"I don't understand, there's a raptor there"

I have had the busiest time of my life in the last few days, between my three jobs, house-sitting duties, umpteen teams, and brand-new girlfriend, among other things.

That being said, it's good fun, mostly.

I've had five outdoor games, an indoor game, and a couple practices in the last 5 days as well as some games that I'm forgetting about, but I want to keep it short and sweet anyways.

Friday was host to a co-ed outdoor and then competitive outdoor game. We had very few players for the first game, so I ended up playing striker, which I really enjoyed. I was able to make many dangerous runs and challenge a lot of players, but my shooting was just off; I hit the post twice and was just wide a couple of other times. The runs I made were great though, I felt like a truly natural striker, aside from the lack of finishing. I also megged a guy pretty well, it was awesome because I actually had to predict what he was going to do. I addition to all of that, I had a bicycle kick too, but I may've been showing off just a bit in that case. We ended up coming from behind and tying it 3-all.

I was benched for the first half of my competitive game because I arrived late, and then kept my girlfriend sweet in the stands for the rest of the warm-up. I definitely deserved it, but I feel slightly guilty because of the two goals that were scored against us in the first half while I wasn't on. One, in particular, was off a penalty kick that should've never happened. This was against a team that we needed to beat, too, but didn't. In the second half, we had one more scored on us thanks to some strange keeper positioning and one of my fullbacks getting beaten.

I find, that while playing as a sweeper, the hardest part is when the other team beats a player of mine and I can't get to him in time to fill in and make the tackle or slow him down, and that was exactly what happened. Otherwise, I had a lot of solid blocks and clearances, and I find that I'm getting better at the position. I just have to work on my offside trapping, and then I'll be even better. The only issue with that is when my fullbacks get dragged way behind me, it's completely shot to hell.

Since this issue has been wasting away on my PC for days now, I'll go ahead and post it and play some catch up later.

For now, I've another road trip to Portage La Prairie.

"Oops. Uruguay scored when I was watching Meatloaf in HD"

In the wake of the World Cup, I've been busier than ever.

But there's always time for soccer.

On the afternoon of the third place game, South Transcona District had a game that I was late to due some overnight drinking and work stuff, and what a nail-biter that was. We led thanks to a new player, he had one effective move, and that was to dump the ball past his mark and run around him. Thankfully he had a good shot too, he put in two goals for us. We led 2-0 at the half.

In the second half, we got knocked down a peg, in spite of some amazing play that occured, particularly off a counter attack. Words cannot describe it, so a diagram will have to do.

I'm the Orange star, Ball movement is in black and off the ball runs are in indigo. We did not score.

Aside from some possession and that counter, we got dominated and let in three goals at the start of the half, when our sweeper and I weren't on.

We tied it up with ten minutes to go, and because the team was cocky on the last corner of the game, we managed to counter and score once more for the win. Unbelievable stuff.

Also, I may've gotten a slight concussion in that game when I went for a header. I remember going for a header, hitting something, then waking up shortly after with pain in my head, a bit of groggyness, and this.

What, it's had a couple days to heal...

Yesterday I had an hour and a half of penalty kicks and left-foot practice, two back-to-back games and went for a 4 km run with Jay, and I'm feeling all that today. I slept a mere 6 hours for some reason, and I feel as though I've been worked over pretty well.

Both games were co-ed, the first was with Team Gigantic against a team with an army on the bench. We lost 3-0 thanks to some severe double-coverage and some fatigue, but it was a very fun game. I felt like a prima donna though, my first five touches after running on for an on-the-fly sub were: chesting the ball up, then heading it three times, and letting it drop into a no-look one-timer.

But it was cool.

I also had a few Messi-esque runs from inside my own and some good passing with Josh and Jay, but it just wasn't to be.

The game after was a lot of fun, Greg Pacholek (who is from my old high school soccer team) needed players, and so I donned a baby-sized shirt I found in a back-room and went to town against a team that recruited Derek in net. Happily, I scored twice, the first off a neat cut in and rifle to the far post, and the second thanks to a good cross, bad marking, and decent positioning. We won 6-5, but only after Derek denied me a hat trick after I stole the ball and sent in an off-balanced left-footed shot, which he dove ~40 feet to get a hand in front of. The best thing about that whole scenario was that as I approached him, I told him that I was going to steal the ball and score.

What else are best friends for?

It's the One Above South Korea

As luck (or skill) would have it, my competitive team has collected four points off the last six available. I've played sweeper both games, letting in a miserly one goal off a quickly taken free kick.

In the first of those two games, I figured out something about my play style that needs to improve.

When a team really pressures me, I panic and my passing turns to absolute crap. The team was closing me down really quickly, and I was mildly* fortunate to escape with a shutout. Other than a few scares for both sides, it was a boring game that left the Hurricanes at two points - still, last in the standings. I've always felt my vision was good, but I suppose that's just my long passing when I actually have time on the ball. It'll just have to be something I work at.

Yesterday, I played with my competitive co-ed team; we thrashed a team 8-2 as I played midfield. I had three or four assists, and had a lot of good runs, but that combined with a practice that Jay and I had planned for the Hurricanes a day prior left me completely gassed for tonight's game.

I really am starting to feel the effects of day-in-day-out practicing and playing, and they're not pretty. Thankfully, after an easy outdoor co-ed game tomorrow, I'll have... A bloody practice the day after. But I do have Friday off. I suppose that's a consolation.

Tonight's game was a wild success against the fifth placed team. We were up three but allowed a cheap quick free kick goal, but aside from that there's not much to talk about.

I played the whole ninety, but I literally did not break a sweat. Most of my activity was spent clearing the odd long ball or telling my three defenders what to do, and I felt that I had a much better game than last weeks'. I still do wish to get a little more of a chance to move upfield, but we'll see. Today wasn't particularly good for that.

If I had a highlight of the night, it was a slide tackle that tapped the ball off the defender, but while the ball floated over me (and I was on the ground), I kicked it out of the way with my heel.

I was told I had a better game, but I still think that I need to improve.

* - It depends how you look at it.