Monday Morning Report: May 4

Several thing during this weekend reminded how far AC D.C. has evolved in our 6 years.

AC D.C. players, circa spring 2005

(Received call from Ben Sunday night. Playing organized footie again..finally)

But, Saturday started off the "old-fashion" way.  Four players were late to the Men's game, and we started the game helter-skelter.  No surprise that under those conditions, we conceded a goal in the first 5 minutes.  We have so many obstacles against us, we simply must eliminated the self-created ones.  Arriving on time seems so easy, but somehow impossible for our team.

We fought back.  Against the best team in our WISL division, we equalized before the interval. The goal came from a beautiful cross from Imi (Ray Hudson would call it "4 carat diamonds served on a silver platter"), and Jan headed home with sublime panache.  Robb's outrageous saves resembled Saint Buffon (Gigi!  Gigi!) and that kept us even (the save on the PK was reeeee-diculous). 

We had our chances in the second half.  I counted 2 sitters, and one phantom offsides call which would have easily resulted in a goal for Imi.  Peter also had a rocket bounce off the cross bar. All-in-all, we deserved a better fate than the score line, and a draw with the top team of the division would have been fair.

Sunday was rainy.  Last time we played under those conditions, Matt was sick and sat in his car to watch, while the rest of us (9 players) destroyed the opponents who had forfeited the game to us at the start.  This wet Sunday, we played against an opponent who was once again evenly matched with us.  In the first half, Paul had a zinger which their keeper miraculously kept out of the goal.  In the second, Morgan got hurt.  Although she was a trooper and stayed on the pitch (we had no lady subs), we were effectively playing with ten players.

We went down one-nil during a lapse in concentration on defense.  And then, with 3 minutes to play, something curious happened.  I conceded a goal without playing a single minute of the game!  Borrowing a page out of the old Manchester United playbook, I pulled Robb out of goal for an extra tall guy in the box during a corner kick.  Unfortunately, the ball pinged around and landed with our opponent, who had no contest charging toward our goal.  We can add that play to the ACDC rookie dictionary (along with terms like "Lachman conditions," "Farid Unit") and call it the "Penguin Gambit."

So, why was I reminded of the past?

After our Sunday game, having played all of 7 minutes all weekend, I decided to stay and play for a rec division team short of players.  I played all 70", had a blast, and our team won the game four nil.  The opponent was disorganized and basically non-existent, so the passing on our side was fluid and Arsenal-quality.  Just goes to show that anyone, even I, can look semi-decent when the opponent is really bad.  The game reminded me of AC D.C. six years ago, when we had quality players and our s-leagues opponents were all rubbish.  The fact that nowadays, we can play well against one of the top teams in WISL means that we have come a long way.

Ever wondered who came up with "Vae Victis?"  Or why AC D.C. wears red and black?  The person who was in large part responsible for those.....well.....HE's BACK!  Starting a new job as the special assistant to the under-secretary of acquisition, technology and logistics (translation: You bomb us?  We bomb you harder!), Jonathan "Marcus" Lachman is now armed with two ivy-league degrees (having been classmates at Harvard with the incomparable AC D.C. magician Pablo Quintanilla) and back to stay.  You attacking-midfielders need not worry though.  He's only good during "Lachman conditions," which is between 11am and 4pm, 55 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit.  

AC D.C. players, circa...well, Sunday night

(Catching up with Loxly was remarkable....4 years have passed as if no time at all)

Having Sir Loxly back made me think about the past six years and all the footballing we've done.  My goodness, has this club come a long way!  Playing with that "thrown-together" rec division team only strengthened my belief that you all are the creme-de-la-creme, no matter what the score line says any given weekend.