Sunday April 24, Easter

Nice day for soccer. Rocco brought his two boys, I brought Willy, Dimos brought John and we had a guest, a new guy but I forgot his name. We got the game going pretty close to 8 am with 16 players and soon had as many as 16 per team. There was something different about today, and I finally realized, "It's not cold!!!" In fact when the sun came out it was pretty warm. Anyway, Steve in the blue net, Will in the white, scoring as follows:

Shamu for white 1-0

Rocco's kid for blue 1-1

Mark Schwartz, back from his pulled calf injury, for white 2-1

Scott Rosner for blue 2-2

Joe Bagels for blue 2-3

Super Mario for white 3-3

Super Steve Palaia for blue 3-4

Super Mario 4-4

Rocco!!!! for blue 4-5

Scott R again with a Keeblesque goal line tap in 4-6

Jay for white 5-6

Keeble for white - none

Folks are dropping out in swarms and the game was finally called due to exhaustion. Everyone got a full dose of soccer in spite of the crowding. Next week is a big conflict with a 5K race. We could be on a natural mud field somewhere, so mind your E's.

Player of the Week

Sunday April 17

50 degrees, partly cloudy and breezy at 7:30 AM game time. We started with 9 v. 10, Steve in the blue net, Keith in for white. Keebs got things started missing at least four easy goal line tap ins. Mike the soccer wizard missed an open netter at the other end, blasting the ball clear over the net. Doug showed up to take over for Keith. Joe Bagles, Kennington and Tim came late to get us up to full sides.

Game summary:

Tom for white 1-0

C for white 2-0

Dom for white 3-0

Mike for blue 3-1 (finally remembered how it's done)

" " " 3-2

" " " 3-3, but then he left the game

Dom again 4-3

Jimmy for blue 4-4

C again 5-4 with a nice chop

Jim again 5-5

Dave for blue 5-6

Keith got the offsides trap going, so a bunch of blue scores were called back. We finished up about 9:45 due to exhaustion, no sign of kids' games. Next week is the annual Easter Sunday Jews vs. pagans game, probably at 8.

Player of the Week:

Jay

Here's a guy that probably every member of the team has exchanged harsh words with. He's one of the originals with an orange uniform to prove it.

Are you kidding me “Player of the Week” at age 57??? I can barely get out of bed on Sundays trying to recuperate from the week before! J

I must share that I love this game of soccer/football & I wouldn’t miss it for the world!

I was fortunate to be raised by my grandparents who played an important role in my life. My “nono” introduced me this “beautiful game” as the great Pele would say & of course through his efforts I also developed a passion for bocci & making home made wine. As a young kid I idolized Brazilian soccer genius Pele, Sandro Mazzola of Inter, Bobby Charlton & George Best of Manchester United. Even today after four decades I consider them WORLD’s best ever!

Growing up in Hoboken is where my soccer career began. I played varsity soccer during my freshman year. We had so much talent on my team. We were county champs three (3) years in a row. I remember receiving several all county & all state recognitions. During my sophomore and senior high school year I played on all state teams.

My college soccer career was at ACC. I played league soccer with Hudson Dalmatians in the German/American league.

In l980, my wife & I planned a family so we settled in Washington Township. As most of you, I had spent considerable time volunteering/coaching/officiating our children’s games. In addition, I coached a varsity soccer team in Bergenfield under the leadership of G. Fatovich.

It was a beautiful ride because we all contributed towards the development of soccer across this great country.

I remembered watching the Cosmos games at Giant Stadium in 1977 (year of my marriage). The stadium was filled to capacity to see the Brazilian forward, Pele, the stopper, Franz Beckenbauer, Gordon Bradley, Giorgio Chinaglia, Johan Neeskens, George Best playing for the Los Angeles Aztecs at the time when soccer was largely ignored.

These are the memories of the past but thanks to youth programs, soccer today is the most popular sport for boys and girls. One thing for sure…soccer is here to stay! However, I haven’t decided when to call it quits but I will follow the footsteps of Bobby, Frank & Dimos & the rest is history.

Sunday April 10

45 and overcast at 8am game time. We started 8 v 8, Steve in the blue goal, no one in the white. Carlos and Dimos each scored a couple for blue before the whities put in a full time keeper. First it was me, then Jimmy, then Tim, with gloves. Later in the game Kevin came over from the blue to mind the white net, and Tim went to the blue team. When guest Joe and Rich showed up around nine, we were up to 12 v. 12.

Game Summary:

Carlos for blue 1-0

Dimos for blue 2-0

Carlos 3-0

Dimos 4-0

Tom for white 4-1

Dave for blue 5-1

Mario for white 5-2

Jimmy for white 5-3

Carlos 6-3

Joe D for blue 7-3

Keebs for white 7-4

Dave again 8-4

Joe again 9-4

Jimmy again 9-5

Keebs 9-6

Jordan for white 9-7

So with the white team on a late game surge, the blues decided we should end the game. We gave up the field at 9:30 for a kid's game. Next week we may be starting earlier, like 7:30, so watch your E's.

Sunday April 4

Cool and breezy, but sunny at our 7:30 AM game time. We started with 8 v 8, last man back, but it didn't take too long to get up to full sides. Doug in the white net, Steve in for blue, no guests. Keebs started the scoring with a nice header, then it went like this:

Keeb for white 1-0

Shamu for blue 1-1

Dimos for blue 1-2

Rocculous!!!! for blue 1-3

Joe Bagels for white 2-3

Keebs again 3-3

Jay for blue 3-4

Jay again 3-5

Rocc!!!! Again!!!!! 3-6

Chop-man for blue 3-7

Keebs again 3-7

Kennington and Dom left early so Mo switched to the blue side to keep things even. Keith handled the white defense by himself. Keebs got his hat trick, but missed so many shots he should have had a hat trick of hat tricks. With just 22 players on the field, everybody got a lot of touches and plenty of playing time by the time we were kicked off by a bunch of kids. There was some discussion of returning to our summer starting time next week, so keep an eye on your E's.

Player of the Week:

Scott Perkins

To many of you I am known simply as Shamu. It is the most recognizable Waldwick Senior Soccer nickname. That name was bestowed upon me with Yoda-like genius by Mark Schwartz who is still struggling to accept his nickname, “General Sarcastro.” My nick name is derived not by my size nor weight but rather by the height with which I can jump to head the ball. Think of Shamu the whale shooting out of the water to great heights to grab a fish. This also explains Mark Miller’s comment of “hold the fish higher, when I miss a header due to the height of the ball.

I almost didn’t play soccer as a kid. My mother brought me to the Ho-Ho-Kus-Saddle River football practice at the age of 10. (American Football) I lasted one practice. I thought it was insane to run plays all night long without ever touching the ball. The next week I was playing soccer for the Ho-Ho-Kus Saddle River Blackhawks as a fullback. We played in the 5-3-2 formation and it was just me and another kid holding up the defense. After watching the goal celebrations from afar for a few seasons I moved to center forward. I attended the Giorgio Chinaglia Soccer Academy during the height of Cosmos fever at Giants Stadium. I won the MVP award for the time I attended.

In High School I played for Ramsey High. I continued playing for Ho-Ho-Kus Saddle River on the weekends. So, during the week I played for Ramsey and against such teams that included my weekend teammates at Ho-Ho-Kus-Midland Park and vice-versa on the weekends. In my senior year at Ramsey High I was voted second team all-league. It wasn’t All-American like from friend Jeff Durgan of Cosmos fame but at least it was an acknowledgement of my limited abilities.

After Ramsey High school, I went to Babson College but I did not play soccer. All because of a woman. That was one of the worst decisions of my life. In 1994, eight years after graduating from college I vowed never to let anyone get between me and my beloved game of soccer ever again. I joined a team in Teaneck and played a few seasons until the team disbanded. Well, that vow was short lived but not forgotten.

I then spent a few years playing touch football feeling out of my element. And then one fateful day when someone I work with (Mark Miller’s neighbor) mentioned that there is a game at Traphagen in Waldwick. I walked on the field not knowing anyone. I quickly realized that Keebo was striker and did not move from the mouth of the goal. So, I played stopper at first. It took me a few seasons to move up to the front line. Keebo dubbed me “threat from corners” from my time playing right wing. That name didn’t stick. Eventually I made it home to center forward once again in 2011.

I work as a commercial real estate broker for NAI James E. Hanson in Hackensack. And, I am an avid wine lover. However, it is hard to beat playing soccer on Sunday morning with my friends at WSS!

Shamu