HEY KNEEBRACE!!

So, last night did not turn out as we had hoped it would. With just three subs, we were missing a couple key players that might have made a difference. The game started out even enough and I think we exchanges two goals apiece. After that, though, we broke down for a bit and surrendered a bigger lead, maybe two or three goals.

Down a few goals at halftime, we still felt confident that we could win the game. They were playing as physical as ever and the refs, for the most part, were calling a pretty even game. Starting in the second half the physicality picked up a bit. They became a little more arrogant and talked some trash to go along with the hacks.

I finally lost my cool with about seven minutes remaining. After asking the ref to watch the big oaf in the red shorts as he inevitably throws a cheap shot after every challenge. Two of those instances later (with no ref intervention), I popped back up and gave the guy a shove. Stupid. Blue card and two minutes in the box.

While in the box, I was subjected to more trash talking by the same guy as well as several others on their team. I was fuming, but decided not to check back into the game after my penalty - mainly because no one wanted out and we were down 10-5 with a couple minutes left in the game.

Once the game ended, I grabbed my bag and headed for the stands. As I approached the door to leave the field, I hear the same big oaf call from behind.

"Hey, kneebrace!" Oh, great. What now? I turn to him to see what else he's got.

"Got something to say now?!" he asks. I don't so I tell him to calm down and let it go. As I turn back to leave, he rushed forward and pushed me in the back. Are you serious?

I was furious. I turned back to him (who would most definitely kill me in a fight) and several people rushed in to break anything up. But that lead to more pushing, shoving, and trash talking by the two teams. One guy was whining that I was pushing all game. Right, because only our team was playing dirty...

My problem with that comment is that both teams are dirty each and every time we play each other. So for one guy to start whining about us playing dirty fires me up. Granted this is the same guy he got in Rich's face saying, "Yeah b----, I b----ed you all game, b----!" Right.
Anyways, this game fired me up and hopefully next time a.) we can finally beat them as that is the only way to shut them up, and b.) I won't get beat up by the big guy in the red shorts. I hate him.

That's all for now. Next game is outdoor on Sunday.

Gameday Preparation

Tonight is the highly anticipated match-up against hated rivals, Curb Stomp.

Earlier in the week, we sent out the email to get a head count for tonight and it's looking like we should have a good number. Along with the head count, we had several people offering up some tactical suggestions. That's how you know it's a big game.

How am I preparing today? Good question. Thus far, I have come into work and prepared a large cup of coffee, which was used to wash down the pepperoni & cheese kolaches I ate for breakfast. I have yet to drink any water, but might shut down a couple glasses by day's end. For lunch, I'm envisioning something along the lines of Jack in the Box or Chipotle.

Just though I'd let you in on my secret to preparing for a big game. No hydration and heavy, greasy food. Just another day in the life of an amateur adult league soccer player.

Playing with Fire...

Looking to build off the momentum of last week's victory, we had a tough opponent for last night's game, Fire, a team that is very difficult to beat. They are always a favorite to win the championship. Luckily for us, the best indoor soccer player in DFW (not named Bomber) was not there for them last night. Without their by-far best player, we had a more favorable match up, although it wasn't going to be an easy game by any means.

From the beginning the game was a close one. It took a few minutes of missed chances for both sides before we finally took the first lead of the game. It was nice to take the lead, but almost instantly it was erased as they scored a quick equalizer.

After a few more minutes of close soccer, a few seconds of brilliant soccer regained the lead. Watching from the bench, four of our players combined one-time passes to eventually find an open man in front of the open goal. 2-1.

With the seconds winding down, we were able to tack on a third goal on an impossible freekick by Rich. Halftime score: 3-1.

We were feeling pretty good at halftime but it was important to keep our composure and not come out slow. This was a good team and we couldn't let them feel like they were back in the game. We came out in the second half with good intensity. As the minutes wore on, they began to get more and more frustrated, resulting in us getting hit in kicked more often.

For the time being, I was doing well and keeping my cool and was able to score a couple goals of my own - nothing spectacular; just some good teamwork combined with good finishing.

With a two or three goal lead, I finally lost my cool after a good stretch of games keeping it under control. After getting hacked time and time again, the refs refused to call anything. His justification: if you stopped, i would have called it. I guess the fact that I didn't stop, but was unable to do anything with the ball was irrelevant. That, combined with the defender throwing an elbow into my chest after the play, set me off.

I fired off a barrage of obscenities and borderline racial remarks (oops!) at both the ref and the opposing player. Luckily, either they didn't understand me or they just didn't care, because I was able to just sub myself off and regain my composure.

Unfortunately for them, I did regain my composure and retaliated in the form of a line drive laser fired into the corner of their net from just inside midfield. That goal put the finishing touch on a great win for us and yet another momentum boost for our game next week against hated rival, Curb Stomp. Until then, go read something else.

-Bomber

Back on Track!

Last night was our first game since the embarrassing loss a week ago and we were out for redemption. The opposition was another new team to the league, though the have done signisficantly better than the others in the first four weeks of the season. (Side note: this team, El Fuego Verde (EFV), consists almost entirely of players from my outdoor team).

With our number one keeper in goal and a bench full of subs, we had put ourselves ina good position to get back in the win column. We looked to come out strong and did just that. After blowing a couple of easy chances, we were able to capitalize when a rebound from the keeper bounced directly to me at the top of the arc. I put good contact on the ball (actually it rolled down my shin and slingshotted off my foot) and the ball wound up in the goal.

At this point, we felt like this game would be a breeze and began to play a bit too nonchalantly. As a result, we conceded the equalizer just a couple minutes after our go-ahead. Shortly after their goal, I put a yellow-line free kick into the top corner of the goal, giving us the lead once again. This time we didn't let down and were able to tack on a couple more goals.

Fast forward to the second half and we found ourselves with about a five goal lead and the flexibility to play around with the ball. I took this opportunity to drop back and play defense. I won't do that again. Every time I received the ball I proceeded to play a perfect ball to the nearest EFV attacker. Our keeper got some pretty good practice during the stretch I was on defense, and after one finally got by him for a goal, I switched back to forward.

We closed out the game without incident. Aside from a couple injuries, everyone kept their cool. I was happy to not show my true colors against my outdoor teammates, and even happier to get a big win and put our team back on track.

Outdoor game on Sunday. Here's to hoping it doesn't get rained out again!

I don't want to talk about it...

Last night was our first game in two weeks and it showed. I apologize for keeping this so short in advance, but I am getting angry hashing this back up.

Having to put Marcus in goal to start, we needed to come out strong and play end to end. That didn't happen and, in what seemed like a matter of minutes, we were down 5-0. Unbelievable. This was a team that we had beaten more times than not and they were wiping the floor with us.

After getting a couple of goals at the end of the half, we were looking at a 6-2 halftime deficit. Our real keeper had shown up halfway through the first but it hadn't made a ton of difference. We were playing lazy and little to no defense. The second half was a bit better, but not by much.

We started out strong and may have even closed the lead even more, but our lazy defense got the best of us and each time we scored to close the gap, we let in a soft goal to open it right back up. My temper almost took over with just a couple minutes remaining but I was somehow able to keep my cool. The game ended 9-5 but it felt much worse. We got embarrassed and need to turn it around as we are about to face the strongest teams in the league.

As I said last night, hopefully this is just our once-a-season game that gets the other teams to underestimate us...