Monday Morning Report: April 20

There's a lot to talk about, so let's cut to the chase.

The co-ed team game on Sunday was GREATTTTTT!  Because Captain Matt was a bit under the weather, I handed over the managing duties and got to play.  Have I said it was GRRRRRREATTTTT?  We beat up on an short-handed, defenseless Wild Panda team 6-0 (7-0?). There's really very little to add to that, except that penguins apparently enjoy a massacre of pandas.  Who knew?  The late-Saturday field change must have rendered our opponents all confused.

Our men's team was in action against La Tocadita Classico on a beautiful Saturday morning. It was the best 60 minutes of football the team has produced in our 2-year history.  Just before we went out, we talked about "patience," keeping possession, passing the ball around and working the ball up from the back with sensible passes.  We went out and did just that for 60 minutes, making safe passes to look for holes in the defense, using the width of the pitch, keeping the ball away from our opponent. Then, we scored!  Peter had a cracker.  And then?......and then we didn't know what to do with ourselves.

It was as if we sat back to admire our own handy-work, and we lost focus and desire.  The psychology behind this is fascinating.  We didn't expect to do this well against a strong team, and after our goal, it was clear that we felt "Ah, now it's OK for them to score."  The problem is that once the flood-gates opened, they put three past us in 15 minutes.

Although no one can be happy about the final score line of 3-1, we can take more than a quantum of solace from the first 60 minutes of play.  We have to start believing in ourselves. No one will believe that we can beat them, until we believe it ourselves first.    

Uniform Issues

As you may know, Carlos spent a lot of time and the team a lot of money, to get new red jerseys in the fall.  We did this because Adidas stopped making the old red jersey, and we didn't want a team looking non-uniform in our uniforms!  Consequently, it defeats the purpose, nullifies the work, and wastes the money, if you folks continue wear a hodge-podge of red uniforms. Captain Jeffy has a particular problem with this.  He claims it's because he has laundry issues.  So, here's a new policy to help our men's team captain.

This is OLD.  Do NOT wear

Everyone, including Jeff, will be required to donate $5 to the "Jeff Cruz Jersey Fund" every time you wear the wrong red shirt.  We'll use the money to buy enough of the correct shirts for Jeffy, so that laundry no longer becomes an issue for him.  That's the stick; here's the carrot. Give me your old shirts and receive a $5 reduction in the dues for next season.  I'll take all the old shirts and donate them in bulk to Goodwill.  

This is NEW. This is the correct uniform

Everyone wish a speedy recovery for Aaron, who underwent ACL reconstruction recently.  For once, ACDC was not "responsible" for his injury.  

Just got confirmation that Jan is leaving after this season.  Planning for the going-away party for Jimmy and Jan is underway.

Finally, I must beg your indulgence in using this forum for releasing my hate-juice on Manchester United.  All this talk about winning the quintuple is just so nauseating!  Now that they've lost to Everton in PKs in the semi-finals of the FA Cups, they can take their "quintuple" and suck on it.

To end this entry on a happy note, I'll re-post here a short video which I originally posted on our team's facebook page.  If you enjoy international football, whether you're an England fan or not, this will give you a good laugh.

Have a great week, my good people!