Soccer Saturday

Saturday was supposed to be really stormy, and by the end of the day it was. It started nicely, however.

I started the day running our Bountiful Baskets site. It is a food co-op that is growing like crazy. We discussed our upcoming changes, and we'll be moving earlier in the day next month.

I furtilized the lawn and did some housework. Then the weather turned bad.

This also coincided with the start of my oldest soccer game. As I said before, we've changed from a 4-4-2 to a 3-4-3. Out last game was fun to watch, even though we lost. This game started out great, with my oldest anchoring the right side of our defense. The other team could barely get the ball across our half line. When they did our defense shut them down.

Our midfield has got it suddenly, like a light switch was turned on. Two of our players, D and M, are working almost flawlessly together in our central midfield. They are winning balls and making beautiful passes.

Our wing players are a great mix. Our left wing is a super skills player, M. He is kind of slow but has such amazing ball control and vision. He kept playing balls that would make me cringe because he didn't play the obvious pass. But he made perfect through passes that beat four defenders and let a striker off by himself one-on-one with the keeper. Our right wing is a bundle of energy and is everywhere on the field. He, CS, is very skilled as well but makes really good runs.

Our defense has been working well together, but they really balanced out yesterday. They were attacking and covering for each other. They were making nice passes to the wing, not right up the middle like we did last season.

Our forwards have come a long way too. We have one with so much raw talent, C, he had at least five shots in the first 15 minutes. The other two have gained confidence and are starting to make the right runs.

We could tell that it was only a matter of time before we scored. And finally C ended up one-on-one with the keeper. He drew him out and picked his spot.

My oldest ended up being subbed in and left forward, which is unusual. He took the opportunity and made a run in, trapped the ball and put us up 2-0.

The other team only had one real chance to score. They had a break away, but their forward played the ball too far forward. Our goalie ha it covered, but grabbed the other player earning a penalty kick. Our keeper, J, can get down on himself when he gets scored on. He lined up, and the forward took the shot. Our goalie moved the right way, but it looked like he would be nutmegged, when the ball goes between your legs. He sat down hard and trapped the ball by sitting on it. It was crazy. That is how the first half ended.

Having been on the other side of a game like this we knew it would be hard for the other team to get out of their half. One coach went shofar as to predict we would get two more goals and a shutout.

The second half started much like the first, with us controlling the game. C added another goal in a one-v-one situation. The D, our central midfielder chipped the keeper from 25-30 yard out. One of our other forwards, JF, charged the goal and put a rebound away (this was a controversial offside decision, even out coaches thought he was off. Our linesman was new, and we aren't sure he understood the offside rule. He actually tried to call M offside while he was dribbling the ball forward.) My oldest was put back in at leery forward and put another shot away.

The game ended 6-0. The boys were so excited. The wife is sending me a photo and video of my oldest first and second goals and I'll post them as soon as I get them.

Week in review

This last week was crazy. I've been staying in the office lately, but had a full week out and about. It meant I really didn't have time to sit down and record any thoughts.

Spent the first few days at Salt Lake Community College for their benefits fair. Then off to the state capital to meet with all of the state agency HR directors.

Yesterday, April 12th, we had wonderful weather that included snow, again. Mainly rain.

Of course, this was the oldest first soccer game. We ran a little behind, but made it during the first half.

We've changed up our playing system this spring. We were playing a 4-4-2 (four defenders, four midfielders, and two forwards), and now we're playing a 3-4-3. My oldest has been a standout defender, but he's trying to cheat a little too much. The head coach moved my son up to midfield for the second half, and he was a scrapper. It was fun to watch him push people off the ball (in a legal way), and just to see him run. This is a big change from last fall. Joining the wrestling team, and their tough conditioning has really made a big difference. Our kids played such pretty soccer. I know it sounds weird, but it was impressive.

They have finally learned what we've been teaching them about possession. We haven't had the speed to play the ball up and over, no boom ball for us. And as coaches we've tried to keep them from doing that anyway. We had lots of shots on goal, but their goalie was good, tall, and had a mustache (he's only 12). The other team scored because our goalies couldn't stop the rebounds. They did make the initial saves though. We lost four to one, but our team seemed very upbeat.

Now you'll start seeing more soccer from me. Have a great weekend!

Busy weekend

Saturday was non-stop. Woke up, and got to Bountiful Baskets to volunteer. Bountiful Baskets is a great produce co-op currently running in 20 states. For around $17 you get 12 produce items every week. You can also add on other items. Good quality and good value. Luckily this weekend I wasn't in charge and just had to be a worker drone.

As soon as that was done, I had to run home and get my oldest ready for soccer practice. We had a good session with some specialized running training. The one thing I noticed at practice was the size of my son. He was middle of the pack height wise at the end of fall season. Now he is the third tallest kid on the team. He must have grown four inches since October.

Then I had to run home because the wife had to go to a baby shower and was in charge of music for our Stake's baptisms. She sent me a text that Elder M. Russell Ballard was there.

When she got home I had to go pick up more MDF for the wainscoting, and supplies to make a slide for my son. As we were doing that, my folks called and invited us to go see "The Lorax".

So we got home from Lowes, and packed the kids up and headed to the theater. I bought a couple of tubs of popcorn, they are refillable, and my mom pulled small popcorn bags from her purse, and we fed the entire extended family. Then they invited us to Chuck O Rama.

This is always a special adventure as our autistic son gets overwhelmed and wants to run around. We have to strap him down and serve him. My other kids love it though. We did get to have my oldest nephew sit with us, and he is a great kid. (I'm still going to call him kid even though he is 17.)

We had previously been invites to my sister-in-law's house to watch some old UFC fights. We were running a bit late, but really enjoyed the fights. My oldest fell asleep with his head under a blanket. I carried him most of the way to the car, and it really freaked him out. By this time it was 10:30, and time to go to bed.

Sunday was slower, but we got a new bishopric, so church was exciting. We're excited for the new bishopric, but sad to see the old Bishop move. I was also able to get laundry done on Sunday as I didn't have time on Saturday.

Our oldest went to church with my folks. They are doing a local mission with a Spanish speaking branch, and he needed some practice for his Junior high class. He seemed to enjoy it.

We went visiting family, and I got to see my newest nephew for the first time.

It was busy, but enjoyable. Hope everyone has a good week.

Long time no post

Sorry it's been so long. I've been very busy, and very tired, so I've neglected the blog.

We had soccer tryouts a few weeks back. The team is looking really good. We have lost a couple of quality players, but we've also picked a few up. We'll also have the assistance of Coach Chuck, one of the kids dads. He played a lot, and the kids love him. I'm excited for the extra help.

Still going to the gym, and the weight-loss continues. This morning I decided to wear my suit pants, which I only normally wear to church. I haven't worn my suit for a little while, it's been hot, so only the shirt sleeves. As I walked to the train, I noticed that my pants would not stay up. This is very annoying at 7:10 in the morning when I'm still waking up. I got to work, and had to add an additional hole in my belt (as seen below.) Luckily I had my pocket knife to make said hole.



I was going to take a picture of my belt attached around my waist, but I didn't want to look like Anthony Wiener.

Now my pants are staying up, but I have a weird looking, out of place pleat on the front of my pants where I had to fold my pants so the front didn't stick straight out.

Yesterday, the wife did some weeding in the front planter boxes, and got some new flowers in. I'll post some pics later. Tonight we'll get the garden in.

A Tale of Two Games

It was the best of games, it was the worst of games, it was the game of hustle, it was the game of slothfulness, it was the game of hope, it was the game of despair.

Please allow me a little poetic license as I paraphrase Dickens, but we had two soccer games this past weekend, and they could not have been more different.

Friday night we played the best team in the league. Our team was ready. We went out and won every loose ball, played the long ball up to space (not just booming it over the top, but where our strikers could reach it), and dominated. We scored the first couple of goals. It was fabulous and a joy to watch. We ended up loosing, but it was close, and this was the best game we had ever played.

Saturday we played one of the worst teams in the league. We went out and didn't show a lot of hustle. We didn't win any loose balls, in fact we pulled up on our 50/50 challenges and just let them take the ball. They were big kids, and I think that psyched our team out. We lost this game, and it wasn't even fun to watch.

Well, there was one point where one of our teams players was in line to see that off sides wasn't called. The person who was the center referee was supposed to be an assistant, but the center referee didn't show up on time. This parent, who is way more knowledgeable about soccer than any of our coaching staff, yelled out to ask why it wasn't off side. The ref, who was a teenage girl wearing "John Stockton" style shorts, just turned and started screaming at the top of her lungs that the linesman should call off sides. He replied that he was inline, and that the assistant was out of position and didn't make the call. Then the ref screamed, "SHUT UP!!!!! LET ME REFEREE!!!!!" That was kind of funny.

All in all, the kids are doing much better. We have one final regular season game, and then a tournament in a week. We'll see how they go.

Cold

So you might wonder why I have a roll of toilet paper and an orange sitting on a shelf in my cubicle. I'll tell you. It's because I have a cold, and didn't have a box of tissue at home to bring in to work. And, since I have a cold, I figured that oranges were a good thing to bring with me for the vitamin C. (Actually, I bring oranges to work pretty much every day. They are a pretty good carbohydrate, and lower on the glycemic index than many fruits.)

Anyway, yesterday we had soccer practice. The oldest didn't really seem into being there, although it was the best team practice we have had in a long time. Later he told me that he didn't think he would play soccer again next year. I was initially happy, as that frees up a lot of time on my schedule, but then I became a bit melancholy about it. I enjoy the time I spend with my son at practice. He has improved tremendously this year. The team has improved tremendously this year, and it is fun to watch the style of soccer they are now playing. The wife wants to have a chat with him to make sure he realizes any implications this may have.

Our schedules have been crazy, here is an example from yesterday:

3:30 - youngest daughter's piano lesson
4:00 - oldest daughter activity days at church
5:00 - pick up oldest daughter
5:00 - the oldest's soccer practice
5:15 - oldest daughter's piano lesson
6:30 - get the oldest from soccer
7:00 - the oldest's scouts night

I was going to try to fit the gym in, but I was so stuffy, and started getting a fever. I figured the other people at the gym would appreciate it if I wasn't there. I spent the evening after soccer, laying in bed watching Mythbusters, and occasionally my wife's stories.

Lunch of champions

We had a cookout yesterday for Mother's Day, in the rain. I got to take the extra steak with me for lunch today. Hooray for steak.

The salad underneath is a custom blend from all of the vegetables we have lying around. It has Romain lettuce, Iceberg lettuce, cucumbers, jicama, daikon, almonds, and carrots. It is really good.

This weekend, we had a barbecue with our trainer. My kids had so much fun, they keep asking when we can go and hangout again.

The oldest had a soccer game on Friday. They lost, but mainly because we didn't have a readily available back up goalie. Our goalie is really good, but he only wants to play one half. We were tied at 0 at the half, but when we put the goalie back in the second half, he was kind of playing half-hearted at first. This let in three quick goals. We made a change to a different keeper, who we all had concerns about, and he really didn't get tested.

My oldest plaid great. He was running like a mad-man, he even had a really pretty full volley shot on goal. His mother captured the before and after on film. It's not something he's ever practiced, but it felt right, and he pulled the trigger.

Going to sign off, and stare out the window at the fall weather we're receiving again. Have a good week!

Weekend review

Okay, so I didn't write anything this weekend, but it was pretty happening.

Friday night, the oldest's soccer team played a game in the snow. This isn't unusual for the end of the Fall season, but is for the middle of spring. The other team only fielded nine players, and we took advantage. One of the other coaches and myself had to keep telling the kids we weren't going to run up the score as it was unsportsmanlike. The kids argument was that the game is about scoring, so we should do as much as we could.

We made some weird line up changes, and the end result was 7 - 0. Our team was elated. There was one casualty on the field, for the other team. Their star player was bringing the ball down field, and lost his shoe. He kept playing, and when he finally made his move toward the box, our defender got the ball from him. I'm pretty sure he went through his foot to get it. Due to the weather, and the fact that this kid ran around for a minute in the snow with no shoe, he limped the rest of the game.

Saturday morning, I volunteered with our produce co-op, bountiful baskets. We set up the distribution point, got everyone assigned to different jobs, then the truck was an hour late. It was interesting, I helped with everything from unloading the truck, to distributing the food, and clean up. Kind of a fun experience.

We then had our Saturday soccer game. Because of their success the night before, the oldest's team was a bit cocky, and forgot how to play positions. The other team was pretty disciplined in their positions, and also much larger than we were. This put us down by a goal in the first half.

The second half started, and we fell apart. The other team scored six more goals in that half. The bright moment for me, was the last time my oldest was subbed in. He had been hearing the coaches get on everyone's case about "winning the ball." That's code for, "get off your lazy duff, and run!" The oldest went out, and was winning every ball that came near him. If he didn't win it, he was in on solid tackles. In fact, the biggest kid on the other team, who was probably six inches taller than my son, had the ball. He was bringing it up field, and my son went out to challenge. When the other kid pushed the ball to far forward, my son charged in. He had his shoulders down, and ran right through the other kid. My wife was laughing because he sent the other kid back about three feet, and onto his butt. My son didn't even bounce backwards a little. Of course this resulted in a free kick for the other team, but the consensus was the effort was great.

Saturday night we went to a sister-in-law's house for UFC fight night. My father-in-law, the pizza master, cooked dinner, and we watched the fights. They didn't seem as exciting as the last few times.

Sunday was church, and visiting day. Pretty mellow.

All-in-all a good weekend.

Monday Soccer Review

So we drove to Orem for a soccer match on Monday. The oldest's team is really playing good soccer. This was a make up game from earlier this month.

So we made it to the game on time, despite the weather. We warmed up, and started the game. The team we were playing scored on us in the first two minutes. They were great. Our biggest problem was the other team chipping our keeper. He was to short to get the really high balls, and they were really good at picking out the upper corners.

We had five goals against us in the first half. We created some good opportunities, but couldn't get a clean shot on goal.

Starting the second half, we switched keepers. We really settled back in defense, and attempted to ride it out. (Just so you know, that wasn't the coaches strategy, but the kids naturally did it.)

My oldest son kept getting mad at the other team for little things. When the ball went out of bounds, they would all signal their way, trying to influence the ref. My son said, "Who do they think they are? They aren't reffing this match." I had to explain to him that this is quite normal in soccer. You act as if it is yours, and play that way, hoping that the ref will not whistle again, and give it to the other team.

We escaped the second half with only three more goals against us. Now this may seem horrible, 8-0. I thought it was pretty good. In looking over our competitions stats, they had already played one team we had faced. We beat the team 3-2, and had the most shots on goal in a game I have ever seen. They beat the same team 17-0. Needless to say, they need to move up a division. I overheard one of their team comment that they had only one goal scored against them this entire season.

The kids were bummed, but I was pretty happy with the result. Next stop, practice. Hopefully we will have a rain-free practice for a change.

Soccer practice and the gym

So this is what Spring soccer practice looks like in Utah. The funny thing is this was right before it got bad. I just thought it was cool looking seeing the clouds move in and collide with the mountains. Then it got windy, then rainy, then we started to see lightning in the distance at the end of practice.

It had been a pretty nice day, then we had a 10 degree temperature drop.

So after practice I decided to hit the gym. I'm not sure that was a great decision. Our trainer told us that he had been told that all the workouts were hard, so he was going to show us a hard workout.

I was never very big on jumping rope, even when I was young. I was decent at it, I just didn't think it was that exciting. That being said, I'm less of a fan now. We started the workout with 500 "jumps" over the jump rope. I can get out about 100 before I step on the rope. This is a huge improvement from when we started at <a HREF="http://muirfitness.com" target="_blank">Firehouse Fitness</a>, when I could only get out 20, and could only do about 80 total in one workout. I did have to teach my wife not to double bounce or you do twice the work, and it takes forever.

After the jump rope, we moved to 100 exercise band touch and reach. You take a heavy exercise band, stand on it with the handles in your hand, spread your feet apart, then squat down and touch the floor and stand up and press your arms all the way up. (I never did this as a kid but wouldn't have liked it either.)

We then moved into mountain climbers with our hands on a medicine ball. Mountain climbers are the exercise where you have one foot forward, and one foot back then jump and switch. The position of your feet. We did 200 of these.

Now to relax from these fairly aerobic types of exercises we did 100 jack knifes. We laid down, put your arms above your head, and your knees together, then raise your arms and legs and touch them together. This is a wonderful combination of a crunch and a leg lift. I actually like doing these, just not doing 100.

After this, Jason wanted to get our hearts pumping again. So we did a new TRX exercise. He called them "body thrusts". As he was explaining the workout he looked at me and said, "No dirty jokes." This exercise consisted of taking the TRX straps and holding them like you are doing a row. This leaves you leaning back in a squat. You then lower yourself to the ground, son your behind barely touches, then pull yourself back up until you're on your tiptoes. I asked if it was meant as a row, or a shoulder exercise and was told that it didn't matter it was just meant to drain your energy and get your body working together. I started these and they seemed easy, but they did drain my energy.

After that he wanted us to run. This didn't excite most of us because of the weather I mentioned earlier. Jason managed to convince me to do the run. Only one other person did, everyone else threw 100 roundhouse kicks per leg to get their heart rate up. By the time I finished my run our class was almost over.

There were two more exercises, throw 200 punches with five pound weights in your hands, and 200 bicycle crunches. He did have me get in the final part of class, which he calls the "Ring of Fire.". It was jumping squats.

It was a really good workout, and helped me fall asleep quickly, even though the weather is so rough for April.