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

From The Sports Desk – PR Edition

Monday was the Greater Lansing Jr. Cross Country Championship…or some long name like that.  The last cross country meet of the year.

Had been encouraging the boys to try and catch the kids in front of them.  Happy to report that this meet was the PR (personal record) for each of them.

The best thing about this photo?  I’ve never seen Cpher running with this other kid before.  He really stepped up and ran flat out for 2 miles..

A little later….he’s pulling away from that kid and passing a lot of other kids.   I commented to the friend I was watching the race with that I hadn’t seen Cpher with any of these kids when he ran and, in fact, noticed the kids he usually runs near were way behind him.  Thought that might mean a dramatic change in his time….

That’s just short of 2 minutes faster than anything he’s pulled off this year.  It was so much faster that it caught me off guard; I though I would have time to walk back to see him finish…turns out I almost missed it because he ran so much faster than he usually does.

 

Was a little surprised by when I saw Matthew….his friends Parker and Greg were way ahead of him.   Not sure why he didn’t take it out faster or why they decided to start so fast….

But I yelled out to him when he came back “Go and catch Greg!!!”….

Mission Accomplished.  Barely!  That time is still about 30 seconds faster than anything he’s pulled off this year. 

Both boys seem intent on continuing to run some through the winter and open to practicing with the high school team this summer.  We will see….

From The Sports Desk – Doink! Edition

Cpher:  Lost to Grand Ledge.  I don’t even remember the score and I was there for the whole thing….36-14?   Just a long season getting longer.  Cpher complained about leg in his pain and didn’t play the second half.  He said he played through it in the first quarter so I don’t know what was going on.  Was not an issue when he was warming up to run the next Monday so who knows?

Matthew:  Tied the league leaders 3-3.  Completely dominated the first half; had a 1-0 lead.  Went 2-0 up early in the second half; they responded to make it 2-1.  It’s tough to say the game turned on this play, it isn’t fair at all, but, this goal, if it was a goal, would have made it 3-1 and things probably would have been a lot different.

You can click on the picture to see the video.

A few things here:

1)  Zach, over there on the right, has just centered the ball to Matthew, who is there in the center at the 18’ and has just shot the ball…..

2)  We are playing on the new turf field.  The bleachers and lights are in and it really looks great.

3)  The ball that Matthew has just shot is above they yellow player in front of him…..after the game I was a little critical of Matthew about this shot because he didn’t drive the ball like he has been working on.  Seeing it on replay make me take that criticism back; think he did about as much as he could with it.  Except be maybe one inch shorter on it.  The ball bounced down, hit the goalie in the back, and then went sideways, not into the goal. 

4)  Gopro.  Finally, after a long (probably too long) experimental period, have it figured out where I can tape the whole game.  No wifi enable, need battery pack charged to full capacity.

Anyway, he missed, they scored the next two to make it 3-2 them and we were lucky to equalize late to make it 3-3.  Which is too bad; we really dominated the first half and probably deserved better than that. 

 

If you are curious, you can click on that picture above to see what I’ve started to do for games; make a 7 to 10 minute highlight video complete with captions and title screens.  This play is TKO’s second goal; you can see the ball between Matthew and Zack over there on the left coming in from a corner kick.  They both miss it; the guy you an barely see in front of the other player doesn’t…..he heads it in for the goal. 

Game Report:

DATE: 5^th October

TEAM: 02 Boys Blue –vs- TKO CREW

RESULT: 3-3 Tie

ATTACKING

ATTACKING STRENGTHS

Created good chances in the first half and looked dangerous every-time we attacked.

Looked to exploit the opposition’s high line.

Looked very dangerous from the wide areas and players in the centre of the park got looked to get on the ball

Good through balls.

ATTACKING CHALLENGES

Wide players not bursting up the field the join the attack but just giving us a safe option when we were counter attacking.

Wasted too many set pieces.

Final ball was a little over hit.

Still need to be a little more clinical in the final third.

DEFENDING

DEFENDING STRENGTHS

In the first half especially we were first to most balls.

Defended well from the front.

Dropped back and got ten behind the ball very quickly.

Very good at battling for aerial balls and stepping onto the ball.

DEFENDING CHALLENGES

Stepped up a little too high with them playing with two strikers.

Got caught out a few times with players on the centre of the park not giving the best defensive shape.

OVERALL COMMENTS

This was a very good team we played and we did some excellent stuff against them. We talked about playing with more freedom and not worrying about the results. The boys seemed to take that on board at the start and played the ball around well and created the much better chances. We could have gone in with a much bigger lead at half time however I was pleased overall. We started the same way in the second half and were 2-0 up. We made a few mistakes and they had a few moments of magic and suddenly we had to claw our way back into the game. There were several times when our center forward would pick up the ball and run and we would be supporting him wide but never SPRINTING beyond him or joining him. This left our forward isolated and until we made some changes to our system we wasted too many chances. We must be more prepared to gamble forward when we counter attack. Overall I think we shaded the game against a good team and took a few more chances then in previous weeks. I also felt that we worked a little harder off the ball then in previous weeks which helped us manage the game better.

Kevin’s Yearbook - 2014

While Kevin appears a lot in this edition; I’m a little disappointed that they didn’t cover quiz bowl or Quizbusters very well (one picture that I’m not even including here).

 

I had never seen this picture…it is at the hotel before the State finals.

 

More not thrilled; why does the title have to be a somewhat derogatory term?  SMH as the kids say….

 

 

 

Another picture I’ve never seen….and I have no idea where it is at or who he is with.  Will have to ask him….

From The Sports Desk – Who Turned Out the Lights Edition

Matthew:  That soccer game I thought was a must-win?  A 0-0 tie.  Still have a shot at Premier One but it is getting a little dicey.  Again, we had more than enough chances.  Again, the boys who are entrusted with scoring the goals for our team can’t seem to put a shot on net to save their lives…..I counted at least 5 good (not good, great, incredible!) opportunities where when 1 on 1 with the goalie we can’t even put the ball on frame.

Thought Matthew played ok.  Not his best outing, but far from the worst thing I’ve seen on the field this year.  Unlike a lot of his teammates, he was at least hustling and trying to create something….a couple of players ended up on the bench for uninspired play.

Play the league leaders next weekend.  Getting any result, tie or win, would be a huge boost.  Continuing to piss away chances in front of the goal will lead me to speculate openly out here about what I think we need to be doing…..

Game Report below:

TEAM: 02 Boys Blue VS Carpathia Kickers

RESULT: 0-0(AWAY)

ATTACKING

ATTACKING STRENGTHS

Had numbers up in the final third and had good runs in behind.

Looked dangerous from set pieces.

In the first half got in behind to great effect especially in the wide areas.

Created more chances then the opposition.

ATTACKING CHALLENGES

Not good enough finishing. Had chances to toe-poke to score and didn’t take them

Too many players didn’t impact the game or get on the ball often or good enough.

Decisions in the final third were a little too slow.

Full backs weren’t wide enough quick enough

DEFENDING

DEFENDING STRENGTHS

Didn’t have a great deal to do. Thought that a few players played well and won their individual battles.

Centre mid’s tucked in and covered well for players.

DEFENDING CHALLENGES

Wingers and fullbacks got beaten a little too easily.

Took our eyes off the ball when we went to make challenges.

Some wingers didn’t track back and this was an issue in today’s game.

OVERALL COMMENTS

Just didn’t impose ourselves as well as we could have. We have some exceptionally talented players but players didn’t seem to be on the same page today. Too many players go missing throughout the game and don’t command or demand the ball. I think too many players are going through the motions and doing the simple things but not taking enough chances. We need to play with a bit more confidence and freedom something we will try to install in the lads this week.

Cpher:  No football; we couldn’t make the logistics work.

Cross-Country One:  Two meets this week; the first in Haslett on Monday. 

 

 

 

Ran well; at or equal to his best time.  Said he walked for a brief spell after the big hill. 

 

 

 

Not this boy’s best outing according to him.  Matthew said (and other kids from our team agreed) that the start was not what they were ready for…seemed like everyone was off balance when the gun went off.  Matthew said he cramped up in the first mile, and when they came by the first time he was well behind other kids he had been ahead of in previous races.  Made up some ground in the second mile (you can see the one kid from the other team with the glasses who is just ahead of Matthew in the first pictures is well behind him in this picture) and finished with his best time of the year.

Have challenged Matthew at the next meet; we picked one kid from his team that runs 30 to 45 seconds ahead of Matthew.  On Monday, Matthew’s goal is to stick with him as long as he can.

Cross Country Two:  No Matthew here; soccer-first means that Matthew is off at practice instead of running here.  But Cpher journeyed out to a course with the biggest hill I’ve seen yet!

Not enthused with how this boy started the race; just a slow jog out while talking with one of his friends.  So, he was a little further behind the group than usual.

 

 

I will give him full credit though; he sprints in very well and passed five or six kids this time towards the finish.  Not the greatest of times (because of the slow start) but for the second race in three days we have no complaints.  He has the same challenge as Matthew; picked out the kid in front of him (just the way the team works out the kids is a minute faster than Cpher) and his goal is to stick with him on Monday (foreshadowing;  after football this weekend I’m not sure Cpher will even run on Monday….the injury bug is visiting us).