thirty something and 2

a loss...
12-11 loss to a good team (i know, i was the 'draft consultant.)

we just dug ourselves a whole, and couldn't get back in.

we brought in a few more (new) hs kids for this, as most of the team has left for europe, or mexico, or whatever...

so we weren't able to run our endzone plays, uh, play... which usually goes for 1-2 per game.

hamstring is coming back, my defense was still joke-er-iffic... but, what else is new. the offense was not going well, but, frankly, if i play any better on saturday... well, that's good...

talbot is unavailable for the 1st 2 or 3 games, so i'm counting on him to anchor the line for the finals. too bad. i was hoping he'd do the dirty work for 3 games... hee haw...

2nd game, less pleasant, a purple player's follow through broke the nose of my best young player... a 15 y.o. w/ wild athleticism... i.e., the best player on the team... we carted him off at 9 ish (yes, games start at 6)... and lost him, his sister, and her friend (who had to drive).

the mom, an awesome athlete (div I 800 runner, world class biker, great ski racer) was super cool... had the kids just meet at a friends for ice cream...

nice.

final was 11-3 or something. after we scored a couple w/ 6 players (4/2), they agreed it was dark...


next up, the tourney. hopefully we'll have a team. i count... 3 girls... just enough... go-zone.

world cup.
moderately dissapointing finish for the team.
let's spread the blame around...

1) take more shots: my impression is that the US team at some point read a stat that time of possession = wins. as a result, i saw many, MANY back passes that maintained possession, but gave no positional advantage.... maybe we couldn't shoot more because of the lack of...

2) dominant player: we have some wonderful players... but if we are to be successful, we need someone fearless to take shots. but it's almost as if they fear for their place on the field. i'm a big dempsey and mcbride fan... but donovan never seemed in the form he's brought to other games... maybe due to...

3) coaching issues: i don't know arenas. but leaving mathis behind for being a dick head may have denied us the fiery game breaker we needed. also, our midfield oriented, possesion attack might not have been appropriate for a desparation game... (yes, i understand what a counter attack is)... and personel wise, if we don't have the players, playing for the counter attack is well and good... but, flg, someone TAKE A SHOT, and don't fear that your spot on the team is gone. likewise, arenas is gone, which is not very fair, because of...

4) state of US football. we are not yet getting the aggressive large forwards who fear nothing... giant egos who fear no coach.... which brings me to the officiating...

5) actually, the officiating was OK... by that i mean, it was equally horriffic in the italy game... and the call against whasis face in the ghana game seemed 'poor.' but they are not to blame...

6) now, bandwagon time... i like the relentless, opportunistic brazillian attack. who doesn't. the depth and talent of argentina... awesome... and germany's talented 11 w/ the home court... those are the obvious favorites (i haven't looked at the brackets to see where they fall out)... some fun-derdogs.. australia, ghana, and the new, more exciting italian attack... the door lock (what is that , the cattenacio, or something) is gone, and the attack is better...

predictions:
ok, looked at the brackets... brazil d. spain, brazil d. england, germany gets by argentina on homecooking, and germany knocks brazil off 3-2... deutchland... uber alles...