Talk to the Hand

Soccer in Indianapolis. It went something like this:

When we woke up on Saturday morning, the original forecast of 60 degree weather with a 30 percent chance of rain had been changed to 60 percent chance of rain with 50 degree weather. It seemed a lot colder than that. Of course, it started to sprinkle on the way to the fields and it started to rain at kickoff. It wasn't a heavy rain, just enough to be annoying when your standing in it.

Several of our parents have pop-up tents that keep us shaded on hot days and dry when it rains. But since we had driven so far with luggage and soccer gear, not everyone brought their tents. The few that had them set them up and all the parents huddled under them while the girls warmed up between fields. Before the game was about to start, our manager stood in front of us and said, "Which one of these are we going to take over to the girls?" We all sort of looked at our feet. The parents fit perfectly under those tents and the girls were going to get wet anyway.... Said manager looked a little shocked. . She asked again, "Really??? We're not going give a tent to the girls?" Eventually - the girls had a tent.

Game #1 - Luck-a-Duck

The rain sort of slowed the girls down. The wet ball was making what would have normally been a solid pass a little squirrely. The girls were over-running the ball and playing a little tight. At half-time, we were down, 0-1. About a quarter of the way in, MyGirl took a punt from the goalie out of the air, got a bad touch and it soared right back toward the goalie. The goalie bobbled it; it slipped between her legs and into the goal. Tie Game. (Luck-a-Duck). A bit later, we got another goal and for the rest of the game we "played to the flags." Win.

Game #2 - Sideways Rain

Between the games, the rain cleared, but it got colder. I had taken MyGirl to a Laundromat and threw all of her wet stuff in the dryer so that she wouldn't be wet AND cold during the second game. The Laundromat had a sign on the door that said, "You can NOT wear hoods on your head inside the Laundromat." I felt pretty safe (Sarcasm!). But at least when I left there, she was dry. We made it back to the fields and during warm-ups it started to rain. First a sprinkle, then a steady, cold pour. At kick off, the wind started and the girls were playing in sideways rain. The ball was getting held up in puddles and muddy spots on the field. That's not the reason we lost - the field conditions were the same for both teams, but it was definitely misery. The girls played tough and we had a few unlucky breaks. We went back to the hotel; MyGirl took a shower and crashed. I went to a safer, cleaner Laundromat to get everything ready for Sunday.

Game #3 - Welcome to Thugville

So we played a team from South Central Indiana on Sunday morning. I take back everything I said about our girls being rough. These girls were ROUGH. They were...thugs. (They probably wear their hoods up in Laundromats.) About two minutes into the game one of their players shoved one of ours with two hands as a defensive move. I'll be the first to admit that MyGirl has given a hard shoulder or two after a play, but that is ridiculous. The ref did call a foul on her. But then he lets the girls line up five feet away and as soon as All-StarGirl steps to kick the ball, they charge her. (They are supposed to be 10-feet away and they have to stay in place until she kicks the ball.) Our sideline went crazy. It went down hill from there. The ref-fing got worse. During the second half, StrikerGirl collides with one of their players. The girl gets up and pushes StrikerGirl. Without hesitation, StrikerGirl pushes her back. The ref does NOTHING. No fouls, no warnings, no cards.

The funniest part of the game though was that Coach #3 and their coach "had words." Now, Coach #3 is sarcastic and his verbal skills leave nothing to be desired. I heard the coach of the thugs say, "You STARTED it!" like a kid in grade school. Then I saw them exchange a few words and then Coach #3 extended his arm, put his hand up and said, "Talk to the hand." All of the girls on the bench started cracking up. I'm laughing right now thinking about it. But apparently that ended it, so it must have been appropriate.

Thank goodness the girls from Thugville didn't win that game (or any game of the weekend); they may have lit a trash can on fire to celebrate or looted the concession stand. Coach #3 could have gotten shanked. It's a good thing he didn't use any three-syllable words to quiet that guy down.

The girls ended up third place in the tournament. Not bad. I'll post again later to give everyone a run-down on the hotel game. It was a fun one!