Sunday September 12

Nice cool overcast morning, perfect for soccer. About half the team didn't get the memo about shifting back to our traditional 9AM start time, and about 14 guys showed up at 8. As the nine o'clockers started showing up, we started with short sides on a shortened field. Guest Gustavo filled in at goal for the Red team, and Scott took advantage of his unfamiliarity to score the first goal for Blue. More guys showed up so we got up to full teams on a full field. Some little girls showed up, but for the first time, we stood our ground and they left! No mary-nancies today!

Blue seemed to score more often today, mostly from an offsides position. Rocco, Eric and Scott made a pretty formidable blue right wing. Keeble hurt himself, Mahk Swahtz inexplicably switched fro Red to Blue, and scored for the blue. Tom was the scoring machine for Red, but Mario, Mario and C also scored. C gave us a nice little tomahawk celebration and didn't hurt himself.

Around about 10:30 the mary-nancies left the field, but then it stared to rain. No idea what happened last Monday. Next Sunday, let's call it 9, unless notified otherwise.

Sunday September 5, Labor Day Weekend

Another beautiful Sunday, cool & sunny! We started with short sides but eventually got up to 11 v 11. No Marks, no Keith, no Frank, no keepers, just one Joe. Bobby sat in with the red defense, Dimos brought his son John, and C's friend Eric joined us again. Mario scored for Red, Keeble had three, Jay pounded in a beauty for the blue, then took Mario down with a perfect trip from behind. Satisfied, he took himself out of the game. Nice little shoving match between Tom and Fernando. Dom left early, and the empty spaces on the field grew. Super Mario pretty much had the run of the field. Good fun, 7-6 blue?

Maybe there was a game on Monday, I went fishing. Last E mail was to meet on the grass :(. Anybody?

Sunday August 29

Hot and sunny day predicted, but it's very nice at game time, it was in the low 50's overnight. We're back on the turf, which is covered with dew at game time, 8AM. 13 v. 13, St Rocco is back, no Keith, Doug in the net for Blue, Kevin for Red. Scoring is started by Mario for the blue, with two & Keebs got one. Shamu scored for the Red and Carlos had a screamer. Final about 4 Red 3 blue. Nice game.

Sunday August 22

I woke up to rain, but it seemed to abate around the time I needed to make the go/no go decision. I guess others were in the same situation. We got off to a slow start going cross field on the turf. High school girls were using the other half. We got up to full sides when the high school boys arrived for their 9 AM practice, and kicked us off. We reconvened at the goose farm and changed shoes. The high point of the day was when half the team herded the geese into the corner. It was a standoff for a tense couple of minutes, but the geese finally relented and left.

Not everybody made the switch, we wound up with 9 v 9, so we shortened the field to take the clay infield out of play. Two guests, Eric and ?, two keepers, two Marios, two Dans no Marks, Shamoo, Jay or Dimos. Play on the grass took some getting used to, but when we settled down Blue scored more goals. Keeble got one for the red, Tom got two. Some high school kid came with his dad and played for the last half hour, with dad watching.

We should plan ahead for next week, if we have to start at 7 to get back on the turf, so be it. (IMHO)

Sunday August 15

This is Adam Keeble, filling in for Mr. Gilchrist

On a morning more familiar to October than mid-August, a full-sided game with the newer faces settled in nicely made for a lopsided game.

On paper, the sides looked pretty even. For every Mike and Mario-ito that Red had, Blue had Pennington's buddy and Teddy. The notable difference was between the pipes where Steve took his place in the Red goal and the Blues had a Ted's brother-in-law, a new guy, and Ted's brother taking turns, and that was where it all fell apart.

Not that Steve was particularly busy in the Red goal. Chances were hardly free-flowing at either end. But 80% of Red's shots went in while the Red defenders, backed up by the big man from Northern Ireland, took care of the Blue strikers with a combination of bravery, skill, luck and weight of numbers.

Red were up 5-0 at one point, and finished out 7-1 winners when on paper, and on balance of play, a draw wouldn't have drawn many complaints.

Sunday August 8

Wednesday night we had 7 v 6 in very hot conditions. Joe brought his daughter Natalie who played very well, and we had a guest, Joe.

Sunday, not so damned hot for a change, and cloudy. We started with 13 v 13, Carlos 1 came late and made it 14 blues. Chopman is back from his travels and he brought a guest, Eric. The kid Joe from Wednesday showed up as well. Both of our professional goalies are in the nets, which is always a pleasure. To start, the Blue offense was formidable, even without Keeblue. Shamu is back on the field and with Dom, Dimos, Mike the Wizard, Eric, new Joe, Super Mario, Carlos and Dan on attack, the red defense is in trouble early and often, but somehow manage to keep it together thanks to the constant encouragement of Mark Swatz. Things changed when Dom and then Mike departed and Keeble rediscovered his gift. Frank switched to blue to even the count but even he couldn't stop Kee's three rockets into the back of the net with a header for desert. Keeble is back. Not sure of the score, 5-5?

Jake played his last Sunday morning game with us for a while, he's headed off to school. I won't be there next week, maybe someone else can jot a few thoughts about the game.

Sunday August 1

Wednesday we had 8 v 8 with Mom, Dad & Lindsey Shrout, one high schooler and a guy coaching his girls team. Small goals on a shortened field, pretty much dominated by Jimmy who scored at least a dozen times.

Sunday, not as hot and cloudy with a slight breeze, we had at least 30 players, with Jake and Mo but no Mark, Carlos 2 and a guest Fernando. So that's Joe, Joe, Moe, Moe, Dan, Dan, Carlos, Carlos, Mark & no Mark. Jake was assigned to play Red keeper by his coach, Shamu is back on the field, Keebs joined the blue. Scoring started with a beautiful six inch tap in by Uncle Joe and the red were ahead by 3 before blue started scoring. Keeblu had an amazing break away from half court and toed in a laser from the twenty. Red wins, 6-3?