Sunday December 16

It's 40 degrees and drizzly, perfect soccer weather.  Slow start but we got up to 12 v12.  Steve in the blue net, Dougy, Kevin, Keith, then Doug in for white.  Steven P and Brian are our  guests, no Imad, Mario , Shamu or Jamal.  Wide open game for a while.  White offense with Jelly, Cee, Kee, Lazer Dave, Little Joe, Vicent are dominant but turned back time after time by team 180. That's right, 180 years of experience beteween Bobby, Frank and me!  Steve P left early with a pulled hammy.  Mike the Wizard playing for team blue.  Late in the game keeeper Steve is shivering and praying for it to  end.

Rocco to son Steve to get the blues going, 1-0
Jeff to Minor, again for blue, 2-0
Vince to Adam, from the top of the key with a smasher. Unbelievable, I know, 2-1
Carlos corner kick to Jeff bounces out, rocket in by Mike the Wizard, 3-1
Guest Brian to Count Rocculous, 4-1
Keebs, from Cee, 4-2
Jeff, 5-2
My balls to Jay to Minor, 6-2
Keebs with a briliant move betweent the legs of Mike, to out of bounds, still 6-2
Vince and Jelly with a two one against Steve, shoot wide, still 6-2

It was a grand game, lots of opprtunities for everyone.

Cheating:

I'm sorry but I feel it's necessary to bring this up as the season winds down.  Some of our  more respected players are involved in practices that I think should be reviewed by our community at large:
First, I have to call out Adam Keeble.  At his own admission, he does not drink on Saturdays, so as to be at his best on Sunday morning Thi seems to be a clear violation of the spirit of our club.  Next is the weeenie Mark Miller.  I have seen him running durig the week, attempting to improve his endurance beyond what everyone else of us achieves by our once a week sprees.

Sunday December 30

Windy and cold, sub freezing cold, but sunny at game time.  Not too bad except for the 2-3" of new fallen snow.  Damn.  Not looking too good for New Years Day either. Lets hope for some major evaporation before next Sunday.

Happy New Years y'all!

Here's some photos of last weeks holiday brunch, courtesy Keith:

Sunday December 23, Christmas Eve Eve

Cold but clear and calm at 8:30 game time.  In all 28 or 29 guys showed up to play and it was a pretty active match. Jake & Justin joined us, and Will. Nice to have the boys there.  Sorry to say but I've misplaced my score-pad but I remember the gist of it.  Steve in the blue net, but also Minor and Kevin, Keith in the white net and also Will & Dave.  Scoring by Jeff & Dave for blue to get things started, followed by a lot of scoring by Imad, Mario, Keeble, even Jay & Will, for the whites.  Minor & Ben had a head banging event that left Minor with a bloody lip.  The day became sunnier and warmer, real nice. At the end it was about 5 blue to 10 white.

After the game about 18 of us assembled at the AB&G, Allendale Bar & Grill, for a holiday brunch and futbol match on the big screen.  Slight snafu in that AB&G forgot to subscribe to the Fox Soccer Channel, so the anticipated game wasn't available.  Just as well, Adam's team lost 8-0.  We watched a replay of an Italy game and a festive time was had by all.

Next week we will be back to 9AM start, and get ready to get up early on New Years Day for a rematch.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Found the pad:

Dominic to Jeff for blue, 1-0
Dave off a corner kick for blue, 2-0
George with an errant pass back to Steve intercepted by Keebs, for white, 2-1
Jay for white, 2-2
Vince for white, 2-3
Imad's shot bounces off Steve for a save but then bounces off me for an OG, 2-4
Mario, 2-5
Justin for white, 2-6
Mario, 2-7
At this point Minor came back into the game as blue keeper and Vince came over to the blue team.
Imad to head of Mario, 2-8
Jeff for blue, 3-8
Minor for blue, 4-8 (Kevin in the net)
Mario from an offsides position, 4-9
Jay off a corner kick by Big Dave, 4-10
Jeff, 5-10
Imad to Will, 5-11

It's 40 degrees and drizzly, perfect soccer weather.  Slow start but we got up to 12 v12.  Steve in the blue net, Dougy, Kevin, Keith, then Doug in for white.  Steven P and Brian are our  guests, no Imad, Mario , Shamu or Jamal.  Wide open game for a while.  White offense with Jelly, Cee, Kee, Lazer Dave, Little Joe, Vicent are dominant but turned back time after time by team 180. That's right, 180 years of experience beteween Bobby, Frank and me!  Steve P left early with a pulled hammy.  Mike the Wizard playing for Team Blue.  Late in the game keeeper Steve is shivering and praying for it to  end.

Rocco to son Steve to get the blues going, 1-0
Jeff to Minor, again for blue, 2-0
Vince to Adam, from the top of the key with a smasher. Unbelievable, I know!, 2-1
Carlos corner kick to Jeff bounces out, rocket in by Mike the Wizard, 3-1
Guest Brian to Count Rocculous, 4-1
Keebs, from Cee, 4-2
Jeff, 5-2
My balls to Jay to Minor, 6-2
Keebs with a briliant move betweenst the legs of Mike, to out of bounds, still 6-2
Vince and Jelly with a two one against Steve, shoot wide, still 6-2

It was a grand game, lots of opprtunities for everyone.

Cheating:

I'm sorry but I feel it's necessary to bring this up as the season winds down.  Some of our  more respected players are involved in practices that I think should be reviewed by our community at large:
First, I have to call out Adam Keeble.  At his own admission, he does not drink on Saturdays, so as to be at his best on Sunday morning. This seems to me to be a clear and egregious violation of the spirit of our club.

Next is Mark Miller.  I have seen him running during the week, attempting to improve his endurance beyond what everyone else of us achieves by our once-a-week sprees.  We need a clearer policy on extra currriccula training.

Next week we wil meet a little earlier, 8:30 if everything goes according to plan. The second part of the plan is to meet at the ABG, Alendale Bar and Grill, for a proper futbol game on TV  and some holiday revery.  I think everybody is in favor.

Sunday December 10

Cold, grey & wet, a perfect day for soccer.  15 v 15 for a while, it's hard to tell with so many guys on the field.  Steve in the blue net, Mark S, Eric, Dave, Lightspeed Joe in for white.  Mike the Wizard is back.

Jay heads one in off a beautiful cross by Dom, for white, 1-1
Mu heads one in off a nice cross by Mike for blue, 1-1
OG for white after Jay blocks a clear with his butt, 2-1
Dave for blue, 2-2
Jay 3-2
Keebs with a nice header off a cross by Imad,  4-2
Imad to Vince, 5-2
Imad to Vince, 6-2
Keebs again, 7-2
Jay to Mario, 8-2
Keebs for the hattie, 9-2
Jamal likes to sneak up to the front after everybody is too tired to play and score, for white, 10-2

Sunday December 2

It's 40 and foggy, the field is wet at 9AM start time.  Slow start but we soon had too many players on the field, as many as 30 at one point. A couple of guys got hurt and left, so that helped.  Me, Eric finally Steve in the blue net, Mark Schwartz then Will in the white.

Marlen for blue, 1-0
Mu to Jelly for a tap in for white, 1-1
Rocc with a beautiful miss, finished by Jeff, for blue, 2-1
Imad corner kick to head of Mu, 2-2
Jeff with a lovely left, 3-2
Minor for blue, 4-2
Ben to Mu, 4-3
Somehow the sides tipped in favor of white, with much of the second half 15 white vs 12 blue.  Eric came back to the blue team, but the sides were still unbalanced.  Just sayin.
Ben with a floater, 4-4
Jelly, 4-5
Cee to Vee who back heels it in, 4-6
Jay with a free kick, 5-6

Sunday November 25

Its cold, 30, and windy at 8AM game time.  We stared 10 v 9, full court small goals last man, and even after we got up to 12-11 we stayed with this game.  Johnny and Eddie are here again.

Mu for white, 1-0

Cee for white, 2-0

Will to Jeff to Rocc, called back for offsides

Mu, 3-0

Unknown white player, 4-0

Jeff, 4-1

Mu, 5-2

Mario, 6-2

Vince for blue, 6-3

Jeff, 6-4

then Jeff and Ben had a collision, Jeff down, game over.  The wind was a factor.  Everyone but Will had on their snow suits and it was a little bit of a free-for-all, but fun.  We surrendered the field to the girls highschool team, they are on their way to the state semis.  One way or the other their season will end this week, so we are back to 9AM start for next week.

Friday November 23, Day after T'Giving

10 v 10 shortened field small goals last man back 8AM start lots of fun.  Old friends Ed Mullane and John Horuzy showed up.  Score was back and forth, finally about 10 white 8 blue.

Sunday November 19

The awesome eight arrived at 8 to find the field covered by frost, but the sun is rising and that soon melted away.  We started with ten white vs 9 blue, full court last man shoot in the box.  Steve arrived to fill in at blue keeper, white keeper duty alternated between Will & Ben.  Ben got things started with an end to end scoring drive.  I forgot my note pad so I don't have a score by score tally.  The score was about 4 white to 1 blue when the nine o'clock stragglers showed up and brought the teams up to 12 v 12.  Keebs had a nice one called back because he was outside the box, imagine that.  Rocc had three or four. Imagine that.  For a while it looked like another white route, but the blue meanies rallied and we finished 9 blue 7 white.

Mark your calendars:

Thursday, Thanksgiving: 9am start for the annual Dick Meighan 5K run
Friday, soccer at the usual place, Jerry says he can get some guys, time tbd
Sunday, soccer, time tbd

Sunday November 11

Two weeks since hurricane Sandy and things are still not right.  It will probably be quite a while.  But its partly sunny, 50 degrees, a perfect day for soccer.  We started 9 v 9, full court, Doug in the blue net, Mark S in the white.

Lightspeed Joe starts it, with a nice feed from Jeff, for blue, 1-0
Jeff, 2-0
Jay, 3-0
Jeff again, 4-0
we discussed trying last man box shoot in the box, but no.  Mark came out of the goal to be replaced by Jamal then Kevin
Mark S to Mario for white, 4-1
Marlen to Jeff, 5-1
Carlos all by himself for white, 5-2
Jamal for white, 5-3 off a bad goal kick by me
Jay with a beautiful pass to the head of Jeff, 5-3
Rocco for blue, 6-3
we had a switch, Lightspeed Joe to white, Mark Forrest to blue,
Mario to Jamal, 6-4
Jeff steals a throw-in, 7-4
Carlos leaves, Mark Forrest leaves
Jay loops one in, 8-4
Jay again, 8-4
Mario, 8-5
water break, then we resumed 8 v 8 shortened field, Doug to the white team, Kevin to Blue,
Jeff, 9-6
Rocc, 10-6
Keith left, bike ride you know,
Jeff, 11-6
Marlen, 12-6
and that was it, we're done at 10:45.  Fair enough, there's a game at 11.  In fact next week we may have to adjust our start time because of the school and league games that were postponed by Sandy.

I want to encourage you all to participate in the annual Dick Meighan 5k run Thanksgiving morning.  It gives you a great excuse for your condition for the rest of the day.  http://www.dickmeighan5krun.org

Sunday Novemeber 14

I need to get this out of the way so I can commence my recovery.  The storm Sandy was everything they promised and more.  Everyone lost power, trees down everywhere, the shore is decimated, miles long gas lines with odd even rationing.  But many of us are back up, of the 20 who showed up anyway.  So we started at 9AM Eastern Standard Time, a beautiful sunny cool and breezy morning, with 9 white vs 10 blue, Mark S in the blue net, Eric in the white, followed by Kevin and then Jamal.

Jeff to Lightspeed Joe for blue to get off to a good start, 1-0
Imad for white, 1-1
Rocc for blue, 2-1
Dominic shows up and goes to the white side to even up the sides at 10 each,
Rosner for white, 2-2
Mario to Imad, 2-3
Imad puts a corner kick in, helped by the wind a a tap by Mark S, 2-4
Jeff to Jelly with a spectacular leaping twisting header, for blue, 3-4
Dominic pops one in for white, 3-5
Imad all alone, 3-6
Jelly, 4-6
Lots of chippy calls: hands, offsides etc and plenty of collisions but it was a pretty animated match.  We should have traded sides after the break, the wind was a definite factor in favor of the white team.  Jamal's goal kicks were being fielded by Mark S in the penalty box.  10 v 10 on full field means everybody has a lot of opportunity to contribute.  Hope you guys who didn't show up are OK.  See you all next week at 9.

Sunday Oct 28

The calm before the Frankenstorm.  It's cloudy & breezy, maybe 50 degrees at our first 9AM game time in a while.  The late start brought out some old friends, Dan, Jamal, Rosner, even Timmy showed up.  We started with short sides last man back shoot in the box but got up to full sides.

Imad to Mario, for white, as usual, 1-0
Jeff to head of ario, 2-0
Jeff to head of Keeblow, 3-0
Jeff to Kaz, 4-0

Doug arrived to fill in the blue net, Mark Schwartz with a pulled calf filled the white net.

Imad to Jeff, 5-0
Mario, 6-0
Timmy to Shamu, 6-1
Mario to Keebs, 7-1
Imad to Keebs, 8-1
Aikaz, 10-1
Jeff, 11-1
Kaz to Keebs, 12-1

Jeff puts on a blue shirt, Scott Rosner leaves the game, Shamu in the blue net, Doug takes to the field,

Rocco to Jay, 12-2
Keebs taps in one that Mu lost hold of, 13-2
Jamal, 14-2

Sunday Oct 21

I dunno, nobody told me.  MM said he scored a goal.

Sunday Oct 14

The forecast is for 70 and sunny, but the morning is quite different: cloudy even drizzly and 45 degrees.  We started 9 v 9, and soon got up to full sides Steve in the blue net, Keith and then Mark S pulled a calf and went into the white net. Justin is back, Lightspeed Joe is back, Dominick & Juan are back.

Marlen for blue, 1-0
Jeff off a long throw-in by Joe for blue, 2-0
Jay off a nice long through ball by Cee, 3-0
Vince from Justin for white, 3-1
Rocco off a nice throw in, 4-1
Justin to Vince, 4-2
Justin, 4-3
Mario, 4-4
Rocco, 5-4
Keebs off a throw in by Joe, 6-4
Marlen off a nice Corner Kick by Jeff, 7-4
Jeff from Keebs, 8-4
Keebs, 9-4
Jeff steals a white goal kick and puts it in, 10-4
So Jay goes over to team white to give them a little help, but Mark Miller goes blue to keep the numbers even,
Keebs from Marlen, 11-4
Juan to Carlos to Keebs, 12-4
Vince, 12-5
Carlos corner kick to Marlen, 13-5
Rocco, 14-5
Mario, 14-6

So it seems like a blue route and I guess it was but it was still a spirited match.  11 v 11 is a tough game with lots of touches for everyone, white had plenty of chances but Lightspeed was able to contain Mario.  Sounds like next week we'll be starting later if the field is available, watch your E mails.

I won't be there next week, if anybody cares take a few notes on the game and e mail them to me.

Sunday Oct 7

Sorry I'm late, but a lot of stuff came up. I hardly remember what happened but that's why I write stuff down.  Jake and Justin got us up to a 9 v 9, last man back shoot inside the box full field kind of game.  Cloudy and cool, I think, like 40?

Rocc blue, 1-0
Rocc, 2-0
George for blue, 3-0
Keebs, back from whatever, for white, 3-1
Shamu for white, 3-2Rocc, 4-2
Aikaz for white, 4-3
Jake for white, 4-4
Mu, 4-5
Mario for white, 4-6 mmitc
Jake, 4-7
Mario, 4-8
PapaYaya came over to the blue side to even up the sides a little,
Jeff for blue, 5-8
Keebs, 5-9
Jeff, 6-9
Jeff, 7-9
Mario, 7-10
Marlen for blue, 8-10
Minor for white, 8-11
Rocc, 9-11
Mu, 9-12
Keebs off a corner kick by George, 9-13
Keebs, 9-14
Aikaz, 9-15
George, 9-16
Ceebow for white, 9-17
Marlen, 11-17
Minor, 11-18
Jake, 11-19

Saturday members of our group came together as Waldwick Team Old and Slow at the Hackensack Hospital fund raiser for colorectal cancer research.  The event was a soccerthon, a 24 hour continuous pick-up game.  Our time slot was 7-8, but when I got their several teammates were already on the field.  What a field by the way.  Actually two fields side by side, turf and professional size ie: Huge!  They are in the new section of Overpeck Park in Ridgefield Park and it's a really incredible park.  There's a softball field, baseball field, boat launch, amphitheater, several comfort stations, snack bar and new bridges to the horse riding part of the park. Anyway, Me, Mark, Mark, Bobby, Keith, Vince, Danny, Eric and Ceebow with a handful of others to round out a team faced members of the Tenafly O-40 league team, and got our asses kicked.  Notable was the great performance in goal by Eric.

Sunday September 30

50 and cloudy but the sun came out during the game, perfect soccer weather.  We started 7 v 7, full court, white sidelines, shoot in the box, last man back.  Steve arrived to keep for the white team, one guest: Fab!  assorted net tending for blue.  Scoring was fast and furious:

Jeff for blue, 1-0
Jeff for blue, 2-0
Mu from Mario for white, 2-1
Vince for white, 2-2
a few more guys showed up we got up to 9 v 10
Jeff for blue, 3-2
Mario, due to keeper's indifference, 3-3
Mark Miller in as blue keeper
Imad 3-4
Mario, 3-5 mmitc
Jeff, from Rocc, 4-5
Jay with a nice steal crosses to Dimos, then to Carlos, and Jeff scores it, 5-5
Vince, 5-6
Jeff, 6-6
Mario, 6-7
Imad, 6-8
Jeff, 7-8

Early half time and water break.  We shortened the field to 80 yards, Fab & Frank are on the sidelines, M Schwartz comes to the blue side to play keeper, M Miller goes to the whites to even it up at 9v9, new game:

Jay for blue, 1-0
Jeff, 2-0
Rocc!, 3-0
Mario starts the white climb out of the gutter, 3-1
Jeff, 4-1
Jay, 5-1
Carlos for blue, 6-1
Mario, 6-2 mmitc
Vince from Imad, 6-3
Mario, 6-4
Imad, 6-5
Ceebow from Mario, 6-6, and the cry baby whities want to leave the field, but the blue meanies prevail for one more, but it's
Vince, 6-7

So the tighty whitie's win two in a row on the same day.  More importantly a new scoring record has been set.  I count 8 for Jeff! Congratulations!  Ceebow says it wasn't a full sided game so the record should be asterisked.  **** There.  Of course nobody keeps track of Imad Joe's goals, and I'm not interested in going back through the last couple of hundred posts to check.

Next weekend is the Soccerthon 24 hours of soccer to benefit cancer of the asshole.  We have about nine players signed up.  If you're interested go ahead and sign yourself up it would be good to have a complete team.  The team is "Waldwick Team Old and Slow", (not Keith) and our time slot is 7-8 AM Saturday at Overpeck Park.  I do hereby volunteer to drive five others, I can meet you at the Waldwick HS lot, if anybody is interested.

(mmitc = Mitch Miller in the cornhole)

Sunday September 24

I am a season change denier but it is officially autumn and it's a chilly and sunny perfect day for soccer.  We managed to dissuade the boys team from using our field and started a little late, Doug in the white net, Steve in the blue, maybe 24 guys on the field.  George is back, Frank is back from his annual trip to Italy, no Keebow no Marriow.

After at least half an hour of scoreless play,
Chompan slams one in for white (Doug itc), 1-0
Imad for white, 2-0
Imad, 3-0
Mu socres blanc, with the keeper out of the play, 4-0
Aikaz for white, 5-0
Steve comes out of the blue net and Minor steps in.
Ceebow, 6-0
Doug comes out of the white net, Mark S steps in.
Imad, 7-0
Vince, from Jeff for blue, finally, 7-1
George for white, 8-1
Dimos corner kick to the head of Mark Miller for blue, 8-2
George corner kick to George, 9-2
Vince with a turn around, 9-3
Jeff, 9-4
Imad, 10-4
Jeff, 10-5
Socre Mu, 11-5

So team blue, without Keith & Bobby, returns to its miserable losing ways.  See you next week, 8AM until further notice.  There was a girls team coming on the field right behind us.

Sunday September 16

Sunny & chilly, we started with close to full teams, Doug in the blue net, Steve in the white, and may have gotten up to 12 v 13.  Two guests, both named George.

Vince for white, 1-0
Marlen for blue, 1-1 (Joe M itc)
Minor for blue, 1-2
Scott Ros to Keebow with a memorable flying tap in, for white, 2-2
Shamu for blue, 2-3
Dave takes a pass to the chest, turns around and scores, for blue, 2-4
Shamu again, 2-5
George for blue, 2-6

So with the blue scoring getting out of hand, four white players left the game either due to injury or disgust.  Doug and Jeff go to the white team, Joe M takes over the blue net.

Keebs, 3-6
Mu, 3-7

There is going to be a "Soccerthon" a 24 hour soccer game to raise money for cancer of the asshole, at Overpeck Park in Leonia sponsored by Hackensack Hospital.  You sign up for a one hour slot, $25 or $30 per player per hour.  I will look into bringing a team.

http://www.crowdrise.com/AliveAndKickathonJersey2012

Sunday Sept 9

Thanks to Rocc for the report:

 

Weather was beautiful 66 degrees.

 

Bobby M was back as was Mark Schwartz

 

Jeff scores for BL (Blue)

Super Dave for BL

Rocco for BL - Jay assist

Vince for BL

Rocco for BL - Shamu assist

Shamu for BL - Jay assist

Jeff for BL

Shamu for BL - Rocco assist

Ted for WH (Finally) Aikaz assist

Mario for WH (Lookout 2 goals in a row for WH) Aikaz assist

Shamu for BL - Rocco assist

Mario for WH - Controversial Mano Ball

Jeff for BL

Minor for BL - Jay assist

Minor again for BL - Jay assist again

Ceeeee for BL

 

Final & Finally Blue kicks ass 13-3

 

Sunday September 2, Labor Day Weekend

70 and overcast but very muggy, thanks to Hurricane Isaac somewhere off in the midwest.  We started with somewhat short sides but soon got up to 11 v 11, Doug in the white net, Steve in the blue.

Willy for white, 1-0
Jay to Shamu, 2-0
Mu, 3-0
Jay, 4-0, after a cluster f in front of the goal
Jelly for white, finally, 4-1 real nice turn around right in front of the goal
Vince for white, 5-1
Mu, 6-1
Minor drills one that skims off Keebs, but I give the score to Minor, for blue, 6-2
Mu, 7-2
Mu, 8-2
Mu, 9-2
Minor, 9-3
Jelly from Keebs, 9-4
Aikaz from the top of the key, through a crowd, 10-4
Dave to Vince with a beatiful cross and nice header in, 11-4
Mario, 12-4
Minor to Jeff, 12-5
Jelly, 12-6

But as usual, just as the blues start to get some momentum, white leaves the court.  I count 6 for Shamu and he played defense for most of the second half.  A Keeblesque performance indeed.  There seems to be enough interest in a game tomorrow.  If anybody would like to e mail me the results, I will post them here.  Same goes for next week, I'll be away.

And Bobby, take a break and get better, we'll manage for a couple of weeks without you.

Sunday August 26

A little overcast & 70 degrees at game time, but it got warmer and sunnier.  We got started a little early with 8 v 8, last man back rules, but soon had full sides and as many as 24 guys at one point.  Steve in the blue net, Keith then Kevin in for blue.

Minor for blue, 1-0
Rocco! for blue, 2-0
Dan with a nice cross to Mario, for white, 2-1
Jeff for white, 2-2
Dominic and Bobby left and Imad joined the blue team 90 minutes into the match
Kaz for white, 2-3
Keebow to Ceebow, 2-4
Minor to Jay, 3-4
Keebs, fielding a rebound pounds one in from the top of the key, 3-5
Imad, 4-5
Ceebow again,4-6
Dave for white, 4-7

It's ten o'clock, and no girl's team.  Oh well, see you at 7:30 next Sunday.

Sunday August 19

I always hated hearing my father say "There's a touch of fall in the air." I'm an endless summer kind of guy.  But today, there is.  Even the NY Times says so.  The heat in my house kicked on.  It's like 50 something outside.  And at our beautiful field, the Waldwick High School girls soccer team is assembling for their first practice.  We started quickly with 8 v 10, Doug in the blue net, Ben in for white, then Mark S, and then Bobby, yes that Bobby.  After a while we got up to 27 guys, Steve G played defense with the blue team.

Steve P got it started, for blue, 1-0
Jelly came back for white, 1-1
Steve again, 2-1
Steve again, 3-1
Jeff for the white, 3-2
Own Goal by me.  My pass back to Doug was too wimpy and a white player managed to tap it in, not sure who, Jeff?  3-3
Jeff, 3-4
Minor for blue, 4-4
Dave for white, 5-4, whereupon the whites left the field.  Somewhat unsporting, but the girls had agreed to hold off their practice till 9:30.

Next week, the girls will be back, at ten.  Our game will be from 8 till 10.  Players shall report early enough that they can prepare themselves and be ready to go at 8.

Sunday August 12

A little cloudy & 75 at game time, but the sun came out & it got pretty hot.  Jake & Steve P joined us today, Steve in the blue net, Minor, Mark S & Keith in for white.  Frank's back, Bobby showed up just to watch.  11 v 11 for most of the game.

Jake for white, 1-0
Jake with a corner kick to Jeff, 2-0
Minor with a corner kick to the head of Eric, 3-0
Jeff with a nice cross to the head of Eric, 4-0
Jay with a nice shot tipped by Rocco, for blue, finally, 4-1
Jake, 5-1
Mario, 6-1
Mario, 7-1
Carlos to Kebos, 8-1
Eric, 9-1

Sunday August 5

Hazy hot n humid at game time, but a pretty good turnout in spite of impending storms.  When Mario finally showed up we had 13 v. 13.  Minor, Dave & Ben are guests, Doug in the white net, Kevin, then Steve, then Kevin in net for blue.

Jisung Dave for white gets it started, 1-0
Dan from Jelly after a whiff by Keebs, for blue, 1-1
George off a corner kick by Dan, 1-2
Mario for white during the aftermath of a corner kick, 2-2
Mario, from Eric, 3-2 (MM ITC)
George, off a corner kick by Jeff, 3-3, nice dummy by Rocc
Mu for white, 4-3
Jay for white, 5-3
Keebs with a clean up in aisle 3, for blue, 5-4
A nice goal kick from me to Rosner to Minor, for blue, 5-5
Jay with a nice corner kick squirts off Kevins bare chest for an own goal, 6-5
Jon Billow to the head of Mu, 7-5
Another nice goal kick by me to Danny, who handled it expertly with a long lead pass to Keebs who lofted it over Doug, 7-6
Jelly for blue, 7-7
After a late water break and some guys dropping out, Jeff goes to white, Keith in the white net,
Vince with a quick one for white, 8-7
Jeff, for Costa Rica, 9-7

Ben & Dave gave Rocc money, so I guess we'll be seeing more of them around.  The official registration period has ended so if your money isn't in your spot is officially in jeopardy.

Sunday July 29

The heat wave has morphed into a period with constant threat of thunderstorms.  It rained last night and it's cloudy, humid, but not too hot at game time.  We started with 12 v 13, pretty good numbers considering.  Aikaz & Minor are back, Danny, Eric, Billow, Jelly are back, Bobby seems a little more ambulatory, no Frank, no Lightspeed Joe or Joe Bagels.  Minor in the white net, Doug in the blue, the blue team chooses to defend the uphill side of the field for a change.

Rocculous from Dan to get the blue team on the board, 1-0
Little Joe for white, 1-1
Mario to Jelly (own goal) 1-2
Keebs from Mario, with a hit!  1-3

Of all the hundreds of goals scored and hundreds more to come, this will be one the great Keebow will remember.  A perfect feed from Mario on the left across the goal mouth to Keebs on the right, he caught it in full stride and just smashed it from about the 15, right foot, right on target, in spite of the dogged defense by me.  Well done lad.

Mario from Keebow, nicely done, 1-4
Jelly finally gets one for the blue, 2-4
Kaz comes right back for white, 2-5
Mario, 2-6
Shamu for blue, 3-6

Some guys left, Doug and Minor came out of the nets, Kevin went in for white, Keith and Mark Schwartz took turns for blue, and we played on, 9 v 9.  Back and forth, three on two break aways thwarted, time after time.  The legs are weary, but there's no quit in this bunch.  We played on, well past our official 10 AM quitting time, but no one can score, until an unlikely hero, Doug, puts one in the net for blue to end it, at 10:30, 4-6.

Sunday July 22

A beautiful July morning, the heat wave is broken for a day or two, and the guys came out in droves.  We had as many as 32 today: guests included Aikaz, Steve, Minor and Jake.  Tim and John Billow are back, and a late arrival, Mark Forest!  Notably absent: Jamal, Imad, Frank & Dimos.  Frank may be recuperating or vacationing, Jamal is off for two months in Israel.  Doug in the white net, Minor in for blue, Steve played a little left half but switched back into net after a while.

I forgot my scorecard, so I have to get down what I can remember right away.  First and most importantly, Keebow had 4 for blue. In fact he had all the blue goals.  Read it and weep.

Mark Schwartz scored for white, then Bobbie own goaled for white making it 2-2.

Mu headed one in for white, Mario had a few, maybe Jay?  Towards the end Kieth hit a lazer shot from about the 30 that knuckled around a bunch of players and found the net!  Great shot Hock!

I don't really remember the rest, E mail me if I forgot your goal.

Sunday July 15

Rain this morning cools things down a little, but it heats up during the match.  We started 9 v 10 but got up to 11 v 12 for a while.  Guests: Aikaz, Steve, Jake and a new kid, Minor, who came with a full snow mobile suit and played keeper for the whites.  Steve in the net for white.  Bobby's back, but he's lame, same for Ceebow.  Old friend Jonathan Billow actually showed up today.

Shamoo from Kennington, for blue, 1-0
Billow! for white, from outside the box, 1-1
Mario from Imad, for white, 1-2
Jay for white, 1-3
Lightspeed Joe with a header in off a corner kick by Kennington, 2-3
LS Joe hurt himself and left the game, so the sides are even,
Imad, 2-4
Ceebow for blue, 3-4
Little Joe for blue, 4-4
Kennington left
Jake for white, 4-5
Mario for skins, 4-6
Jeff came over to the blue team making the sides 11 blue 10 white
Dave to Jeff, a beautiful cross Jeff caught right out of the air Super Mario like, 5-6
Shamoo left
Mario to Jay, 5-7
Jay left, Billow sat down,
Imad, 5-8
Jake, 5-9
short sides and nobody except for Papa YaYa wants to play any more.  We're done at 9:30

Sunday July 8

The heat wave continues.  We started, eventually, 10 v 10 last man back, but soon got up to full sides.  Guests were  Aikaz & Steve, and we welcomed the return of  Tim.  Bobby showed up but didn't play, he just watched from the sidelines for a while. So with Keith in the white net, me and then Joe M in for blue, it went like this:

Keebow from Joe Lightspeed, for the blues, 1-0
Keebs again, 2-0
Imad for skins, 2-1
Eric for white, 2-2
Imad, 2-3
Scott Rosner off pass by Imad, 2-4
Lazer Dave for blue, 3-4
Imad, 3-5
Aikaz with an own goal against blue, 3-6
Shamoo for white, 4-7
Imad, 4-8
Mark Miller for white, but called offsides, sorry
Carlos for blue with a looper, 5-9
Lazer Dave, 6-9

Sunday July 1

Hot and sunny at game time.  We're in the middle of the second big heat wave of the summer, not really perfect soccer weather but eventually 26 guys showed up.  Guests Aikaz, Steve, Adrian and our old buddy Ed showed up.  Doug in the white net, Keith in the blue for most of the game, but Eric sat in towards the end and played some inspired keeper.

Jeff for blue, 1-0
Lightspeed Joe, from Jeff, 2-0
Imad for white, 2-1
Shamu from Imad, 2-2
Keebs taps one in after Adrian hit the post, for white, 2-3
Imad again, but I think he was offsides, 2-4
Aikaz for white, 3-4
Jamal for white, 3-5
Imad, 3-6

Two water breaks and it was still pretty tough going in the heat.  I forgot to mention last week that Jordan has announced his retirement from soccer, something about a torn ACL and meniscus.  It's too bad, he was really at the top of his game.

Sunday June 24

Sunny and 70, perfect day for soccer.  Mark Miller is the first one there, he's got the balls!  11 v 11 with Doug in the white net, Steve in the blue, just like the good old days.  No guests.

Shamu for white, 1-0
Jeff for blue 1-1
Mark Schwartz corner kick to Shamu, 2-1
Juan left and Lightspeed Joe left so the blue team recruited a highschool kid from the sidelines,
Schwartz with a fifty yard dash, 3-1
Mario, 4-1
Jamal, 5-1

More guys left, we played a little 8 on 8 but I didn't bother to note the scores, it was kind of a mess.

Sunday June 17, Fathers' Day, Dimos' Day

We were snowed out for Dimos' 60th in January, and we never had enough players to make a worthwhile tribute, until today.  Friends Jake, Marlen, George & Aikaz joined us and we had a good old fashioned 30 player cluster fuck of a game.  Steve in the blue net, Snarky Mark in the white:

Keebow gets it started for white, 1-0
Mario for white, 2-0
Rocco to Marlen, for blue 2-1
Rocco 2-2
Mario, 3-2
Jay's corner kick to Jeff, 3-3
Ceebow, for blue, 3-4
Birthday Boy Dimos  for blue, as always, 3-5
Dimos again, 3-6
Mario to Keebow, but no, called back for a late offsides call
Mike for blue, 3-7 to end it.
The Ros had a fantastic opportunity when a a big corner kick arrived right at his foot.  It would have been awesome!  Mark had a bunch of great saves but a memorable one was off another corner kick by Jay to the head of Jeff.  Mark wound up with both the ball and Jeff's head in his arms!

click to enlarge:

Sunday June 10

I guess guys played Mem Day, but I wasn't there and there is no report.

Sunday the 3rd: Perfect day for a soccer game. Yet only 8 on 9. Played with lacrosse goals. The highlight was jay mooning rocco. (as reported by S. Perkins)


Todays report:  8 am start to avoid the forecasted hot and humid weather.  Two guests, Aikaz and George, and a few old friends showed up: Tim, Scott Rosner & Carlos.  We started 9 v 10 full court, last man back, but soon got up to full sides!  First time in a while.  White keepers Keith and Snarky Mark. Blue keepers Bobby, George and me.


Ikaz for blue, 1-0
Vince for white, 1-1
Marlen for blue, 2-1
Jordan to Jeff, for blue, 3-1
Marlen again, 4-1
Ikaz again, 5-1
Vince with a nice header, 5-2
Jordan left with a re-tweaked leg
Jeff for blue, solo, 6-2
Marlen to Jeff, 2-7
Ikaz for the hattie, 2-8
Snarker with a nice shot deflected off Bobby, 3-8
Imad for white, 4-8
Jay's corner kick to Jeff, 3-9


So team Imad/Jamal loses one.  Next weekis a big day, Fathers Day, so be there or be square.

Sunday May 28, day before Mem Day

Warm & overcast at game time.  George brought a friend, Steve, and we started on a shortened field 8 v 8 last man back.  There were some words between Keebow, just back from an extended layoff, and Ceebow, after his six goal masterpiece, but they decided to let their actions on the field speak for themselves.

C to Steve, for white,  1-0
Imad for blue, 1-1
Ceebow again, 2-1, but he stumbles on the turf and pulls a quad, and he's out!
A couple of more guys showed up so we moved the goals back to the full court position,
Eric to Imad, 2-2
Vince for blue, 2-3
Keebs to Imad, 2-4
George to Jordan for white, 3-4
Vince (Veebow?) 3-5
Will with a half court poke through pass chased down by Jelly, for white, 4-5
Jordan, 5-5
Light Speed Joe missed a header, tapped in by Vin, 5-6
half time break, it's gotten pretty hot and the tree pollen is having an effect,
George to Jamal, 6-6
Jamal to George, 7-6
Jeff for blue, 7-7
Keebs finally taps one in, from the goal line, 8-7
Jelly, 9-7
Jeff, 9-8
and we're done and done by 10:30.

Supposed to be a game toady, Memorial Day, but not for me.  Anybody else have a report?

Sunday May 20

Sunny & warm at 8:00 start.  We begin w/ 8 on 8, short field big goals, shoot inside the 30, then a few more guys showed up, we had as many as 9 v 10 goals on the 18.  Steve showed up to play goal for blue, so white put guys in their net, Mu, Kevin, Mark Snark and Will.

C for white, 1-0
Imad with a great cross to the head of Rockster, for blue, 1-1
Imad to Rocc, again, 1-2
Imad solo, 1-3
Dave to C, right up the middle, 2-3
C after a defensive FU, almost an own goal but we'll give it to him, 3-3
Jake Miler, solo, 4-3
Dave solo, 5-3
C (Ceebow) on his own, 6-3, and a chop
Keith stubbed his toe, and goes into the net for blue, Steve puts on his blue shirt,  Speed of Light Joe,  Jordan and somebody else left, leaving 8 v 8 on the same sized field
Jake, solo, 7-3
Imad to Jay, 7-4
Dave, 8-4
Jake, 9-4
Ceebow, 10-4
Danny for blue, 10-5
Jay to Imad, 10-6
Dave, 11-6
Imad, 11-7
Ceebow, 12-7
and that's all she wrote, or all I wrote anyway.  Turf rats take over, and we're done anyway.  Still a weak turnout, maybe we should start recruiting some friends.  Six for C!

Sunday May 13, Mothers Day

8:30 start time due to kids game at 11.  Its 60 and sunny, perfect soccer weather, but not many players showed up.  We started with six v six on a shortened field and lacrosse goals:

Mario for white, 1-0
Mario again, 2-0
Joe D for blue, 2-1
Dimos for blue, 2-2

A few more guys showed up, including Doug, so we went to big goals on a shortened field, Doug in the blue net, Steve in the white, new game:

Jeff for white, from Mario, 1-0
Dimos by himself, 1-1
Jeff to Mario to Shamu, 2-1
Mu-mu, 3-1
Willy for white 4-1
Marlen for blue, 4-2,
Shamu 5-2
Jeff, 6-2

Then Jeff came over to the blue side, George left the game, Rocco went white,

Will with a corner kick to the head of Mario, 7-2
Jeff for blue, 7-3
Jeff for blue, 7-4

Sunday May 6

We're booted off the magic carpet by the annual Waldwick 5k road race, but Rocco secures us time on the "Old Muddy"at Traphagen.  It's 50 and overcast at game time.  There's a kids game on the small field and a bunch of Spanish speaking gentlemen milling around with plans to play on the big field.  WSS member Juan is one of those guys, and he understands that we have precedence, but we don't have many players.  Eventually 8 WSS guys show up, and we negotiate to play with and against the other guys.  So 8 of us, including Juan, and three others face off against the red and blue striped shirt team.  We're a little worried at first, but these kids are much smaller than us and we can manhandle them, and we score two to their none.

Then the blue team takes the court.  These guys are a little bigger, but we hold our own and tie this round 2-2.

More negotiation, it seems the first team wants to play against the second team, but its our field and we want to keep going.  The others want to save themselves for a more important game than this gringo scrimage, but eventually they get up a mixed team to play another quarter.  We tie again, 1-1.

Now these guys are done with us, and they want the field to mix it up between their own teams.  It seems there is some money riding on their game.  There is some slightly heated discussion, but we don't have the numbers to keep the field to ourselves, and they don't want to play with us anymore.  Eventually we yield the field and call it a day.

All in all it was good fun.  The peanut gallery was very impressed by the smooth moves of Mario, and team Old and Slow held their own.  11 v 11 was the best part of the whole thing.  Let's get 22 guys to show up next week, and that means you!  Same bat time, same bat place.

Sunday April 29

Sunny and cool, a perfect day for soccer, where is everybody?  We started 6 v 6 with lacrosse goals on a 60 yard field, got up to 7 v 8, and that was it.  The blue got off to a good start, so I decided to keep score:

Vince, back after a long lay off, for blue 0-1
Dimos for blue 0-2
Mu-mu for white 1-2
Mario for white 2-2
C for blue (no chop) 2-3
Marlen with a great cross to the head of Vince 2-4
Jamal for white 3-4
Marlen 3-5
Frank! for white 4-5
Jay to Marlen  4-6
Jay 4-7
Mario 5-7
Jamal 6-7

and the whites may have scored after a bad call of a hand ball on Jamal, but who knows.  We were kicked off by a bunch of little kids in blue and white uniforms.

Next week we're bumped by the Waldwick Memorial 5k road race.  Watch your e mails for a new location or change of time, but I still think we should support the race and run as a team.  And after that maybe we can get back to some good old 15 v 15 no dick slam jamb grudge matches.

Sunday April 22

It rained a little last night and the forecast is for monsoon, but we need the rain after months of drought.  Start time is pushed up to 8 to accomodate some damn kids game.  We started, briefly, on the red field, 7 v 7, but a couple more guys showed up and we went to a shortened big field 8 v 8, shoot in the box.  Lots of scoring today but no official score, I would not have had enough paper to keep track.  The white team  lost a couple of players so Rocc, the scoring machine, put on a white shirt to help them out and we shortened the field some more.  The quick pass technical game never really emerged, it was mostly 4 on 1 fast breaks, back and forth.  Lets hope more guys show up next week.

Another shout-out for the Sue Zabransky Hughes 5k run in Saddle River next Saturday:
http://www.hackensackumcfoundation.org/site/PageNavigator/2012_5k_run.html

Sunday April 15

Nice at 7:30, forecast is for hot.  We're starting early to accommodate a kid's game at 10.  We kick off w/ 8 v 8, last man back shoot in the box full court, and got up to 9 v 9, but that was it.  Jordan's back for the first time in quite a while, with a elaborate knee brace, and starts things off:
Dave to Jordan, for white, 1-0
Mario defending the honor of the mighty whities, 2-0
Mario again, 3-0, starting the "even up the sides" discussion
Jordan again, 4-0
At this point Jay went down.  He tried to come in as keeper, but he finally left the game and went home.  M Miller came over to the blue side, and right after that:
Keebow for blue, 4-1
Mario 5-1
Jeff for blue, 5-2
Lazer Dave for white, 6-2
Jeff again, 6-3
Mario keeps dumping them in, 7-3
Imad for white, 8-3
Dimos to Rocco, 8-4
Imad, 9-4
Dave, 10-4
Keebow, 10-5
Rocco gets another, 10-6
Keebow, 10-7
Marlen from last week shows up for the 9 o'clock game and joins the blue team, M Miller goes back to white
Marlen scores, 10-8
Dimos hits another 10-9
Rocco again, and blue comes back from a devastating 6 goal deficit to tie it up, 10-10
A bunch of white players left the field, but the remaining few were able to hold on and maintain the tie until we got kicked off the turf.

Back to 9 o'clock start next week.  We get bounced by a 5k race on May 6, maybe we should all run the race instead of trying to find a different location.

April 8, Easter Sunday

Clear, a little windy and cool, like 40 or so as I left home, but a beautiful day for soccer.  We had a new player show up, Marlen, and our old buddy Jake joined in.  We started 10 v 10 but Imad and Jeff showed up and we played at 11 v 11, Steve in the blue net and Kevin mostly, some Snarky Mark, in the white net.  The match was pretty even and pretty hotly contested.  Kebow had some bounce off the posts and blue couldn't even get a shot off.  Finally:

Imad for white,  1-0
Then Keebs comes right back with an open net tap in for white,  2-0
Lots more struggling and the good lord has mercy on blue, Jeff scores, 2-1
Jeff again with a blast that dribbles through the sure hands of keeper Kevin,  2-2
Guest Malen from the left wing for blue, 2-3!
Me with a steal, to Joe D. for blue,  2-4!!
Marlen fished out and the white team had the advantage for a while but then:
Dimos for blue, 2-5!!!
A come from behind victory for the mighty blue pagans in spite of the best efforts of team Imad/Jamal.  Second week in a row.  No gloating, but damn what a fine win.  Damn.  I have to add a word about the stellar keeping by Steve.  Lots of OMGs!, but the score stayed in his favor.  But the game ball goes to Joe D., getting it done on both ends, really helping out team "Old and Slow" with his youth and incredible speed.

Sunday April 1

40 and overcast, we started 8 v 8, Steve in the blue net, Keith and Kevin taking turns in the white.  Joe M and Scott Skyshooter joined the game in progress and brought it up to 9 v 9.  Big field.  No Imad, no Snarker, no Bobby!  Will is up in Mass. doing what young men do.  Mario is wearing his blue shirt.  It took a while, maybe half an hour for the first score, but then:

Mario for blue, 1-0
Mario for blue, 2-0
Jay to Jeff for blue, 3-0
and the mighty whities start bitching that the teams should be evened up, after 18 months of white wins,
Jeff  4-0
so we switched it up a little, Jay goes white, Mark Miller goes blue
Mario, 5-0, hattie
Jamal, for white, from outside the box but we'll give it to him, 5-1 to break Steve's brilliant shut out.
The young Skyshooter and Frank left the game, and I guess Joe Myerjack left as well, leaving us with 8 blue and 7 white, full court.  Damn the field is big!
Jay to C for white, 5-2
C again, with a chopper, 5-3
Mu for white, I guess the fin healed up OK, 5-4
Dimos to Roccos, 6-4

And that was it.  Blue wins for the first time in recorded history, or recent history anyway.  Somebody should check the blog.  Kebow the MILF Whisperer was oh so close oh so many times, but nothing today. Oh well.  See you all next week for the annual Easter Sunday Jews vs. Pagans match.

Sunday March 25

46 degrees and damp after a week of summer weather.  We started early, 8:30, with way short sides, 6v 6 full court.  Steve in the blue net, Snarker in the white.  Keebs scored in the warm up session, but I didn't log it.  Mario asked me to mention that in the spirit of fair play he wore his blue shirt for maybe the second time in his WSS career.  We got up to 8 v 8 and:

Imad with a chip in for white,  1-0
Jamal for white, 2-0
Jeff switched to blue, Will to white, and the sides are 8 white vs 9 blue for the balance of the game
Jeff with a chip in, 2-1
Mario to Joe D, 2-2
Mario, 2-3
Will to Keebs, 3-3
Jay to the head of Rocco, 3-4
Erid to Imad, 4-4
Will to Eric, 5-4
Mark Miller to Keebs, 6-4
Jamal to Imad, 7-4
Joe D to Jay, 7-5
Jamal to Imad, 8-5.  One of these was a wicked horizontal out of the air slam reminiscent of Super Mario,
Jamal to Keebo, who seems to have a hattie, 9-5
Imad with a corner kick to the head of Eric, 10-5
Jay to the head of Jeff, 10-6
Jamal solo, 11-6

The kids are gathering for their game and it's just starting to rain, so we relinquished the field at about 10:30.  And just for the record: no one left early.  In fact the call for one more goal kept us going past the point of physical exhaustion.  We're actually in pretty good shape!

Sunday March 18

40 and overcast, forecast is for 60 and sunny but it wasn't happening at game time.  Perfect weather for soccer. Steve in the blue net, Snarky Mark in the white.  We started 9 v 9 with four beautiful new balls and got up to 10 v 10.  It's a big field with 20 players and everyone got a lot of touches.  Mu pulled a calf muscle and took a while to recover, but he did rejoin the match.

Jeff starts it off for the slumping blue team, 1-0
Jamal to Keeble for white, 1-1
Mario to Imad with a half court fast break, 2-1
Jamal solo for white, 3-1
Kennington with a nice cross court pass to Jeff, Jeff to Dave (I think, I can't quite understand my note), 2-3
Imad solo, 2-4
Imad to Keebl's head, 2-5
Imad solo, 2-6
Me to Dave to Jay, nice sequence, nice goal, 3-6
Jeff dicking too long in front of the blue net has the ball stolen by Mario for a score, 3-7
Scott "Skyshooter" Rosner with a nice corner kick to Jeff, 4-7
Jeff again, 5-7
Dimos with a beauty left footer brings the blue nasties to within a goal, 6-7
Imad, 6-8
Imad, 6-9
Mario, 6-10
Imad to Mark Miller, 6-11, and everybody knows when Miller scores the game is over.
Great game by the Snarker, he even whined a little.

Rocc said we may get preempted next week, so watch your e mail.

Sunday March 11

Cool at game time, like 30, but it's clear and warming nicely.  Steve in the blue goal at the north end, no Doug (broken ribs?) so Mark Schwartz in the white net.  We started with about 11 v 11, Juan and Imad showed up and brought it up to 12 v 12.

Jeff for white 1-0
Mario for white  2-0
Kennington to Vince for white 3-0
Shamu to Mario for white 4-0
Imad for white 5-0
Mario to Imad  6-0
Somebody left or we switched up players because
Jeff for blue, finally, and ruining the Snark's inspired shut out. 6-1
Mark came out of the goal and Will sat in for a few nice saves, but Mark got kicked in the foot and went back in the net,
Keebs to Rocco, 6-2, but Mark was having uniform issues and got caught with his pants down,
Sides dwindled to 8 v 8 in spite of Rocc's impassioned speech last week,
C for blue 6-3
Jay to Jelly for blue 6-4
Jay 7-5

True to my word, I played for the whities.  No difference.  As Will pointed out after the game, good or bad, my play is not a game changer.  Bagel Joe is the game changer.  There was some discussion about how to even up the sides for a more balanced match, and an idea was floated to stop the game and adjust the sides if there is a three goal difference.

I want to promote another 5K for you runners, and everyone else:
It's Saturday April 28 at 8:30 in the morning in Saddle River, for a good cause.  It is in memory of a friend, Sue Zabranski, who died last year at the age of 46.  Sue grew up in USR and lived in Saddle River.

http://www.hackensackumcfoundation.org/site/PageNavigator/2012_5k_run.html

Sunday March 4

36 degrees and cloudy, a little windy, but it got nicer as the game wore on.  No guests and 26 players today.  Joe M,  Mike, Kennington, Uncle Joe and Eddy are back, Keebo too.  Keebs had a rather daring escape from Gitmo, didn't seem to want to talk about it.  Steve in the blue net, Doug in the white.

Jeff for white 1-0
Mu for white 2-0
Jelly from Imad for white 3-0
Ed to Bobby for an own goal  4-0
Free kick by Imad to Mario 5-0
Mario to Jelly6-0
Joe D for blue, finally,  6-1

we shifted the teams a little at this point, the Marks switched sides, Eric came over to blue, goalies came out to play the field, Ken left and it was a closer match for a while,  but then:

C for white 7-1
Mu for white 8-1

and that ended the official match.  Rocc had a bit of a tantrum cause guys were coming late and leaving early, but he left the game as well.  Some of us kept up an 8 v 8 for a little while longer, no score to report on that one, but white had more goals.

It finally occured to me that the problems the blue team has been having is probably my fault.  I felt bad about abandoning Bobby and I thought I was doing the blues a favor by sticking with their defense, but it seems the opposite is true.  Next week I will do my best to fuck up the white defense by wearing my old and forgotten white uniform.  Go white!

Sunday Feb 26

Cool, like 30 and sunny, but windy at times. When the wind abated, it was really nice on the turfs.  We started 10 v 10 full court.  Jerry brought his son Alex, I brought Will.  Our old friend Doug in the blue net so as to have the sun at his back, Keith and Snarky Mark shared the net foir white.

Jeff for white  1-0
Will intercepts a shit goal kick by me, passes to George for white  2-0
Alex to Jay for blue  2-1
Joe D steals the ball,  dishes to Jay  2-2
Doug gets caught dicking with the ball, steel by Jeff  3-2
Doug with a mighty kick to Joe D  3-3
Mario lobs one in for his favorite team, white, 4-3
Imad, white  5-3
Mark Miller to Jeff 6-3
Some re-adjustments at this late stage in the game, some guys left, the Marks came over to blue and we continued 8 v 8 full court;
Imad  7-3
MM to Rocculous 7-4
Imad 8-4

As Jelly stated, "We know what we have to do: keep the ball away from Joe."  Maybe next week.
Done and done.  Jay shared some of his home made vino after the match.  Tasty, but I'm a beer guy.  10 v 10 is tough on an old guy like me.  lots of touches, though, great fun.

Apparently, Keebo was found out and has been deported.  God speed son.

Sunday February 19, 2012

Sunny and cool, 30 or so and a little windy, but it warmed up nicely.  Rocc brought his kids Steve & Kevin, I brought Willster.  No Keebs or Mario.  No Steve or Doug either, so we all took turns in the nets.  Probaly 11 v 12 to start and the sides dwindled as the game wore on.

Kevin to Juan, for team white  1-0
Imad for white  2-0
Snarky Mark from the thirty, for white  3-0
Steve P for blue  3-1
Steve to Poppa Rocc to Jay  3-2
Imad to Kevin  4-2, or was he offsides?
Jelly for blue  4-3
Imad to Juan  5-3
Jeff for white  6-3

Sunday February 12

First, congratulations to Frank and his Giants.  And Eli.
Next, cograts to new grandpa Bobbie!

Saturday we woke to snow on the groud and snow falling from the sky.  But it stopped and the sun came out.  We got the E from Keith: the field is clear, game on!  Sunday, it's cold, 18 at home, maybe 20 at the field, and windy, way windy.  We played with 20 hearty souls, no keepers at first, last-man-back shoot-in-the-area, but full court.  Later in the game we declared shoot at will, and Keith sat in the white goal, Joe M in for blue.  The wind is a definite factor and we switched sides at half time.  White is the dominant team once again.  Dan decided playing for blue is no fun and switched to white.  Jeff & Jerry came to blue, Bobby to white, lots of adjustments, but no answers to the Imbad & Mario white wingers.

Eric for white  1-0
Imbad, all alone 2-0
Lazer Dave, for blue  2-1
C for white  3-1
Joe D for blue  3-2
Imbad  4-2
C again  5-2
Mario to Imbad  6-2
then we switched to shoot from anywhere
Imbad  7-2
Mario with a lobber  8-2
switch sides, wind is with blue, new game
Jay to Rocculous  8-3
Mario to Eric  9-3
JG to Lazer Dave  9-4
Jamal for white  10-4
Imbad  11-4
Jay to Jelly for blue  11-5
Mario to Imbad  12-5

So Bagel Joe had six.  Next week everyone must bring thier blue and a white jerseys.  It's too much trouble to choose up sides but we have to find a way to mix it up a little.  Mario has been white (or red) for every game he has played.  Keith changes sides every week.  I've played for blue for a year and a quarter.  Somewhere in between there should be a way.   Some should change monthly, some bi-weekly, mostly, Imbad & Mario need to occasionally change allegiances.

Juan arrived after the game, he seemed to say he is needs a new job.  If anyone knows of an opening in shipping and recieving, I have his contact info.  Speaking of job openings, if anyone knows of an opening for a new political science graduate, I know one (Will).

See you next week.

Sunday February 5, Superbowl Sunday

Chilly windy and overcast at game time, but we started with full sides.  Doug in the white, Steve in the blue, Jerry's son Alex and my son Will are our guests and the Shrouts are back.  Sides quickly got up to 14 v 15, so we had to impose the 13 players per side rule.

Alex to Keeble, for white 1-0
Imbad to Keebs 2-0
Alex, pretty much by himself 3-0
Keebs, for the h. t.  4-0
Own Goal by white  4-1
Alex for his h.t  5-1
Jelly off a throw in  6-1
Jamal  7-1
JG to Dan for the first legitimate blue goal  7-2
Imbad Joe  8-2
Alex, this time for blue  8-3
Keebs, ruining  the hatty  9-3
Dimos for blue, finally  9-4
Jamal to finish off the blues for good 10-4

Sunday January 29

Wow, what a difference a week makes.  It's 35 degrees and not a cloud in the sky at game time, the turf is glowing.  We start with 25 people, including Willy G, Kevin & Marylynn Shrout.  Juan shows up late to even the sides.  Doug in the white net, facing into the still low winter sun, and Steve in for blue.

Keebs starts it with a tapped in rebound, for white  1-0
Rosner for blue  1-1
Imbad Joe for white with an immediate answer, lobbed in from the 30,   2-1
Imbad again 3-1
Dan to Mike for blue 3-2
Danny again   3-3
Ros again  4-3
Juan to C  for white 4-4 with a tomahawk chop for emphasis
Juan with a long run, on his own 5-4
Imbad Joe to Mario 6-4

Keith said there were not players signed up to play Saturday.  There is some interest in a Wednesday night get together.

Sunday January 23

Final Score: Mother Nature 1, Waldwick Sr Soccer 0

At least there's lots of football & American Throwball on TV today. Go Giants!

Sunday January 15

Forecast is for cold, and I had sent out an E mail to the group encouraging one and all to show up in spite of the weather. Sunday morning it's like 8 degrees at my house and I'm reconsidering, sorry for my E and checking to see if a saner mind had canceled the game. Damn. So it's cold, no biggie, but it's windy too. Ouch. We started with six v six and hurdles for goals just to keep moving. In a short time we were playing with the big goals on a shortened field, but then it was full sides full court, game on. With all the hats and face masks, it looked like the Burkha Bowl. The cold air made it tough to catch one's breath and we quit a little early.

I forgot my score pad, but Fernando had a quick hat trick for white, Keeble says he had one too, and generally the white team scored more points than the blue. Steve in the blue goal tried not to use his hands cause it's just too cold, Doug was in Las Vegas or someplace warmer.

It's still better than last year. Go Giants. See you next week.

Sunday January 8

And the blessed good weather continues. 40 and breezy, but no snow, perfect for soccer. 26 guys including Will Gilchrist. Doug in the blue net, so Steve has the sun in his eyes from the white net.

Dimos to Shamu with a backfooter, for blue 1-0

Joe Imad with a long pass into the corner, a nice cross from Dimos to Jelly, called back for offsides. Nice play, too bad;

Jelly for blue 2-0

Eric to Keebs for white 2-1

Lazer Dave got his shot back, for white, 2-2

Vince, for blue, finally after 4 or 5 major misses, 3-2

Dan to J to Mike the Wizard, for white, 3-3

Dave again 3-4

Juan for white 3-5

Joe D with a back-healed in corner kick, for blue 4-5

M Miller, but called back for offsides, or not, for white, to end it.

Sunday January 1, 2012 New Years Day

20 degrees as I left home, and frost is on the shady parts of the field, but it is warm and sunny by the time we finally got going. We started with a shortened field, 9 v 9, but soon got up to full sides, full court. Steve in the blue net, Keith for white.

Joe D to Vince, for blue 1-0

Dan to George, for blue 2-0

Mike the Wizard for white 2-1

Jeff, with a hand ball penalty kick from the 20, to Keebs for his first of the new year 2-2

Ed to Vince 3-2

Jeff for white 3-3

Dan for blue 4-3

Jelly to the Wizard 4-4

Dominick to Mike 4-5

Jelly 4-6

Dan, cleaning up after a corner kick 5-6 to end it.

Great game today, 11 v 11 for most of it, sunny and warm, so much better than this time last year. See you all next Sunday, we start at 9AM, sharp.