"That is just the ultimate gross"

Life's surprisingly hectic in spite of the lack of school and full-time work. Really, it almost seemed less busy back then. Though, I suppose I'm getting a lot done now. Today, I had an appointment for an immobilizer for my car fit surprisingly well with a golf game I had planned. Even though I dropped my car off at noon for a four hour job, they said to pick it up at six. That was fine, except for the fact they closed at six. Right.

There are almost too many games that I've postponed "until tomorrow" that I need to touch on, but I'll give a short idea of how it all went.

Last Tuesday, Team Gigantic's so-called feeder team played and lost to some other indoor team. It was frustrating not being able to play the ball off to people who I knew could do what they expect to with it, but that's just the way secondary teams work when there are just too many people to fit on a single roster. We lost this game, and I took it fairly seriously. It was just frustrating, no bouncing ball went our way, runs weren't found, and in particular, I was fouled inside the box by their goalie twice. If I remember correctly, we lost 5-2.

That Saturday, we had a windup, which was spent scrimmaging for two hours, followed by all you can eat pizza. Needless to say, the next day would have been hell had I played a good amount of football.

And as luck would have it, I did. A chilly practice with the Hurricanes (the coach of whom told that he wanted me to stay around), followed by a short practice with Josh made way to the fourth pizza dinner in as many days, then I played with Team Gigantic and the Electric Shoes, back-to-back at the coverall.

One of the obligatory games against the Sabres was on the plate for Team Gigantic, and they played an entire half with 4 outfield and a goalie. We dominated without playing well at all. They got a couple more people in the second half, but we kept banging them in to win 7-3. I scored once (a flukey sidefooted volley) and set up a few golden chances that were not to be.

The Electric Shoes game was a riot, though. By that time, I had played for three hours that day, and two hours the day before, so I was fairly exhausted. They put me on defense yet again, and I came away with a Greg Walker hat trick: A goal, a goalline clearance, and an own goal. Fantastic. I spent the game covering a really strong, fast forward, and I made him fairly useless, which was nice. I made it look pretty good, too, fortunately, because many of the tackles were taken at the last second. I did this three or four times. My goal was a simple yet effective "pass outside the offensive zone so I can hammer it goalwards with one touch" that had a couple people screening the keeper. Otherwise, he was really difficult to get past. My goalline clearance was awesome, but typical. The ball bounced in front of the net when I got caught on a two-on-one, and before a girl could tap it in, I lunged at it and kicked it up and out. Fortunately, it was called a goal kick as opposed to a corner. The own goal is one I'd rather not dwell on, but quite simply, it's on Facebook, and it involves a ball coming off my leg and bouncing into the net.

Yesterday evening, after a game of golf, there was another game which we won 4-2. I set up one with a neat little sombrero flick then cross, then got a goal myself from a free kick when I got fouled just outside the box. The goalie set up a two-man wall, so I just shot it low and to the corner, and it rolled through his hands. I believe that's my first free kick goal, too.

Sunday's the first outdoor game for Team Gigantic, and I have to sort out teams by then. It would also help if certain teammates of mine paid their fees, as well. In addition to other football politics, the manager of the Coverall leagues doesn't want me playing on three of his teams, so I have to axe one, at the very least. I think I have my choice of which to drop (out of both the Team Gigantic teams and Electric Shoes), but I'll have to chat it over with him. I'm leaning towards the B-team for Team Gigantic.

To make it all more confusing, I got this E-mail today from Jahan.

"Hey guys,

How is everyone doing ? The reason I'm sending this is that I need two guys to volunteer to handle the affairs of the Fury.It's a little difficult for me to run both a league and a team for the obvious conflicts that exist, but I still like to keep playing for the team that I've started over 6 years ago under the same name.

The responsibilities include contacting the guys at least 24 hrs. before an scheduled match and reminding every one about it and making sure we have a full team with at least one sub at the game.In return these two guys get to play for free this season,and also a chance to play for the second division Major League team that I'm coaching.

You can divide the responsibility by taking care of half of the guys which is more convenient and means you are bringing out only 6 players to each game.

If any of you guys are up for the task please let me know ASAP,because we have 5 teams and we want to start the season with Fury next week.A couple of friendlies are happening this weekend.Check out the website for the time and addresses."

So that's three division two teams that I could see about getting on, if I go through with this, though I don't imagine getting enough playtime on Jahan's. I'll think it over tomorrow.

And in case you're wondering, I played two rounds of 18 at Blumberg, and I had improved on my previous score by five, with today's game.

"And that's what friends are for."

Tonight's tryout went well. The new complex at the U of M is incredible, though the turf is a little hard. I walked onto the field unsure of what to do, so I did a small dynamic stretching warm-up then joined a pass circle. It comforted me to know that some of the guys made bad touches during the warm-up, though I had entered feeling confident. I shot a few at the nets and skied a couple, but really, things got better after that. Be warned; beyond this, it's a brag-fest.

We were playing a 10-a-side game on a half field, and for the first time ever, I got the chance to play as an attacking midfielder in a good team. We played a midfield diamond, with 3 defenders and two strikers. There were some weak links, but my team managed to play through and win 1-0.

I had five great chances, the first was a header from a cross that just went wide, the next I tapped just wide of the net after being released, the next I headed a long cross right at the goalie (though it's not like I could've directed it elsewhere), then I missed a curler I sent goalbound with my left foot (incredibly, from 16 yards out, it was a few feet over). My final and best chance came when I went in front of the net and popped in a rebound, though the original shooter was ruled offside. I played very centrally, and rushed back to defend when needed. It seemed like I was in better shape than most others, including the midfielder who played behind me (I was behind him at times when my team defended and ahead of him always on the attack). I noticed that I involved a lot of my team and passed the ball well, and kept excellent control of it. I also disrupted the opposing team's build-up a lot, and filled in for players that were out of position.

Most importantly though, my movement and passing terrorized the defense. I had a couple bad through balls, but after a while, my team started playing a lot of the attack through me. This might be because I was in shape enough to get open, or possibly because I was recognized as a good player to pass to. I always seemed to find a gap to run into, which is part of the greatness of playing centrally behind the strikers.

One problem I did have was with my teammates positioning. After a while it became sloppy, and wingers became strikers and vice-versa. The unfortunate thing from this was that at times we had nobody guarding the side, so I had to slide over and cover. One thing that also could've happened was that because of the pitch's lack of length, strikers moved over and played wider, leaving me in a strange position while attacking.

I recieved a fair amound of compliments afterwards, I had marked my opposite number out of the game for the most part, and was hard to mark myself. I feel that if I did play for this team, I'd be a first-stringer, but there were five people that didn't show up that will still be trying out. One of these people was named "Ali". Now, I'm not positive, but he could be one of my pals from AFC Soccer. If that were the case, he would most likely play the same position that I play, so I'd need to get moved somewhere, most likely winger or striker.

I intend to see what this team can offer me (as far as playtime goes) before I choose this years' MMSL team, with the other possibility being the Aeros.

One thing I find funny is that I would honestly rate myself a league above these guys. If you recall, last year I was basically a reserve player that practiced with a premier-level team, for the first part of the season and the year before that, I missed the cut for a 3rd division team. This team is a second division team that last year went to the finals for promotion into the first division, and I look set to be offered a spot on it.

Funny what a good amount of practice, a lot of games, and whatever else I have can do for you.

At any rate, I need to stop this gasconade and get either some rest or some bookwormin' done. But first... Because I haven't left any of my adored readers* with any truly stimulating visual baubles lately, feast your eyes, if you feel so inclined.

"Darn it!"

* - Pluralization applicable?

"You're going to have to tone it down a little so I don't get complaints about you"

Yesterday night, I played my first game with Electric Shoes. The team takes a few of the better players from White Eagles and mixes them with a bit of young blood, a bit of old blood, and a bit of feminine blood.

Overall, it looks like a team that shouldn't be in the bottom level of the Coverall's co-ed hierarchy.

But we are.

I was placed on defense in a 2-1-2 formation. Our girls attacked. In spite of "going easy", I played well enough to not allow any goals when I was on, but badly enough to make a few mistakes. I'm not sure if Fabio telling me to tone it down got to me, or if it was just the fatigue, but I let the ball roll under my foot one particularly bad time, and generally eased the pressure on their attacking players more than I should've. We won 4-2.

The fact remains though, that I want more license to attack. I'm positive I looked like a caged animal back in defense, as I ran far forward whenever I had the chance. I'm going to pitch the idea for a 1-1-2-1 formation as we looked pretty solid in the back, hoping that the two girls that would play the attacking mid positions (who were excellent passers) could come back and defend when needed, and otherwise give us width. The reason for the one striker is that we just lacked a bit of an edge, and a strong front man could give that to us.

Tonight I play in my city's new complex over at the university. Should be interesting, as it's a tryout for the Saint James Hurricanes. Unfortunately, I miss a Team Gigantic game for it, but sacrifices must be made, I suppose.

In other news, I'm sick, and exams. Oh, and I missed the first and last playoff game for the Eagles because it was at 11 AM. And I was sick.

Stop rolling your eyes at me like that.

"I was half drunk, half blacked out, half passed out, and they still couldn't make me put shaving cream on my face."

It has seemed longer than a week since my last post, but it's been a busy last little while regardless.

Perhaps the reason I've been putting it off was because the last game I played, the finals, is one I'd rather forget.

But before that, the Eagles had their last game of the season against the top team. This was the one that I may have mentioned had the (at one point) best player in my province on their team, and boy, he's difficult to mark. He's got quick movement, and a good touch as well. I got beat by him a few times, but I kept up for the most part. The most unfortunate thing was that I'd shut his shooting and running lanes down, and he'd just back up and pass it to a teammate my team left open. We lost that one 4-8.

As far as the finals go, as I mentioned in the last post, we played Academy. The game was fairly end to end, but in the end, we lost 3-1. Our only goal came from Matt, who had the ball deflect off two of their players from a long shot and roll in. The last person the ball hit was actually "Big Old Fuck", if you remember correctly, and he flipped out and was an asshole for the rest of the match. Not that he wasn't before, of course.

Two of their goals were set pieces in which the wall was set up like this:

Except, kick coming now, before the wall is set.

That's not to say we didn't set a wall. We did, except we just didn't cover the open part of the net with either a goalie or more wall.

Then I shot a penalty shot at their goalie from a handball. The funny thing is that I hit three perfect penalty shots in the warm up. I'm over it though, and the team forgave me. I feel considerably better that we ended up losing by two as opposed to one. I suppose I was just tired, as I took a huge run up and just blasted it. In my defense, there's not much else to do in indoor soccer.

Most recently, I've taken up baseball. Now, that game is so relaxing, I have a hard time calling it a sport. Really, you hit things with a bat, chill in the outfield, catch balls, and that's about it. My first practice was yesterday, and I ended up slipping on the part of the field that was still wet - I was soaked. Fortunately for me, I had come prepared with a change of clothing.

Also, it turns out I'm somewhat of a natural. I went to bat a few times, and for a couple of those, I hit deep center field drive, over the outfielder's head.

"It was like the spinorama llama-dama empty-netter"

After Team Gigantic had booked themselves a place in the semi-finals, we found that we would be playing Sabres, another friendly rival. In the other semi-final were the not-so-friendly rivals Academy, and another old unfriendly rival, FC Inter.

FC Inter came up against us a couple times in our first season, and they beat us thoroughly. At one point, one of their guys decided that getting into a fight with Stephen would be a good idea, but unfortunately it never happened. It did work well for Stephen though, he really got under the guy's skin with some well-placed sarcastic comments and a smile that could make a small child wet himself. Him and I laughed about it afterwards, and still do to this day.

Though it turns out Academy beat them, so it was them and the winner of our game in the playoffs.

If you need an introduction as to what Academy are like, well, to put it shortly, they're a bunch of assholes. Check some of the previous posts tagged "Academy" and you'll find out.

Now, the Sabres game started well for us. Jay and I each put a goal in, mine was a simple rebound-and-volley. By just after half they had tied it up with one particularly terrible goal, where Jay fouled a guy in the corner, and they took it quickly. Shaun managed to somehow save the first in a 2-on-him, but they then equalized off the rebound. My team started to freak out a little because of the lack of control over the decision and the quickly taken free kick. We had people questioning the ref more than concentrating on the game, and fouled more than playing the ball. Admittedly, we were getting a little jumpy, so I sat on the bench and quite literally silently meditated to get all of the other distractions out of the way.

I had not even employed it as a method to improve my game, but the next shift I was on, it seemed to have worked. I pounced on a loose ball by their net, roulette'd it out of the way of the goalie, and then slotted it into an empty net as I heard multiple footsteps approaching behind me. It was a fantastic goal that fired everybody up, and Jay went on to put in one more after that, so we won 4-2. I couldn't really contain myself after the goal, and I did the typical clenched-fists facing-up-but elbows at my side while running and screaming. I think I've found my default celebration (which may have fired my team up more than the goal itself).

It's funny how such a momentum change can occur so quickly though. One moment, we were pissed off and fouling everybody, then after the goal, we calmed down and played a fantastic rest-of-the-game.

My dad, one of our many spectators today, had really enjoyed the game. With him were Josh's parents, who dubbed my goal today's title.

And now our most challenging test this season is about to come, this Saturday. I've got to really step up in this game, as I've been somewhat responsible for the push to playoffs and sparking our momentum in the playoffs. The thing is, I've scored one goal in maybe 6 matches against Academy, and that goal was a gift, however deciding of that game it was. Contrasting that to my recent form in both that league and others, though, I might do well. I have 6 goals in as many games for Team Gigantic, and I can't remember the last game that was not an AFC Soccer game that I haven't scored in.

We'll just have to wait and see, I suppose.

"Ohh, thank you, patient young man."

I'm a few days overdue, but my most recent playoff game deserves a separate post than this, so I'll go over my last few games.

First off, Jahan called me at 9 Saturday morning to alert me of a game in a couple hours. I woke up at noon, so I missed it. They lost against the top team in the semis anyways.

A few nights before, Team Gigantic played friendly rivals Superfriends in a quarter final match. I'd have expected it to be a low-scoring, tough match, but I was wrong. Team Gigantic changed our strategy for this one, we decided to man-mark the central (and usually most dangerous) player on their team. It worked fantastically, we tired their most dangerous player out, frustrated him, and ended up winning emphatically (7-2). I scored the first by pouncing on a loose ball and then slotting it into the bottom corner. Then 6 other guys on our team scored as well, which is odd. Usually, Jay and I score the majority of our goals (over half when put together in regular season).

On Sunday, Fury played their playoff game as well. I thought it'd have been an easy win, but I was wrong. I scored once in an 8-4 loss. My goal was a simple little rebound-and-shoot. Another highlight was that I definitely didn't feel so lost this time around, I robbed a couple guys and really put some pressure on their defense. I suppose our weakness was that all of the part-timers that played with us decided to all come out, and nobody really knew how to play with everybody. It didn't help that their team had a good goalie.

I haven't realized until recently how important knowing your teammates is. I think this is the key to success that Team Gigantic usually experiences in the playoffs, as we usually start the season slow, then end with some Cinderella-esque playoff run. The core of our team usually doesn't change, but newcomers do eventually work into the (lack of) system that we use by then.

Or maybe we're just lucky.

While we're on the topic of cohesiveness, I'm off to a White Eagles game, with whom even the best cohesion could not save us. This game should be interesting, as I'm going to (try) mark one of the former best attacking players in Winnipeg, currently with 40 goals in 15 games in our league. Why on earth is one of the best player playing recreation mens? I don't know. Maybe it's because his brother is playing. At any rate, his name is Dalibor Planicac, and I believe he used to play for Lucania. he's seemed out of shape lately, but we'll just have to see.

Who knows, maybe I'm pick up something from him.