This weekend I laid in bed on Saturday morning and watched the 1976 version of “The Bad News Bears” with Walter Matthau. Although it’s not “The Sandlot,” it is a cute baseball movie. I forgot how cute.
I generally think that baseball is one of the worst sports ever. It’s so slow to watch. There is no action and it lasts forever (Sandlot fans are saying, “FOR…EV…ER!”)
There are a couple of great scenes, but I think the best line in the movie is when Buttermaker (AKA BoilerMaker, AKA ButterCrud) says, “All I know is when we win a game, it's a team win. When we lose a game, it's a team loss.”
Truer words have never been spoken.
If you would have seen MyGirl’s team Mother’s Day weekend, you would have thought that they were the Bad News Bears! They only needed the yellow uniforms with Chico’s Bail Bonds as the team sponsor.
Ninety percent of the touches on the ball were bad. They couldn’t catch a break. And it wasn’t just one of them, or two of them, or even most of them it was ALL of them. Holy Moly. I am picturing that first game in my head right now and the theme song is straight from the Bad News Bears Soundtrack… in slow motion.
There wasn’t a half-time speech in the world that could have helped. They had lost their “mojo.” It was gone – long gone. Seriously, I know for sure that I saw at least two whiffs at the ball. The girls lost 0-2 … to a team that they beat 6-0 two weeks ago.
After the game was over, SpeedofLightGirl broke into tears because she had been knocked down, ankle twisted and stepped on during the game. She ended up injured and is out for six weeks – starting right then. SisterMarySoccer had to rush out of the complex because she was headed out of town for a family commitment.
(Props to SisterMarySoccer and her dad though – they went to their ceremony and rushed back (3 hours) when they found out SpeedofLightGirl was out of the game. They didn’t make it in time to get checked in, BUT they did try awfully hard!)
So there the girls were, down two players with no mojo. They didn’t give up though… they kept playing until the end, but man, it was painful to watch. We knew they could do better. They knew they could do better. Another loss – 0-2. I actually videotaped the second game, but MyGirl won’t watch it. It “disgusts” her.
Game #3 was a bit better on Sunday morning. They didn’t quite have their “mojo” but they at least had their touch back – some of the time. At half time, they were down 0-2. About two minutes in to the second half, SisterMarySoccer picks a ball off one of their players, passes to MyGirl. She takes a few touches and dishes to StrikerGirl. StrikerGirl shoots. 1-2. A bit later, SisterMarySoccer feeds StrikerGirl. StrikerGirl scores again. Tie Game.
I’ll say this, MyGirl took a huge hit to the face. She sucked it up and stayed composed. No Crazy Eyes. She did also have an AWESOME slide tackle and by George, it happened right in front of me AND the video camera.
Overall though, it was a bad, bad weekend at the fields. Bad. But this weekend, we head north to play in the State League Tournament. It’s a tournament we had to qualify for and not only did we qualify, we came in first in Eastern division.
In closing, I just have to say - We gotta game with Azul this Friday and that means only one thing, Bad News for Azul!
Say a prayer for the girls. This is weekend is what they have worked so hard for!
Monday, May 23, 2011
Monday, May 16, 2011
State League - Game #3!!
After we returned home from Louisville (slightly) victorious, it was time for our 3rd State League Match. (If you’ll remember, MyGirl was overcome with Crazy Eyes during the first State League match and had to sit out the second.
So she was psyched for this one. The last thing I said to her was, “Don’t eat too much, you don’t play well on a full stomach. AND – don’t punch anyone today! Okay???” I have a bit of a commute to work and the fields we played on for State League were a bit of a commute too, in the other direction. So, All-StarGirl’s mom picked up MyGirl from school and took her to the game.
Hubs and I were going to meet at an Outlet Mall just off the interstate and head north an hour more to the game. Perfect plan – until you factor in traffic. It ended up that Hubs and MyBoy were at the mall waiting for me, when I came upon a car wreck – six miles from where I was to get off the interstate to meet him. It took me 45 minutes to get that six miles. At least Hubs and MyBoy were at a mall and could get some shopping done, I guess.
Anyway, when we finally hooked up, we started driving as fast as our little Nissan could take us. I realized when we were about 30 minutes away and the games was about to start, that we weren’t going to make it there until half time. I text messaged MPIC, SM3, AllStar Girl’s Mom and SisterMarySoccer’s dad: “I’m not going to make it on time. Keep me posted. Should be there by half.” The rest of the conversation went like this.
SisterMarySoccer’s Dad responded instantly, “Is MyGirl with you????”
Me: “No. She caught a ride from AllStarGirl.”
Sister MarySoccer’s Dad: “I have a visual on her. She’s here.” (I did not receive another message from SisterMarySoccer’s dad. I will remember that when he isn’t at a game!)
AllStarGirl’s Mom: “Ok”
SM3, MPIC: “Game on”
2 minutes into the game
AllStarGirl’s Mom: “We look at little slow. The grass is giving them trouble.”
UGGH!!!
AllStarGirl’s Mom: (I don’t remember exactly, but it was a longer, more-detailed version of ‘Cross in, we score.’
1 minute later
SM3: “We score.” 30 seconds later – MPIC sends the same message.
1-0. You would not believe how intense the car ride was… We were trying so hard to get there and you never knew if anytime my phone buzzed it was going to be bad for us, or good for us.
A few minutes later, something crazy looking must have happened because I got these messages:
AllStarGirl’s Mom: “The grass is really thick.”
30 seconds later:
SM3: “Us 1, them 0, Grass 3”
I texted AllStarGirl’s Mom: “How’s MyGirl playing?” She replied, “Good. Very Focused. Intense.”
A bit later, my phone alarms three times. We scored again.
Hubs, MyBoy and I FINALLY pull into the parking lot and I can see the game. We got there in time for me to see about 5 minutes of the first half. As I walked up, I see one of their girls push one of our girl straight off the ball. I yelled, “Hey! That’s a foul!” from about 20 feet away from the sidelines. One of the parents turned around and said, “It’ll get worse, he hasn’t called anything all game.”
We ended up winning 3-0. The second half was a good one. The refs didn’t call much of anything. MyGirl was intense and focused. (No crazy eyes!)
The girls looked like a well-oiled machine. They made some really great passes. And Coach #3 was...satisfied.
State League Record: 3-0! One more win and we are going into the State Tournament as #1 in the East!
So she was psyched for this one. The last thing I said to her was, “Don’t eat too much, you don’t play well on a full stomach. AND – don’t punch anyone today! Okay???” I have a bit of a commute to work and the fields we played on for State League were a bit of a commute too, in the other direction. So, All-StarGirl’s mom picked up MyGirl from school and took her to the game.
Hubs and I were going to meet at an Outlet Mall just off the interstate and head north an hour more to the game. Perfect plan – until you factor in traffic. It ended up that Hubs and MyBoy were at the mall waiting for me, when I came upon a car wreck – six miles from where I was to get off the interstate to meet him. It took me 45 minutes to get that six miles. At least Hubs and MyBoy were at a mall and could get some shopping done, I guess.
Anyway, when we finally hooked up, we started driving as fast as our little Nissan could take us. I realized when we were about 30 minutes away and the games was about to start, that we weren’t going to make it there until half time. I text messaged MPIC, SM3, AllStar Girl’s Mom and SisterMarySoccer’s dad: “I’m not going to make it on time. Keep me posted. Should be there by half.” The rest of the conversation went like this.
SisterMarySoccer’s Dad responded instantly, “Is MyGirl with you????”
Me: “No. She caught a ride from AllStarGirl.”
Sister MarySoccer’s Dad: “I have a visual on her. She’s here.” (I did not receive another message from SisterMarySoccer’s dad. I will remember that when he isn’t at a game!)
AllStarGirl’s Mom: “Ok”
SM3, MPIC: “Game on”
2 minutes into the game
AllStarGirl’s Mom: “We look at little slow. The grass is giving them trouble.”
UGGH!!!
AllStarGirl’s Mom: (I don’t remember exactly, but it was a longer, more-detailed version of ‘Cross in, we score.’
1 minute later
SM3: “We score.” 30 seconds later – MPIC sends the same message.
1-0. You would not believe how intense the car ride was… We were trying so hard to get there and you never knew if anytime my phone buzzed it was going to be bad for us, or good for us.
A few minutes later, something crazy looking must have happened because I got these messages:
AllStarGirl’s Mom: “The grass is really thick.”
30 seconds later:
SM3: “Us 1, them 0, Grass 3”
I texted AllStarGirl’s Mom: “How’s MyGirl playing?” She replied, “Good. Very Focused. Intense.”
A bit later, my phone alarms three times. We scored again.
Hubs, MyBoy and I FINALLY pull into the parking lot and I can see the game. We got there in time for me to see about 5 minutes of the first half. As I walked up, I see one of their girls push one of our girl straight off the ball. I yelled, “Hey! That’s a foul!” from about 20 feet away from the sidelines. One of the parents turned around and said, “It’ll get worse, he hasn’t called anything all game.”
We ended up winning 3-0. The second half was a good one. The refs didn’t call much of anything. MyGirl was intense and focused. (No crazy eyes!)
The girls looked like a well-oiled machine. They made some really great passes. And Coach #3 was...satisfied.
State League Record: 3-0! One more win and we are going into the State Tournament as #1 in the East!
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
What Were We Thinking???
In mid-April we traveled to Louisville, KY for a soccer tournament. There were five teams in our bracket which in tournament terms has pros and cons. It means you have to play each team in your bracket one time and the team with the most points after playing everyone is the champion. There is no advancement to the semi-finals and no championship game.
The only good thing about it is that you are guaranteed four games no matter how well you do in a tournament.
So, our first game – unbeknownst to us or anyone else - ended up being the championship game.
Game #1 - Unlucky
Oh yeah – the other things about the tournament…It was raining. And muddy. By the time we got to play our first game, four other games had taken place on the field. Needless to say, the center of the fields were one big mud pit. At certain points in the field, the ball would hit a puddle and stop. The ball was wet and muddy too. The girls would run their cleat over the top of the floating ball trying to pull it back, but half the time, their cleats would just scrape a layer of mud off the top of the ball.
The girls worked hard. Just walking through mud baths was hard work and our girls were doing everything they could to lift the ball into the air to get a good cross. And once they did get it in the air, the wind took it. The opponents got a shot off a corner and shot off a penalty kick. Our girls just couldn’t seem to finish. The mud really seem to hurt us. Not an excuse… I know they played in the same conditions. But our girls over ran a lot of balls.
I don’t know what everyone else thinks, but I can’t wait to see the girls play them again. On our fields. On a sunny day. I’m sure the game won’t end 0-2.
Game #2 – Win
The second game of the day, the fields were worse, but the rain and stopped and some of the puddles had soaked in. The mud affected how we played for sure, but the other team really had trouble. I know we would have beat them anyway, but I don’t know if we would have beat them 7-1.
Game #3 – Win
The first game of Sunday was fun – at first. We scored in the first couple of minutes… then the girls scored a lot more… and then some more. The only thing super exciting about it was the Lefty Lucy – our left-footed defender – got a hat trick. It comes with the territory when the coach makes you drop the ball to the defenders every time you gain possession. So good for you Lefty! A hat trick is hard to do during any game!
Game #4 Tie
Well, our opponents were rough. (We like that.) The ground was dried out enough, but because of all the mud the day before we were playing on a big patch of dried up, cratered dirt. It was reminiscent of a soccer field that you would see in a documentary about an African orphanage. Anyway – the fields weren’t the best. The balls were bouncing kind of crazy. It wasn’t’ ideal. The parents on the other team weren’t ideal either. They were RIDICULOUS. One of our girls, I don’t remember which one, collided into another girl. The girl from the other team cried a little – very little. The parents started squawking that our player had “hurt their player on purpose.” On purpose? Are you kidding me?? (See previous posts – if it had been on purpose…. Well…. You know.) Anyway, we tied. We probably should have lost, but we didn’t, we tied and we were finalists… (Ask Lefty Lucy’s about her best defensive play ever during a penalty kick. Way to go again Lefty!)
Game #2.5 – BEST GAME OF THE WEEKEND!!!
If you keep up with the blog, you know that SM3 and I always create a game for the girls to play in the hotel. This time, with the help of MPIC and GoalieGirl’s mom… we topped ourselves – BIG TIME. We watched several episodes of Minute to Win It and we modified the games so that the girls could do it.
We started with stacking cups. It was pretty easy for most of them.
Then we went on to having solo cups that they have to blow off the table with a balloon. It was funny watching the girls blow up the balloons and then using that air to push ten cups off the front of the table.
Some girls had trouble!
Others didn't!
Next up was canned money. We had cans set up with pennies and they had one minute to arrange the eight cans from least to highest amount of pennies. (It was hard!)
Then M&M blow – They had to pick up an M&M with a straw, carry it to another table and drop it in a cup. (Amazingly, some girls really had trouble!)
Then in teams had to move a soda can from one table to another after threading a piece of pasta through the tab with their mouths and having their partner catch the other side of the pasta. HILARIOUS!!
Siblings played against siblings too!!
And for the last game, the girls had to put an Oreo on their foreheads and without using their hands move it down their face into their mouth.
You've got a Minute to Win It - Let's Go!
Winner!!!
WOO HOO!!!
Some people had better luck eating the cookies!
Siblings Compete Again!!
These two chocolate lovers got the cookie EVERY TIME!
It was so fun! Another soccer team was staying in the hotel and they became our studio audience - oohing and ahhing - basically marveling at our complete and utter awesomeness! We even got one of them to “guest play” for us!
The good news: Everyone loved the game! But what on earth were we thinking? How on earth are we going to top that???
The only good thing about it is that you are guaranteed four games no matter how well you do in a tournament.
So, our first game – unbeknownst to us or anyone else - ended up being the championship game.
Game #1 - Unlucky
Oh yeah – the other things about the tournament…It was raining. And muddy. By the time we got to play our first game, four other games had taken place on the field. Needless to say, the center of the fields were one big mud pit. At certain points in the field, the ball would hit a puddle and stop. The ball was wet and muddy too. The girls would run their cleat over the top of the floating ball trying to pull it back, but half the time, their cleats would just scrape a layer of mud off the top of the ball.
The girls worked hard. Just walking through mud baths was hard work and our girls were doing everything they could to lift the ball into the air to get a good cross. And once they did get it in the air, the wind took it. The opponents got a shot off a corner and shot off a penalty kick. Our girls just couldn’t seem to finish. The mud really seem to hurt us. Not an excuse… I know they played in the same conditions. But our girls over ran a lot of balls.
I don’t know what everyone else thinks, but I can’t wait to see the girls play them again. On our fields. On a sunny day. I’m sure the game won’t end 0-2.
Game #2 – Win
The second game of the day, the fields were worse, but the rain and stopped and some of the puddles had soaked in. The mud affected how we played for sure, but the other team really had trouble. I know we would have beat them anyway, but I don’t know if we would have beat them 7-1.
Game #3 – Win
The first game of Sunday was fun – at first. We scored in the first couple of minutes… then the girls scored a lot more… and then some more. The only thing super exciting about it was the Lefty Lucy – our left-footed defender – got a hat trick. It comes with the territory when the coach makes you drop the ball to the defenders every time you gain possession. So good for you Lefty! A hat trick is hard to do during any game!
Game #4 Tie
Well, our opponents were rough. (We like that.) The ground was dried out enough, but because of all the mud the day before we were playing on a big patch of dried up, cratered dirt. It was reminiscent of a soccer field that you would see in a documentary about an African orphanage. Anyway – the fields weren’t the best. The balls were bouncing kind of crazy. It wasn’t’ ideal. The parents on the other team weren’t ideal either. They were RIDICULOUS. One of our girls, I don’t remember which one, collided into another girl. The girl from the other team cried a little – very little. The parents started squawking that our player had “hurt their player on purpose.” On purpose? Are you kidding me?? (See previous posts – if it had been on purpose…. Well…. You know.) Anyway, we tied. We probably should have lost, but we didn’t, we tied and we were finalists… (Ask Lefty Lucy’s about her best defensive play ever during a penalty kick. Way to go again Lefty!)
Game #2.5 – BEST GAME OF THE WEEKEND!!!
If you keep up with the blog, you know that SM3 and I always create a game for the girls to play in the hotel. This time, with the help of MPIC and GoalieGirl’s mom… we topped ourselves – BIG TIME. We watched several episodes of Minute to Win It and we modified the games so that the girls could do it.
We started with stacking cups. It was pretty easy for most of them.
Then we went on to having solo cups that they have to blow off the table with a balloon. It was funny watching the girls blow up the balloons and then using that air to push ten cups off the front of the table.
Some girls had trouble!
Others didn't!
Next up was canned money. We had cans set up with pennies and they had one minute to arrange the eight cans from least to highest amount of pennies. (It was hard!)
Then M&M blow – They had to pick up an M&M with a straw, carry it to another table and drop it in a cup. (Amazingly, some girls really had trouble!)
Then in teams had to move a soda can from one table to another after threading a piece of pasta through the tab with their mouths and having their partner catch the other side of the pasta. HILARIOUS!!
Siblings played against siblings too!!
And for the last game, the girls had to put an Oreo on their foreheads and without using their hands move it down their face into their mouth.
You've got a Minute to Win It - Let's Go!
Winner!!!
WOO HOO!!!
Some people had better luck eating the cookies!
Siblings Compete Again!!
These two chocolate lovers got the cookie EVERY TIME!
It was so fun! Another soccer team was staying in the hotel and they became our studio audience - oohing and ahhing - basically marveling at our complete and utter awesomeness! We even got one of them to “guest play” for us!
The good news: Everyone loved the game! But what on earth were we thinking? How on earth are we going to top that???
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