep you informed.
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
FSU QB Goes Nuts
Most Gator fans think that you would have to be nuts to go to FSU. Apparently it is not so far from the truth.
Monday, June 13, 2005
Blue defeated by Green 2-0
Despite a solid effort, Blue lost a tough match 2-0 to the Green Team on Sunday in sweltering conditions. Limited to 12 players, team blue adopted a patient passing attack and employed some very solid position play. Two mistakes led to two goals which made for the result indicated above.
The refs asked us before the game about playing 4 quarters instead of two halves. Team Blue was for it, but team Green thought they would lose their advantage since the had more subs than us. Jerks. Incidentally, we had new refs for this game and these guys are unquestionably, the best refs we have had in quite some time. They explained their calls, worked together when one could not see a play and called offsides tightly, but consistently.
About 10 minutes into the game, a green striker broke free on the right side and took a shot for the far post. I dove and got a solid hand on the ball for the save, but unfortunately, another one of their strikers made it to the back door and put away an easy one. We possessed the ball more than they did and had quite a few opportunities to score, but were not lucky enough to put one away. Halftime score, 1-0.
The second half was played pretty similarly to the first half, we possessed the ball much more and had some good opportunities to score. The woodwork denied 2 potential scoring chances for team blue. With about 5 minutes to play, a blue defender was whistled for a hand ball in the box leading to a penalty kick for the greens. I went against my gut feeling on the kick and chose to go left instead of right (the kicker was left footed) and really had no chance to redirect myself to the ball. I think I could have gotten it if I went with my first choice, but the question is moot now. Final score, 2-0.
Everyone who made it to the game should be proud of the effort. It was something we can build on for our last regular season game before the playoffs start. If we play this style of ball next week, I guarantee a Blue victory.
The refs asked us before the game about playing 4 quarters instead of two halves. Team Blue was for it, but team Green thought they would lose their advantage since the had more subs than us. Jerks. Incidentally, we had new refs for this game and these guys are unquestionably, the best refs we have had in quite some time. They explained their calls, worked together when one could not see a play and called offsides tightly, but consistently.
About 10 minutes into the game, a green striker broke free on the right side and took a shot for the far post. I dove and got a solid hand on the ball for the save, but unfortunately, another one of their strikers made it to the back door and put away an easy one. We possessed the ball more than they did and had quite a few opportunities to score, but were not lucky enough to put one away. Halftime score, 1-0.
The second half was played pretty similarly to the first half, we possessed the ball much more and had some good opportunities to score. The woodwork denied 2 potential scoring chances for team blue. With about 5 minutes to play, a blue defender was whistled for a hand ball in the box leading to a penalty kick for the greens. I went against my gut feeling on the kick and chose to go left instead of right (the kicker was left footed) and really had no chance to redirect myself to the ball. I think I could have gotten it if I went with my first choice, but the question is moot now. Final score, 2-0.
Everyone who made it to the game should be proud of the effort. It was something we can build on for our last regular season game before the playoffs start. If we play this style of ball next week, I guarantee a Blue victory.
Sunday, June 12, 2005
UF defeats FSU to earn CWS berth
The Florida Gators baseball team defeated hated rival FSU 8-5 to win the second game of their best of three series with the Seminoles. UF won game 1 on Friday night 8-1 with starter Tommy Boss throwing a complete game. UF now heads to the College World Series in Omaha Nebraska where they will face SEC rival Tennessee.
As of this posting, all 3 SEC teams in Super Regionals were still alive with 2 already advancing to Omaha. Fifth-seeded Ole Miss is facing Texas for a spot on the other side of the bracket.
As of this posting, all 3 SEC teams in Super Regionals were still alive with 2 already advancing to Omaha. Fifth-seeded Ole Miss is facing Texas for a spot on the other side of the bracket.
Friday, June 10, 2005
Liverpool to Defend Champion's League Title
UEFA has decided to allow Liverpool to defend its Champion's League title next season, but to do so, the Reds will have to go through the full round of qualifying. This could lead to a fairly unprecedented 5 teams from the English Premiere League in next year's group stage.
Nats and Metro
Washington Nationals
Thanks to my friend Jim, who obtained some killer tickets, I went to my first Nationals game last night: a somewhat thrilling 4-3 victory over Oakland to give the Nats 7 wins in a row! Nationals games are a pretty good time. The crowd is not as voracious as Redskins or O's crowds are, but since the team is so new, the city seems to be trying to find a comfort level with them. In the ninth, the stadium did get very loud as the Nats were urged to close out the game and the series. I think that by the time they move to their new stadium, the team will have crowds that rival the other bigtime teams in terms of numbers and interest level.
Metro
I rode Metro to the game which these days always seems to be a bit of a crap shoot. The Washington Post has been chronicling the difficulties and mismanagement the system faces over the past week. As we left the game and waited for a train on the track and boarded and Orange line train in the direction of Vienna. The train became filled to full capacity as the many thousands of game patrons left the stadium to head home. After sitting on the tracks for about 5 minutes in sardine-esque conditions, an announcement indicated that our train was out of service and everyone on board would have to get off (about 3-5 minutes to unload).
The platform--already full of people waiting for the next train--became dangerously crowded as everyone unloaded from the now out of service train. Everyone waited patiently on the platform for another 5-10 minutes before the out of service train departed. Note: is it just me or doesn't it seem like if the train can depart from the super-crowded station with no one aboard, it would also be capable of departing with everyone on board and just deposit us at a less-crowded station?
After another 3 or minutes or so a new train arrives and we go through the exercise of loading the train again except with 2-3 times as many people trying to board. The train finally takes off and from there the ride is uneventful.
If you take the time to speak with anyone who rides Metro daily, you will find that such occurrences are commonplace. The bride rides Metro every day to and from work and reports such events roughly 25 percent of her rides. I am a proponent of Metro and wish I could take it to work every day. While I do see an effort from Metro to improve facilities and customer service, they are still behind in their efforts. Ignoring obvious problems will not solve them.
Thanks to my friend Jim, who obtained some killer tickets, I went to my first Nationals game last night: a somewhat thrilling 4-3 victory over Oakland to give the Nats 7 wins in a row! Nationals games are a pretty good time. The crowd is not as voracious as Redskins or O's crowds are, but since the team is so new, the city seems to be trying to find a comfort level with them. In the ninth, the stadium did get very loud as the Nats were urged to close out the game and the series. I think that by the time they move to their new stadium, the team will have crowds that rival the other bigtime teams in terms of numbers and interest level.
Metro
I rode Metro to the game which these days always seems to be a bit of a crap shoot. The Washington Post has been chronicling the difficulties and mismanagement the system faces over the past week. As we left the game and waited for a train on the track and boarded and Orange line train in the direction of Vienna. The train became filled to full capacity as the many thousands of game patrons left the stadium to head home. After sitting on the tracks for about 5 minutes in sardine-esque conditions, an announcement indicated that our train was out of service and everyone on board would have to get off (about 3-5 minutes to unload).
The platform--already full of people waiting for the next train--became dangerously crowded as everyone unloaded from the now out of service train. Everyone waited patiently on the platform for another 5-10 minutes before the out of service train departed. Note: is it just me or doesn't it seem like if the train can depart from the super-crowded station with no one aboard, it would also be capable of departing with everyone on board and just deposit us at a less-crowded station?
After another 3 or minutes or so a new train arrives and we go through the exercise of loading the train again except with 2-3 times as many people trying to board. The train finally takes off and from there the ride is uneventful.
If you take the time to speak with anyone who rides Metro daily, you will find that such occurrences are commonplace. The bride rides Metro every day to and from work and reports such events roughly 25 percent of her rides. I am a proponent of Metro and wish I could take it to work every day. While I do see an effort from Metro to improve facilities and customer service, they are still behind in their efforts. Ignoring obvious problems will not solve them.
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