From The Sports Desk – Basketball Week Two

Matthew:  Not much to report here; both of his games were at home so I didn’t see either of them.  They won the game on Monday against Holt 47-21; Matthew had 5 points (I think) highlighted by 2 freed throws under pressure; a bunch of 7th grade girls were cheering him on!  On Wednesday, the team beat Owosso 55-9.  Not sure how much he scored; he at least “stole the ball on defense and took it he full length of the court for a layup”. 

Cpher:  Lost 46-33 to Holt in a game of runs; they were losing 13-5 after the first quarter…and then winning 23-20 at the half.  Of course, Holt had the next big run and that was basically the end of the game.  Cpher had 4 points of our 5 in the first quarter….but then in what has become a trend did not play very much at all for the rest of the game.  Don’t really understand this since he had a good first quarter but I’ve become increasingly frustrated at how the middle school coaches deal with this issue. 

As always, click on the picture for the video:

The game against Owosso was every bit the blowout I’ve come to expect in games against Owosso; we won 48-18.  It was only that close because we missed a ton of shots in an ugly first quarter that finished 6-2 us.  Cpher made 2 free throws and had three or four steals where he wrestled the ball away from their big kid BUT the big memorable moment for me will be how close he came to being seriously injured.  Late in the game their big guy tripped and came straight into the back of Cpher’s legs; Cpher was facing away from him.  Cpher buckled over like you see offensive lineman do in grisly knee injuries; you can hear it on the tape (which I did NOT include in the highlights) as I say “oh no” and the Dad next to me says the same thing.  Thankfully(!) he gets up unharmed and actually continues to play for the next minute or so.  Only complained about some soreness the next morning.

Click.  Video.  Below.

Oh yeah, his free throws.  The other dad called it “a shooter’s roll”…..let’s just say he got some friendly bounces on these two attempts!  “Shooter’s roll” tends to imply that you shoot enough to get that kind of luck…..

It all becomes clear at the end….

The long-promised but never-delivered post-mortem on the Fall Season of soccer is here.  And it is an interesting thing, since it now almost pointless to go over what went wrong.

1)  The end-of-the-season awards had Matthew named as “most improved”.  This is good; he certainly earned it…..he wasn’t playing “like Matthew” in August and by the end of October was the boy (and more!) that we are used to seeing.  So that’s a good thing.  But, it probably isn’t the award you really want to be getting. 

For all that, there wasn’t another player who would get this award.  If you awarded the reverse, “most disappointing”, well, I think there would have been a lot of candidates….

2)  One of the disappointing notes of the Fall was the seeming disinterest of our coach; as the team struggled he seemed to check out more and more.  So, it was surprising, but, not that surprising, when it was announced that our coach was leaving the club (and leaving coaching entirely for now, going into sales).  And so all of the little annoying things seem to make sense now; he acted like everybody acts when they know they are heading out the door.

Think, for all that, he did a shitty job communicating this to the boys, some of which he has coached for three or four years.  Ran into him at a training session in November; he said he wanted to get the team together to say a proper goodbye but I’ll believe that happens when it happens.  If there is one thing he was good at it, it was big promises and not-so-big delivery.

3)  So complaining or analyzing what went wrong in the Fall is kind of moot; it is all changing when practice restarts in January.  I understand that the club, and new coach, plan on really clamping down on discipline, and I think this is a good thing.  Many of the kids, mostly the kids who have been with Stu for 3 or 4 years, don’t listen in practice and then don’t do the things taught in practice in games (and he, infuriatingly, would do nothing about this).  I hope they follow through with this promise in January.  Early word is that the plan is to keep Matthew in his attacking center mid role……I’ve always felt (and have typed here) that the old coach would be very harsh on Matthew for some things and let other kids do the same things with no effect.  So, we are looking forward to the change.

Upcoming Posts:

FTSD – Orange Crush Week 3, Week 4, and Week 5 (been spending more time on videos for these games then on blogging…but will fix that this week)

Henry Ford Museum

FTSD – Basketball Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, and Week 5 (see above about the videos…)

Dog Update

Kevin Update

The story of a broken bass

Ice Bucket Videos (I’ve got to get them out here before I forget!)

From The Sports Desk – Orange Crush Week Two

Bailey Update:  Splint is off….back to normal puppy antics!

Game 3: The team, as I set it up, has ten players.  I know on Saturday, due to injuries and the start of hunting season, that I’m down to seven.  On Sunday I will be down to five!  For Sunday I grab two other kids from Matthew’s team that I’ve never coached but for both days I turn to my favorite reserve, Cpher.

Cpher, in his usual fashion, was nervous and hoped that we were playing a weak team.  Told him that if I was wrong I wouldn’t play him much at all….and it turns out on Saturday the team was worse than I expected.  Cpher gets a hat trick(!!!!) and we win 14-2.

Video by clicking on the first picture below:

(by no means is Christopher any kind of real soccer player at this point….he hung out up front and was the recipient of some great passes.  But, that being said, there are some kids on these fields who pay a lot of money for soccer that can’t convert as well as he did, especially on this first goal)

(Cpher gets credit for this goal in the facility’s book but any official scorer would call it an own goal…the pass from Jackson to Cpher is deflected by the guy in the camo pants into the goal)

(Matthew got a goal as well…..like most games, Matthew is more impressed with some of his assists than the goal.  And he had some sweet assists today..none to his brother though….and we offered cash money if he made that happen.  Had to apologize for that afterwards because he certainly passed up some opportunities trying to do that)

(Cpher’s third goal.  Again, it’s a great pass from Cole whom you can’t see off to the left, but, there are a lot of kids who can’t convert this.  And Cpher hit it with his left foot!)

(this burst of offense produced this strange looking never-will-happen-again leaderboard)

Game 4: Beat another LSC team 9-2.  Both Cpher and Matthew had a goal; Cpher scored early and, having seen the leaderboard above, taunted Matthew that he had pulled ahead of him!  Matthew drilled a few shots directly at the goalie before converting later on……

From The Sports Desk – Orange Crush Week One

Last year I pulled together an indoor team for the first session at soccer-zone.  Travel practice is minimal in November and December (no team practices until January although Matthew is doing some extra sessions on Tuesday and Thursday).  Same group of kids as last year; the goal here is to have fun and rack up some wins as well.  We, except for one kid (and Christopher, if he ends up playing as a sub like he did last year) are U13…we’ll be playing U14 to hopefully find some competition.

Game 1:  Lost 7-5 to CornFC…a team with a lot of Matthew’s teammates on it.  I told all of our kids that we would rotate everybody into every position, midfielder and defense.  That left some kids who don’t play defense having to deal with the big striker on our team.  We didn’t do well with it and let him score 6(!) goals.  The other coach just left that kid up at striker for about 80% of both halves of the game. 

So, we are supposed to play them again….and I’m not sure what to do.  Park my better defensive players back there to deal with him?  Or just keep rotating and let some of our kids get beat up and let the other team have bragging rights.  A tough question.  I think we are leaning towards playing more to win the next time.  We’ll see.

Video available by clicking on the picture below:

(Matthew gets a rebound goal)

It is always interesting for Suzanne and I to see Matthew playing inside with some of these kids that he hasn’t played with in a few years.  We (biased as we are) are happy that Matthew is one of the few (2 other kids maybe?) kids that can play defense AND play offense AND help create for others.  Just surprised in many cases how some of the other kids play (or don’t play).  Watching big Zach score 6 goals and seeing how he did it hopefully was a lesson for those kids……

Game 2:  Won 6-1 against The Freeze.

Again, click below for the highlights.  No goals in this game; this picture is from his best chance that he sends high.

 

Not much to say about this game; perhaps as a result of Saturday’s debacle I ended up with Matthew back on defense more than in the first game. 

Video notes:  The GoPro works really well inside; the goal has a cross beam that runs from the top of the goal to the back and that’s a great place to mount the camera.  It is upside down, but, the camera has a setting to ‘flip’ the video as well.   Regular video (for those who watch it) sucks at Soccer-zone; you are too close and all the video is through the plexiglass boards.  For the second game, the video is even worse….you are really low and the video sucks even more.  Viva the GoPro!

Canine Update

Bailey:  Steady as she goes?  We’ve been to the vet once and been ‘re-bandaged’; might get out of the splint earlier than the 4 or 5 weeks we were told at the beginning.  Another visit to the vet tomorrow.  We’ve been having some, uh, back-end problems as well…..that we were on meds for and the parasite went away but once we stopped we must not have eradicated it…..we are back on meds for that now again also.

Bailey has been constantly seeking the big guy for comfort, guidance, and well, he is he is the biggest chew toy in town!

 

And Wiley has been very accepting of Ms. Bailey.  More on him later….

Taken before the ‘breakage’

Holly:  She has been a little less overpowering in the dominance lessons recently; taking pity on Bailey?  Still not very fond of the intruder; only rarely does she allow Bailey to sleep anywhere near here.  Puppy biting games aren’t really allowed either.

Holly does own the funniest moment of the Bailey-days so far; when we send Bailey to her crate when we leave we shout out “Crate Time”.  Holly remembered this word from the past and the first two or three times ran straight for the crate!  A few weeks have passed and Holly doesn’t go near Bailey’s home anymore….

Wiley:  The world’s most patient dog.  When Bailey goes into full-on crazed-Cujo-puppy mode and starts trying to gnaw on anything and everything….Wiley just sits there and tries to take it.  He barks and growls (seriously at times when she really gets going) but sometimes he is very obviously barking just to make noise and play with her.

Still the master of the car ride.  Still have to lift him up into the car.

But his lack of ability allows me to roll the window all the way down…..and allows Wiley to get his head pretty far out the window.  And he has really enjoyed that change.  Winter weather is probably bringing this phase of car rides to a close though……

 

Bailey has been very good for one thing; she has provided Wiley the motivation he needs to get moving.  He’s been prancing and trotting out to the car….and just his weekend he did something we never thought he’d get back too…..jumping up onto the couch!  A major accomplishment…it is more comfy and also provides him a very defendable position to fend off Bailey attacks.

From The Sports Desk – Basketball Week One

Cpher;  More text, less pictures.  This is because the 7th and 8th grade games are at the same time; one set at home and one away.  I’ve been travelling to the away games and haven’t seen the big guy in action yet.

Obviously, he made the team.  He is on the ‘B’ team and early report are that he’s at the back end of that team…..I’m not sure that he is applying himself here and the reports from Suzanne from the game are discouraging.  Had 2 points in a season opening loss to Jackson Parkside; had zero points in a win against East Lansing and cut short any chance of getting even his equal share of playing time by picking up two quick fouls in the first quarter.  Spent a lot of time on the bench after that.  I look forward to watching him in action on Monday; hope things go better for him.

Matthew:  Matthew is also firmly established on the ‘B’ team but in his case I certainly think he is in the top half of that team not the bottom half.  The strengh of this team, to me at least, is not the guards, it is the four or five kids they can rotate in at forward.  All of them can dribble like guards and all of them are strong and fast enough to drive inside and score. 

Both games this year for the team have been running-clock blowouts; 50-19 against Parkside and 44-18 against East Lansing. 

Click on the picture below for highlights of the first game; really, if you don’t want to watch the 7 minute video just go ahead and start at about 0:45 and watch until Matthew scores his three straight baskets (we were winning 16-0 after the first quarter).  Matthew finished with 7 points and I’m going to guess about 5 rebounds.  He got a little wild in his shooting late in this game…more than a few airballs.  Talked about him driving to the basket when his shooting goes south like that….

He is #11 in the picture below…..

Not as many points against East Lansing but the three that he scored were what I hope he continues to do; grab the rebound at one end and dribble down the floor and score (or try and score and get fouled).  I think he is better off keeping the ball when the guards are the hot-turnover-mess that they tend to be at times….

I won’t see Matthew this week but imagine Suzanne will have a more….enjoyable…time at the game since Matthew is more of a threat to score at any given moment.  Hope to….motivate….Christopher to some better results this week!

Broken Bones

Wiley Update:  The addition of a puppy seems to be a positive move for the big guy; there is almost a hint of prancing and dancing when he really wants something (like food, or he knows he’s about to go on a car ride).  In the car he has jumped down off the chair onto the floor to snack on some crumbs and made his way back up to hang his head out the window; that behavior would have been impossible two months ago.  So, all is good news here.

Bailey:  Not so good news here…..fractured right tibia.  How did that happen you ask?

Holly has been religious about making sure that Bailey knows exactly who is boss.  One of the more, uh, nasty, moves is to any moment that Bailey picks up any kind of speed (running in the house, running across the yard, etc) she swoops in and ‘tackles’ her.  Bailey, for the most part, has come to a dead stop and seems to get the message.

Last Saturday night I’m taking Bailey out….she darts away from the door in pursuit of ‘something’….leaf, wind, who the heck knows…and like always, Holly is on top of her.  But this time is different, Bailey starts screaming bloody murder!  Race over, I think she must be caught up in the leash and pinched somehow.  Pick her up and she sinks her teeth into my hands and will not let up (I have quite the collection of bite marks on two hands).  Get her back inside and figure out that it isn’t the leash…she flat out refuses to put any weight on the right leg.  So, off to the MSU small animal clinic (and 24-hour emergency room) we go.

There are worse places to spend a Saturday night.  Jail.  That might be it though.  What a crappy night.   It took forever….and all that time I’m thinking of what could be the worst case.  Ligament damage that needs surgery.  Broken bones that need surgery.  Anything that needs surgery.

Finally get the news, it is a fracture; it is low, just above the ankle but everything looks to be right where it should be and the only treatment needed is a splint (and time).  Whew! 

(This boy wanted to come along.  He regretted it as we waited…and waited…and waited.  Good thing we had the internet!  Streamed the latest episode of “The Flash”.)

(sigh)

But there is nothing sadder than a puppy with a splint that can’t get around and do all those puppy things.  She is pretty good at it though! 

(it is a good thing that Wiley is here.  I don’t think Holly, without Wiley, would have found a way to be warm, or patient, or anything like that.  Wiley has been the almost perfect big brother.  He has let Bailey chew on various body parts without too much growling and snapping.  If Bailey tries to sit next to Holly at any time Holly is up and out of there after a growl or two.  Wiley lets Bailey sleep anywhere.  Near his back.  On his head.  On top of him.)

(the whole Wiley/Bailey thing has made this rash decision to enter the puppy business worth it.  But I’ll be glad to be rid of this damned cast!)

I should mention that Bailey has been great about crate-training.  Makes it through most nights (10 to 6) without a peep.  Potty training is about a 8 on a scale of 1 to 10.  Mistakes now are when we are stupid, not her….and they have all been on the hardwood floor!   The mistakes now are near the front door, so, we are almost there I think.

From The Sports Desk – Last Games of the Season

Matthew:  A trip to Grand Rapids for the final game of the year.  We play Ole, the huge giant of a team that we have never had any success against.  Making P1 in the spring most likely means we need to get a point out of this game.

We don’t.  We lose 8-3. 

This is the third season in a row that I (and others) think this team has underachieved.  As always, you can find a bunch of excuses but I think the coaches have to step up and take a hard look at what they are doing.  Because it isn’t working.

 

This picture sums up Matthew’s day pretty well…he was always battling.  The other team’s size doesn’t seem to bother him like it bothers some of our kids (who don’t seem to put up a fight and let the other team overwhelm them).  He may not win as many of the physical battles BUT he is always in there battling.  For example, there is this fifteen second video highlight below, showing Matthew doing what could have earned him his first yellow card BUT most observers think is a foul that you absolutely have to take. 

 

I’m not a fan of not playing the ball and fouling kids.  But if you are going to do it a) do it and get it done, b) don’t try and do it cheaply and hurt the kid and c) do it where it isn’t going to hurt your team.   Matthew did all three.

You can click on the picture below for the highlights.  Such that they are.

(not a lot of Matthew in this video.  We talked about this play; he shouldn’t be backing in, turning, and sticking his foot out like this.  Not a great moment BUT there are a lot of his teammates who did much worse on defense)

No Game Report.  Not thrilled that the coach isn’t doing them…seems to be a trend when he feels there is no point (hey, that might be part of the problem).  I think I’ll vent on a few soccer things in a future post.

Cpher:  Lost 18-14 to Haslett; we were in it, we could have won, but man were we a turnover machine.   I need to look at the video and see if there is anything Cpher worthy to post….he did get in on defense in the fourth quarter and it left me wondering “why in the world don’t they have him in there more?”.  Had one tackle but more importantly he just took up a lot of room on the defensive line. 

From The Sports Desk – Two For Two? Edition

Cpher – Lost 44-6.  Played a lot more on defense and did a good job at it from what I hear.  Missed a lot of this game and, well, at 44-6 there isn’t a whole lot to talk about.  One game left.

Basketball Tryouts:  Middle school tryouts concluded tonight.  Cpher spent a lot of time talking before tryouts that he didn’t think he was that good and would I be mad if he didn’t make the team, either A or B.  After saying ‘no’ I pointed out he needed to be a lot more confident in himself…..he’s in great shape thanks to cross-country and he’s still the tallest 8th grader out there.

After the first day as he hopped in the car he said “I don’t know what I was worried about!”.   So, we are hopeful that he will get the good news Friday afternoon.

Matthew – Also gets to tryout for basketball this year.  Like Cpher, pretty pessimistic about his chances.  Unlike Cpher, he has some reasons to be concerned…..he hasn’t touched a basketball in really two years (since he skipped last year after he just missed the A team).  But, like Cpher, I tell him he is in great shape, just go out there and hustle and play great defense and do what you can.  And I might be disappointed that Cpher might not make the team some day, but, with Matthew it is just a matter of time when his athleticism won’t be enough.

After the first two days of tryouts Matthew was reporting that he thinks the end is near….not doing well at all.  Coach called a bunch of kids over to ask them their name; not him.  Tell him to keep hustling, buckle down, give it 100% and if that’s not enough then he won’t have anything to feel regrets about.  This morning I mention to him not to get too worked up about the asking of names….the coach had Cpher last year and probably didn’t need to ask Matthew who he was…..

Today his tune is different; made a lot of shots, played great on defense, picked up a few rebounds and he is sure the coach noticed.  Was on the floor with a bunch of kids who will certainly make the team at the end of the last tryout….a pretty positive sign. 

Soccer:  Really need to win two of our last three games and the easiest games to win were this weekend.  Sadly, we don’t do it, we tie 1-1 and we win 4-1.  So next Sunday is a must win against a team we’ve never beaten, the gigantic early puberty kids from Ole. 

Saturday was cold, windy, and we were missing our big striker.  Probably my first real beef with the coaches; if we knew that we were going to be without our main scoring threat why oh why did we not practice things that would help alleviate that absence on Saturday??? 

But, we didn’t, and we didn’t look very good on offense.  We scored first and then gave back the goal in the second half on maybe my second complaint with our team….sometimes we don’t know the rules!   One of our defenders kicks the ball….we don’t think he meant to kick it at the goalie, but, he did kick the ball and he was very close to the goalie….the goalie was bending down to pick it up and continued to do it.  That’s not allowed; an indirect kick 2’ in front of our goal.   Our kids are just standing around; the other team quickly restarts, pass, pass, goal.  To me, at this point after how many years of soccer, this is inexcusable.

Game Report below (the other coach authored this one, so, some different language):

TEAM: 02 BB VS: Force
RESULT: 1 – 1 Tie
ATTACKING STRENGTHS

• Boys started the game well, switching play on numerous occasions.
• Created a number of goal scoring opportunities. However, most opportunities were from a distance.

ATTACKING CHALLENGES

• Needed more composure in and around the box.
• Boys were to eager to shoot, more creativity needed. At times, one extra pass was needed to serve a team mate in a better goal scoring position.

DEFENDING STRENGTHS

• Good team work ethic during moments when under pressure. During the first half, we were under pressure for at least 10 minutes. We defended set
pieces well and dug deep, as a team, to see our way through pressure.

DEFENDING CHALLENGES
• Boys needed to communicate a lot more. We contributed to our own downfall after scoring. Hesitation and indecision set in as players lacked necessary
communication.
• Must clear the ball more effectively. It was taking the boys 4 or 5 attempts before we managed to clear.

OVERALL COMMENTS

• Really positive start to the game. As a team, we displayed good width and exploited the opposition in those wide areas. Midfielders showed a better shape when in possession and this allowed us to switch play more regularly. Once we took the lead, we sat back a little and struggled to dominate in the same way. The goal conceded was disappointing. Zero communication led us to a situation we should have avoided. Once the ref made his decision, we were slow to get players behind the ball. Overall, plenty of positives but we needed a more ruthless and clinical edge in the final third.

Game Highlights by clicking below:

Sunday we head east; another 90 minute road trip.  Suzanne opts to miss this (avoid what could be some very depressing soccer) and stays home on puppy-duty.  Of course, in her absence, Matthew gets his first goal of the year, contributes to another, and plays very well in a 4-1 win.

The assist:  Matthew has been taking more and more of the free kicks; I’m not sure why he has been back in this role…he has done well and asserted himself here and his teammates have let him?  Just kind of strange given the Lord of the Flies selection process that we had earlier this year.  Anyway, they agree that Matthew will pass it off to Zane running down the sideline.  Zane makes the perfect cross…we deflect it in.  1-0

The goal:  Their goalie was not good on goal kicks….Matthew said after the game that for some reason he kicked the straight to our big striker.  Like this one; Matthew identified and took off for the goal and Zach headed it right where Matthew could run on to it.  One chip later and we are up 2-0.

The nutmeg:  Matthew did a lot of good things today; ‘flicked’ the ball forward off of his head a bunch of times (a big improvement over missing the ball entirely in the wind on Saturday) and hustling and making plays.  After the goal he races over to the sideline to stop the other team from getting out of their end…he makes a tackle and gets the ball.  He fakes around one guy; he fakes and nutmegs the second to continue down the sideline on a breakaway.  Crosses the ball with his left foot (for his left foot, it is a pretty good cross.  As far as crosses go, it’s not the best). 

No game report, but, again, you can see the highlights if you click below.  A lot of Matthew screen-time in this video.

 

(the nutmeg)

Introducing Bailey

 

Was a challenge figuring out how to get the boys to run cross country this year….financial inducements weren’t cutting it.  Finally said “We’ll get a puppy if you do it” and that was what worked.

*They* wanted the puppy right away.  We said “uh uh, finish the season first.”.  Then we said that maybe a puppy might not be the best thing for Wiley.  Well, the season is over, and…

Wiley Update:  Actually attempted to jump up onto the couch (an abysmal failure…but he felt good enough to try it!).  Moves around well enough.  Probably as good as it is ever going to get.

So, we started to look into the puppy thing.  Cpher and Suzanne agreed they wanted a Golden Retriever.  Suzanne insisted on a girl (too many boys already in the house!) and that would be a smaller dog regardless.  Called a local breeder that had them at a ‘reasonable’ price….and was having a litter near Christmas.  Figured we’d be ready when we get back from the cruise in early January.  She had one puppy now; 10.5 weeks, really small.  I mentioned that we were going to be away…she offered to take her back for that time….and that was that.

 

 

 

So we’re almost a week in:

1)  Bailey is doing well.  Only a handful of accidents and then I think all but one has been on the hardwood.

2)  Wiley is largely indifferent to Bailey’s arrival….has growled once or twice when her gnawing on his leg has gotten a little out of hand.  Was really pleased to discover the kong we bought her; had to order another for him!

3)  Holly is a different story; she has taken every opportunity to show her dominance over Bailey.  Barks and growls when Bailey comes near her.  If Bailey even dares to break into a run Holly is there in an instant to ‘tackle’ her.  Funny and sad all in one.

4)  Sleeps pretty well….twice had gone straight through the night although the last two nights we’ve had 2 to 3 am trips outside.  Thankfully, she does her business and comes right back in and settles down again.

From The Sports Desk – Chicago Classic Cup Edition

Headed west to Chicago for Matthew’s second tournament of the year.  The scheduling did not do us any favors again….didn’t make it back home until almost midnight on Sunday. 

Cpher:  Missed football to come west with us.  They won(!); 33-0(!!) against Holt. 

Nike Classic Cup:  Any tournament where you play more than the basic number of games is a good tournament; we advanced to the finals but lost there.

First game was 12:50 Saturday against Bettendorf (Iowa).  We won 1-0.

 

Suzanne caught this series of photos of Matthew’s highlight from the game; another shot off the crossbar.  This time he is way out on a free kick and says he was trying to cross the ball.  If so, this was not the greatest of crosses.

 

At practice the other night I watched him hit the crossbar three of four times from distance; it is popular for the boys to aim for it.  Given that, and that he has hit two crossbars in consecutive games, I’ve asked him to start aiming 2-4 inches lower from now on!

You’ll note Matthew has his old blue top on; he packed the wrong one for the trip.  Kind of miss the pattern at the back of these unis….we’ve been ‘forgetting’ quite a few soccer items recently for practice and so we are now doing a physical inventory of items before we leave the house….sigh.

No photos after this one….Suzanne stopped to watch the rest.  You can see the actual shot in the highlights below though!

Second game is against Chicago Fire Juniors North at 8:50 pm.  That’s awfully late for a bunch of kids from the eastern time zone; was happy they were almost all up and running around the hotel on Friday night at this time playing hide and seek (not sure how much the hotel guests appreciated this move though!)

The only usuable picture from this game is above; need to review what camera settings are best for night games since a whole lot of pictures didn’t turn out well.   We ended up winning 4-1 in a game that wasn’t particularly close.

Next game is at 8:50 am.  Really think there should be some guidance that you should get 12 hours minimum between games on different days; the other team certainly had that.  We played the Croatian Eagles (Wisconsin) and won 3-2.  We only needed to score one goal to advance (we could have lost 20-1 and it wouldn’t have mattered) so once we did score that goal the team kind of coasted for the rest of the game….we really shouldn’t have given up those two goals.

One nice thing about all of these games?  You could set up in an elevated position above the field.  Great video!

Thought Matthew played well this weekend.  Not great; he started backsliding into deferring to his teammates on the ball and had some untimely turnovers.

 

The beginning of a new trend; other teams have done this to us…parked a kid in front of our goalie to block the goalie’s view.  Heck, TKO last weekend would park kids in front and behind our goalie so he couldn’t move.  So, Matthew has taken up doing it for us. 

The final was against Kopion FC from Wheaton, Illinois.  We lost 4-1.  The game was basically over at the half.

 

It was pretty even though; they scored first and then we had a beautiful chance and our striker was fouled in the box.  No call!  A PK would have changed the game at that point.  Instead, it was back and forth for about 20 minutes before we made a really bad mistake and they scored.  And scored again.  And that was the end of that.

Game started at 4:50 pm.  Didn’t leave the Chicago Area until 6:30; stopped for dinner (and arrived at the rest stop right after the bus so that took a long time) but for the first time in a long time everyone slept (but me) on the way home and we drove straight through…made it home at about 11:40 pm.

Highlights:  I have continued to make highlight ‘films’ for our games.  You can click on any of the photos below to get to the video.

Bettendorf – The picture shows where Matthew’s free kick ended up…..

 

Game 3:  Croatian Eagles