Monday Morning Report: September 20

At Saturday's game, during which our men's squad fought to a hard-eanred 1-1 draw with a pretty decent "Sportsfriends" team, we heard a steady refrain from the sideline and from our forwards, "Back line, push up! Push up!" The thought was that, when the ball is on "their" side of the pitch, pushing up the back line would eliminate the gap between it and our midfielders.

The place to set the defensive back line is a tactical decision that should be set by the manager or the captain. Conveniently, our captains are usually on the back line itself. It is not always true that the back line should be set high and tight against the center circle.

With a high back line, our team eliminates the gap, or space between our defense and midfield, in which the opposing strikers can freely maneuver. Conversely, if one sets the defensive back line further towards one's own goal, the opponents' midfielders also has more room to wander, and if they are good, they can really pick you apart with incisive through balls to their forwards, in between our defenders.

The biggest drawback, however, of setting a high back line, is that if the opposing forwards are really speedy, they can easily beat your trap. The defenders can be burned by their speed, and sitting close to the center circle, can't recover in time if the attacker takes the ball straight to the goal. Our goalkeeper would be faced with one-on-ones constantly.

So the tactical decision of where to set the back line has much to do with our own defenders' pace, the passing skills of the opposing midfielders and how speedy our opponent's strikers are. If our defenders are faster than their strikers, it is usually smart to set a high line to take away the space in which their offense can maneuver. This was the case yesterday.

Many thanks to Justin ("The Boss") for helping out with the tactical management yesterday, despite the wrecked knee. If nothing else, the bickering on the sideline was pretty entertaining. As usual, everything I say or do seems to be wrong, and I usually listen to The Boss :) Imi had the goal which was pretty much a solo effort, and he also had a beautiful chance near the end with a header off a corner. Only a brilliant save from their keeper prevented us from taking home the "win."

We played much better than last week as a team, a unit. Everyone did a better job keeping the ball, and finding the "open man." If we concentrate more on that, and less on creating miracle goals, we'll play a methodical, effective game.

Be patient, and find the open man if you have the ball. If not, then move into open space and make the run for your teammate.

Hoping for more improvement next week. Yippee....

Monday Morning Report: June 28

For the last game of the up-and-down Spring '10 season, AC D.C. hit all cylinders. It was unfortunate for us that some of these cylinders went missing much of this spring, but it was nice to finally find them for the finale. In blazing hot temperatures (even at 8:30 am), we went on the pitch and passed the ball in circles around our opponents. The opener came off Alex's left foot and it was a cracker. Wow.

Our defenders kept up the scoring, as Matt, Brian and Chris (PK) all added to the tally. The lone goal from a forward was Matt Welch's brilliant header off a corner kick. All-in-all, the offense was outstanding yesterday.

Capt Jeff played keeper (even though Robb was present)....hey....why not? It was Chris' last game with AC D.C. and we'll be sad to see him leave. It has been a good four years!

As many of you know, Jeff and I are leaving for South Africa tomorrow. We'll meet up with Justin in Cape Town and, unless we get put away for unruly behavior, plan to attend the QF and SF of the World Cup. We are also planning on diving in a cage with Great Whites off the Cape. I don't know how I got talked into this, but these two bozos both want to do this.....enthusiastically. Pray for my life.

If I survive the dive and Jeff Cruz with his vuvuzela, I'll update the blog regularly (daily?) and also use Facebook for updates of our trip. Look for the pictures.

Summer work outs will start in July. Til then...

Monday Morning Report: June 21

This Father's day, with a near noon kick-off and temperatures in the 90s found ACDC with substitutes (thank goodness) against a mediocre HTOS squad.

Despite having a very solid new addition in goal (thanks to Lisa for filling in), a back line defensive gaff allowed their striker to have the ball at his feet with a one-on-one with the goal keeper to put them up 1-0. A free kick just outside our 18yrd line allowed our opponent to tuck the ball into the top corner of the net, out of the reach of our goalkeeper to put them up 2-0 at halftime.

In the second half, we conceded a PK in the box that the striker had no problems converting to conclude their scoring 3-0. Certainly not an outcome that should have occurred against this club - but it occurred none-the-less.

Defensively we should have been tighter in the back and not comitted fouls. Offensively we lacked any real threats and didn't really position ourselves (due to lack of simple passing) for real short range opportunities. These are things ACDC is capable of doing, but did not execute on.

I believe we have one more game this year and, unfortunately for ACDC this year, playoffs look to be an unreasonable assumption. I hope we can get some weeknight practices going this summer to help work on our team commitment and passing.

So Long: Nicole and Chris

AC D.C. took time out on Friday to salute two friends who are leaving us this summer. Chris played with us for four years and will be starting his career as a radiation oncologist in Kansas City this summer. Nicole has played with us for five years, and she'll be returning to Pittsburgh where she will begin her career in otolaryngology. Both of them have been invaluable members of our team, consistently dedicated, tenaciously competitive, dependably loyal and outstanding on the pitch. We will miss them tremendously on and off the field.

As the picture above clearly shows, we had a great time at the going-away party. Whether you attended the party or not, please consider chipping in to defray the expenses. Each year, we spend a lot of effort and resources to organize these parties in order to build team morale and cohesion. AC D.C. doesn't "hire" players who are soccer mercenaries, and there is no cost too high when we can find a group of friends to share the passion of footballing.

It has recently been brought into sharp focus, that a handful of you play for other teams outside of AC D.C. No matter how great our parties are, and whether we are successful on the pitch or not, this probably won't change. It is understandable, when one considers that most of you are young athletes in your sporting prime. But whether do so or not, and no matter how many teams you play for, I hope that you will always consider AC D.C. "home."

Monday Morning Report: June 14

For all who missed out on the team unity celebration / going away party taking place on Friday night at RiRa in Arlington for Nicole and Chris, you truly missed a great team bonding - and an excuse to drink. We had cameo visits from Graeme and Kelly (the former from London and the latter back from Australia).

I know I speak for the team saying that we'll be very sad to see Nicole and Chris go, but we're excited we get a couple more weeks with them each on the Co-Ed side and happy that they, themselves, are excited about their new beginnings. You all are always welcome back for a weekend game or two.

On what had to be the hottest, nastiest, and muggiest conditions year to date, we took on the Portsmouth of Sleagues (they're likely to drop down next year according to grumblings on their sideline). They had yet to pull a win this season and we did well to ensure that they didn't; knocking in several goals (that someone else will need to comment on because I missed half the game due to World Cup alarm clock snafu). Although it was a weak opponent, we needed the win and it did some good to boost morale as we've been having a tough season.

Enjoy some world cup games and stay hydrated if you're playing mid-week...we're in for a scorcher next weekend.

Monday Morning Report: May10

By Luis Campillo

The wind blew in both directions for AC DC this weekend… This past beautiful yet windy Saturday afternoon, the men’s team was back at Bishop McNamara HS. For the first minutes of the game our team did a descent job at distributing the ball but did not create many offensive opportunities on the attacking third. While the defense held its own, a strange “ball over the shoulder” turn allowed the opposing attacker to get a decent shot off that sneaked past the juggernaut keeper. Despite the goal, the team maintained its composure. In the second half, with the wind on our sails, AC DC made a number of runs at goal. The equalizer came via a deep ball from Lasershot Lominska to Speedy Mumbs who raced past the last defender to float the ball over the keeper. While the momentum of the game changed with our goal, Paul’s knee injury and the lack of subs took its toll on the team; an error in the back led to their second goal…the third goal came on a breakaway towards the end of the game when we were pushing up to even the score.

On Sunday, under similar condition the Co-Ed team took to the field at Dunbar HS against OpNet. Both teams started the game with 10 players as both were missing a female player. But even before our fashionably late Morgan jumped into the field, AC DC dominated much of the passing thanks to Krissy and Imi in the midfield, and with the full eleven we created a number of clear opportunities on goal. Nonetheless, it was a tied affair by the end of the first half and a controversial handball by one of their defenders that prevented Opus from taking a shot of a beautiful crossed ball by Matt W. In the second half, with the wind on our face and a couple of injuries already plaguing the team, we continued the runs at goal. One of these dashes by the injured juggernaut midfielder resulted in a corner kick that led to a powerful header by Justin that was slowed by the keeper but put in the ol’ onion bag by yours truly---sweet! The second goal came in a nicely coordinate breakaway by Imi and Justin. Kudos to Anna for being her usual solid self in goal and to the defense that repelled the many attempts by our opponent to score towards the end of the game…particularly with four injured players on the field and no subs.

This weekend demonstrated that despite the difficult playing conditions and personnel issues, AC DC is still a contender. The rest of the season will not be smooth sailing and we need to continue on a winning course to avoid decession (Men’s) and have a shot at the postseason (Co-Ed). If we play for each other and remain determined, we will reach both of these objectives.

Monday morning report: May 3

Manager's reflection after 7 years of AC D.C.

When a "bomb" goes off in one's life, one has to let the dust settle before the assessment of real damage. Such a bomb went off for me about 3 weeks ago, and though I'm still picking shrapnel out of my body, I'm finally able to see the after-math.

In truth, the problem I had was with one player only, but while reacting in pain and anger, I had involved the whole team, which I regret. I retaliated like a human, and not a cool-headed manager. This club exists for sharing the passion of football with friends, and I question the loyalty of no one. I only ask that everyone be up front with their schedule conflicts so there are no unrealistic expectations.

The after-math tells me that I must detach myself from the club. I have become too invested, financially and emotionally, and everything related to the club has become very personal for me. This is counter-productive for both me and the team. This involvement was born out of necessity over the years. I took control of the club in 2003 because I thought better organization would make the team more fun. The team needed uniforms, so I designed a logo and made the first uniforms. The team needed a keeper, so I played in goal. The team needed players to fill in now-and-then, so I paid the dues of these occasional players. It needed a morale boosts, so I made parties. It needed organization on the sidelines, so I stopped playing and traffic-controlled the substitutions.

Gradually, my tasks that were to make the team fun, became chores that were distinctly not fun for me. In retrospect, I've been unhappy for many seasons, but now, I'm in too deep to extricate myself. The club has become my child, and despite how unhappy I am, I work for its survival. My compensation had been, once the club operation ceased in the summer, I can enjoy the company of my teammates without the burden of day-to-day chores. My friends on the team justified the work running the club.

The conflict I had with my teammate and friend 3 weeks ago was emotionally damaging to me. Although it was a team matter, it quickly turned into a deeply personal insult. A matter of schedule conflict became an issue of personal loyalty to me, and the pain was all-consuming.

Once I realized that, and now that the healing process has started, I know it's time to me to back off. Obviously, the detachment cannot be overnight and the delegation of duties, has to be carefully considered so everything still makes sense. This is what I intend to do. How this will work step-by-step is still unclear. Rest assured I will not hand the "keys to the kingdom" into the wrong hands, or allow the team to tear apart during this process.

Thanks for your support of our great club, and I hope we can continue to share our passion for football and our friends.

Monday morning report: April 26

The energy returned to AC D.C. during the last five minutes of Sunday's game. Could this be the turn-around of the season?

For the second week in a row, we needed some emergency recruitment as developments early in the weekend altered our planned roster. A twenty-mile jaunt fatigued our midfield maestro (you think?), so we thought it was prudent to rest him for next week. Captain Matt and I both found new male recruits, and we were eager to test them in a game. This seemed to be a good, albeit last minute, opportunity to see what they've got.

We started the game as poorly as we ended the game strong. Although we can all see the logical pass, we always seemed to hesitate 1-2 seconds too long, and when the pass is made, it is too late. The moment was over. Either our teammate has overrun the pass, or our opponent cut it off. This lack of confidence made the game much more difficult than it had to be.

Energy was low, as evident by their goal in the first half. Their attacker strolled with the ball along the goal line, hardly challenged, and then put the ball past Robb who had little chance. We played as if we had no intention to win the game at all, against a team with an ensemble of strong, fast and fit players who kicked with confidence.

The second half was about the same, with some heroic defending from our back line. (We came precariously close to an ejection but the ref correctly kept the second yellow in his pocket.) Then, everything changed. In the last 7 minutes of the game, we went to three defenders so that we could go 5 in the midfield. That seemed to energize the whole team; the sense of urgency became evident. With 2 minutes left, we mounted a concerted attack, which ultimately led to a beautiful cross from the right from Matt (Welch) and a brilliant run and finish by Parham. That was a good fight.

Although a 1-1 draw is nothing special to celebrate, it was the gutsy finish, contrasted to a lackluster start, which was remarkable. Hopefully, we can take that energy at the finish into the weeks to come. What of our fatigued midfield maestro? Well, several of us tried to fill that space, but it felt like there was a big hole in the middle of our team. There was also another old-boy missing. At the game's end, someone (I think Parham) said, "We really need Jeff in the middle to win head-balls on goal kicks." To which, Imi replied, appropriately I thought, "Who?"

How were the new guys, you ask? Well, they were diametric opposites. One was a highly skilled and experienced player who needs to work back into game fitness, and the other is supremely fit and young, but tactically a bit inexperienced. All-in-all, it was great to meet players who are so eager to play with us and joined us even at the last minute.

To end, I'll post another "rule." In general, when the manager makes a mistake like knee the ball into our own net, it is not so nice to mock him (Alex!). Plus, it's not like last Sunday's game was the semi-finals of the Cherry Blossom Tournament 2008 (when it happened also). So, be nice to the old man.

Y'all have a nice week.

Monday morning report: Friends first, footballer second

Sunday's game was remarkable. For the first time in recent recall, we went through our whole 40-person roster and were still one man and one woman short at game time. We had to recruit from teams who played before us. Oh, did I mention that we were playing against varsity men's players from VTech who are huge, skilled and fast?

A heartfelt thank you to the brave 10 who scratched and clawed for the whole game (Alex, you were a god-send; Nicole, you shouldn't feel bad). You understand the true meaning of playing for a friend, and the courage you showed out there today was outstanding in our unfortunate 0-2 loss. You fought with each other until the end.

Since a 40-person roster clearly is not enough, the best we can do is to go out and recruit more players who are capable of understanding the core values of ACDC. We play for our brother or sister.

Earlier in the weekend, a depleted men's squad fought to a nil nil draw with Ugly Mug FC. We have to continue to believe....and the victories will come.

roster rules

Since it's inception, AC D.C. has had a roster consisting of "core group" players who pay dues and play regularly for the team, and a non due-paying, "reserve group" players who are no less important for the team's success.


Whereas AC D.C. players are encouraged to stay fit and play football often, the team must also safeguard its roster for its own integrity and competitive health, in addition to preserving the sense of community. Players for our team can play for other teams, of course, but they must also recognize that playing for AC D.C. is a unique privilege, as the management spends extraordinary effort, money and energy to create a fun and tight-knit community, to share the passion of footballing with friends. With privilege comes certain sacrifices that we each have to make. In order to avoid the danger of ever being short of players for competitive weekend matches, and any fractures "split-allegiance" can cause our cohesion, the leadership of this club considers its roster "proprietary," and here are some rules to preserve it.


1) Due-paying members invited to play in the "core group" of AC D.C. must be available for all AC D.C. games, Saturdays and Sundays, unless there are family, work, religious, health or personal conflicts. No such restrictions will be applied on week days.


2) When invited to join this core, players will be asked about their affliliation to any other sporting enterprises.


3) If such an affiliation exists, core group players must choose to play for AC D.C. when there is a schedule conflict with the other team on weekend games.


4) Players who are unable to do so will not be asked to pay dues, and will be considered "reserve" players for AC D.C. (unless special arrangement is made with AC D.C. management). This rule applies to any player during their entire tenure with AC D.C. such that a core player may revert to "reserve" if his or her affiliation changes at any time.


5) Players in leadership roles for AC D.C. must have primary allegiance to our club over any other sporting enterprises. She or he must not be in any position in which a conflict of interest, loyalty or allegiance can be suspected, insinuated, or considered.


For following these rules, the management pledges a safe, well-organized, cohesive and fun environment to share with friends the passion of competitive and recreational footballing.

Monday Morning Report: April 12

Thanks to Jeff for hosting the Luge party on Friday night. Though it was smaller than the last two (and no cops!), it was fun time. Thanks also to the folks who participated.

Sunday was the co-ed season opener. The "original" AC D.C. squad was in action. Many things this weekend reminded me that before our team split into many squads, this squad WAS the one and only AC D.C. Apropos to that, the three oldest players (me, Carlos, Parham) all played major roles. They also played with our newest players: Neil and Krissy.

With outstanding, fluid passing, AC D.C. dominated our decent opponents, FC Hammer. Most impressive was how we engaged our outside defenders in the attack. At one point, Jeff was powering down the left and Matt hit him with a brilliant long pass, over their entire defense. If Jeff could have one-timed the ball into the net, it would have made ESPN highlights. As it was, he barely missed.

Our goal came from Paul, who played outstandingly as the "quarterback" of the whole game. Robb hardly had anything to do and touched the ball twice...if that much.

So, a great win for the opener. Hopefully, more to come....

Monday Morning Report April 5

The goofy picture you see here is from last week, when Jeff and I hopped the pond to the Arsenal / Barca game. Well, it was more like an epic, but you all know what happened already.

If you haven't already done so, please respond to the Friday party evite ASAP. It's not fair to the party-organizers to guess how many will show up until the last minute. Please help them.

It's always a bit dangerous to write a "state of the club" blog after a loss, which is what happened on Saturday in WISL. But it was a game in which we played well.... just got horrendously unlucky to come away with a loss.

This is mainly a financial statement. As you know, AC D.C. functions on a deficit every season. Because we have so many players with restrictive work schedules, by necessity we carry a lot of reserve players who do not pay dues. Well, the club is getting even bigger, and the financial situation even messier.

Whereas previously we've had a lot of men playing both games on WISL and co-ed on the same weekend, there will be very few people playing both games this season. Again, this is because of the size of the club right now. We will ask the guys to play on Sunday if they are un-used on Saturday. Neither group would be a "b squad." We'll simply tailor the rosters to who's available when. Of course, this looks good in theory...I'm sure it'll be messier in practice.

With this new scheme, no one will be asked to pay 2X or 1.5X dues like before. Everyone will pay the same. Those who are due-paying members will receive a notice from me not too long from now about the amount. If this is too much for you, talk to me. If you can afford more, please send a donation for the deficit. Reserve players will continue to play for free.

If there are any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Monday Morning Report: March 22

It was a disappointing weekend for AC D.C. Things can only get better this spring, right?

We played a brand new team to WISL on Saturday for our season opener, which means that no one knew what to expect from this opponent, and the refs were warned by the league to call the game extra-tight. As all season openers impart, there was a sense of "new beginning" and excitement in the air. Too bad I didn't heed Matt White's warning and got stuck in DC marathon traffic for an hour-and-a-half and was late for the season friggin' opener!

At least I was able to warn off several of our guys not to do what I did, and they all got to the pitch before I did. Much to my excitement, we were up 2 nil when I arrived. I didn't see the goals, but one was a brilliant finish by Parham and the other a hand-ball PK by Ramon.

After that, our offense really didn't get into gear. It was really unfortunate that we gave up a garbage goal near the end of half. "Split milk" and all, it would have been a very different game, going into the second half with a solid 2 goal lead.

If I were to pick out one flaw throughout the game, it was that we gave up the ball too easily in the middle of the pitch. It's true that our opponents closed down our ball-handlers speedily, but we should have a near-telepathic understanding with each other (play for each other!). Our ball-handler should know, almost without looking, where his outlet is. A lot of times, that is on the wings, so our wingers must get into better position to receive the ball, and decompress the middle.

As it was, we kept giving the ball away in the middle of the pitch. In such situations, no matter how strong our defense is, we will give up more goals. We gave up the levelling goal just after Parham got his red-card for a B.S. "second yellow." Robb made a heroic save to keep up level, but the biggest disappointment was that we gave up the losing goal with one minute to go, and the refs had a huge hand in it by not making the clear offsides call.

But stop blaming the refs. We were just not good enough offensively to keep possession and play the game on their half. Allowing them to attack again-and-again, the end result was almost inevitable.

A theme for this season is "play for each other." That means many things, but first, it means make runs and make space for yourself, to receive the ball, to help out the teammate with the ball. It also means communicating, so they know their environment: when to control, when to clear(!), when to take it up themselves.

We'll do better next game.

Sunday's futsal game was a "throw-away" make up game because of the snow. Ugh. Not even worth describing. Outdoor is the game now. Yippeeee...

Aging Captain

For all you do for this team....hauling kegs, sending evites....we say:

Happy Birthday, Matt!

Hope you had a good day.

Monday Morning Report: Mar 15

Boy, you think I got enough flak for missing a report last week?

ACDC was in action in both indoor leagues this weekend. The Fairfax squad didn't do so hot since our game followed a men's team practice directly. We were tired. The sad part is that we lost 5-2 to the Little Urban Archievers, who are always imminently beatable. They sent out a lot of their WISL players, so kudos to them....they beat us.

Sunday futsal was our redemption. We won 8-4, keeping our championship hopes alive. With many players out of town, Robb played in the court and scored multiple goals. Perhaps a new point-man in the making! Georgie was a wall.

Our WISL season starts next weekend. This is a pivotal season cuz, with the new league scheme coming up in the fall, our result this spring season will determine where we place in the new structure. Let's go out and win our first game!

ACDC Spring Season - Co-Ed & Mens

ACDC Men - First game to be played Saturday March 20th.

ACDC Co-Ed - For anyone who is wondering, Larry with SLeagues has not yet posted the schedule. Tenatively, it looks like our first game might be Sunday April 4th. More to follow.

Start running and start getting mentally prepared.

Monday Morning Report: March 1

Wow, one year anniversary of the 5-a-side tournament! That feels like a long time ago.

It was a relatively quiet weekend for ACDC. The Fairfax group was dormant, so we only had a futsal game on Sunday. We played much better than last time, and Robb was a wall. Laura scored two and Jeff did as well, and I don't remember where the other goals came from. We won 7-2. Because of the snow, futsal will now have week-night games as well, so we'll have those to look forward to.

If you're wondering why there's no 5-a-side tournament this year, it's simply because of timing. We have two indoor squads this year and the WISL season starts in 10 days. So there isn't enough time to make a tournament. We are looking into doing so in the summer.

WISL will start 3/13, weather permitting. Hurray!

Monday Morning Report: February 22

Even Stevens, win some, lose some

It was a mixed weekend for AC D.C. A lot of you who play indoor were out of town skiing (when did skiing become so popular....maybe all this snow has something to do with it). So, we went into the weekend games with some make-shift squads.

Saturday's game at Fairfax was a good game. We played really well coming out of the gates, passing well, dominating possession. But then, we gave up a goal and played most of the game from behind. We kept playing though, which is the most important thing. Our shots kept hitting post after post, but we kept our heads in it. We finally equalized with 15" to go, and scored the winning goal with 50 sec left (4-3 final).

Sunday was futsal in DC. It was good to play this again, cuz the last 3 weeks in a row were cancelled because of snow. While I was busy on the sideline managing a disaster at the hospital, our futsal squad ran into a very good team. Most of our squad hadn't played futsal before, so we had quite a bit of trouble playing against a strong opponent. In the end, we lost 3-5.

Perhaps more important was what happened off the pitch though.

On Friday evening, I got the good news that Jim Wood got engaged. Those of you who played with Jimmy know that Megan and he have been dating for 5 years. About time! But, going with the win-some, lose-some theme, there is also bad news on the romantic front. On Saturday, yours truly was rejected by eHarmony. I did my profile with a friend who knows me better than myself, and we didn't enter anything unreasonable. Yet, the site says I'm No Good....unmatchable! What kind of a loser gets dumped by an online dating service?!

Here's hoping for a better week....and no more snow before spring!

Spring Season Update

The men's season is just a few weeks away. We should begin play on the weekend of March 13th so I hope everybody is getting in shape (a little tough with all of this snow on the ground). The full schedule is supposed to be up in the next week or two. Hopefully, we can find a nice day before the opening weekend to get outside and knock the ball around.

I also wanted to communicate a change to the league structure that will in occur in Fall 2010. Instead of the current structure of two gemstone divisions on Saturdays, they will split into a true 2nd and 3rd division. This means we need to have a good spring season in order to position ourselves for the change. The top 5 teams of each of the emerald divisions will be promoted to the 2nd division so it will be very important to finish in the top half of the table. That said, I still think we should be shooting for first place! We came in 4th last season but were only a few goals away from being at the top of the table so we have the potential.

We will keep everybody posted on the schedule and a possible practice. See you on the pitch!

~Justin

Snow Snow Snow

Snowthing to report.....

The snow did more than to wreak havoc on the DC Metro area, it successfully brought to a halt the indoor games that we were scheduled to have and folded in a new complexity that we perhaps will be faced with....juggling late season indoor games while outdoor gets started. We will keep you posted.

In the meantime, find comfort in the fact that the worst of the snow is likely behind us, we are all safe (hopefully no homes or apartments have water damage), and that Walter has a new ACDC troop carrier.

Walter purchased a bight yellow weather neautralizer that has been affectionately dubbed "Big Bird". I'm sure you will all have a chance to see it toting ice luges, kegs, soccer tents, drinks, etc in the games to come.

Hope everyone is well. ~Whitey

Monday Morning Report: Feb 1

This was a blagh weekend for ACDC. So, to lighten the mood, I'll post two of my all-time favorite pictures for your laughter. I'm not as sensitive as Jeff about pictorial anonymity, but please don't re-post these pictures.

These were taken on Jeff's 27th birthday, at the beach in Delaware. On the left, you can see that I am asleep (uh hm) and the boys have decided to stack furniture and junk on top of me. In my right hand is a candle. On the right, you can see that the candle is lit. (Yikes!) Even asleep (uh hm), my operating hand is as steady as ever! :) One wonders how low the candle burnt before these bozos decided to blow it out! Fortunately, I did not wake up with scorch marks.

One must learn to laugh at oneself.

Onto the game report:

On a very snowy Saturday, ACDC was pitted against team "del Ray" at Fairfax Sportsplex. We have a history with this team. It was against them that we had two players ejected two years ago. But since that game, we have beaten them once in a championship game, and again in November '09.

The roads to Fairfax were awful on Saturday, and as I took the court to start the game, here are my minute-to-minute thoughts...an internal monologue:

Whistle.....Tweet.....

Minute 1: So, I guess we're starting this game one man short, with Robb, Hannah, Lindsay and Paul. Hmm. I hope the rest of the squad is safe, and no one has spun out on the highway....

Minute 2: Man, I can't believe they have a full squad. Do they have 5 subs already? We've only got 5 total! I wonder how long we can hold them with one man down?

Minute 3: Hey, we are actually playing pretty well. Maybe we can score on them soon.

Min 4: Boy, I am getting pooped. They are fast and physical. Score on them? Maybe. But, boy, I'm getting pooped chasing after their extra guy.

Min 5: Shite. My bad. We just let in a goal. Playing from behind is not our strength. Ok, let's get this one back. Where are our people?

Min 6: Thank god. We now have a full squad on the court, but still no guy subs. Man, I am getting pooped.

Min 7: Dammit. Let in another goal. Wonder when our subs will get here. If I have to chase after them like this, it's going to be a score-fest for them. I'd better take myself out for Nicole....

End of monologue

So, two goals we gifted them as we were organizing, hoping that no one has gotten into any accidents. Halfway into the first half, we finally have a full squad with subs. It was too late. Playing a decent team with an army of subs, chasing two goals, is never easy, and we never really got to play our usual game....get into our normal rhythm.

We can blame the snow and VA DOT for not plowing 395, but kudos to "del Ray" for having a full squad from the start. ACDC can't do that because y'all will get upset sharing minutes with 11 other players. In the end, we have to accept the defeat and breathe a sigh of relief that no one spun out on the highway.

The Sunday futsal game was cancelled.

(pause)

Say what?

Yes, cancelled....on a beautiful, sunny, lazy Sunday.....

I really wish it were the other way 'round...and they had cancelled on Saturday.

More fun n' games next week. Happy Hour on Friday unless major weather events intervene....again. Have a great week.

Monday Morning Report: January 25

This was a great weekend for AC D.C. The Fairfax crew played with a bunch of new men for the first time in the new session. The veterans from previous campaigns were moved to play Futsal in DC (more on this later). There were some initial jitters, but we settled in to play our brand of football and defeated our opponent comfortably 9-1. The lone goal was conceded when both of our defenders followed the attackers with the ball, and left a runner unmarked in the center. Other than that, our defense was solid and Peter was once again a scoring machine.

Futsal started at Cordozo H.S. in Columbia Hts on Sunday. We haven't played Futsal for 2 years since District Sports didn't run the league last year. Even with playing as much indoor ball as we have, it's hard to get used to the blistering pace of the Futsal game. Nevertheless, we played brilliantly. We got to every 50-50 ball first and shut down our opposing attackers effectively. In the end, we recorded our first indoor/futsal clean sheet that I can ever recall at 11-0. I was keeping goal and the post saved my ass twice...but hey, it's better to be lucky than good....any day.

So on aggregate, AC D.C. played our opponents this weekend to a score of 20-1. All in a weekend's work. Some of you will wonder whether we are in the right leagues, if the competition is so weak. In response, I'll make two points. First, we haven't won any championships this winter yet. As you recall, we were beaten in the championship game several week ago. Second, the only other indoor oppotunities we have are in Dulles and Rockville during week nights. The roster required for these leagues are pretty large and with as many doctors-in-training as we have, it would be logistically difficult to fill our rosters for these week-night leagues. Recruiting new players for them will pose other problems, as we'll need to play the new recruits in our outdoor leagues in the spring, and our roster for those squads are filled.

Several of you have pointed out that we haven't had a happy hour or party for a while. Rest assured that plans are underway for the third annual luge party. This will take place late winter/early spring at Jeff's place. We'll probably have a happy hour next Friday (2/5) but you'll hear more details when we get closer.

Have a great week.

Monday Morning Report: January 18

• new indoor session begins

In a twist of irony, the second session of indoor play at Fairfax began with a game against the current champions (see MMR 1/11 for details of championship game). Several of our new session players were out of town, but most significantly, our indoor captain was out of town, leaving me as keeper of the day.

Just like last week, we jumped out to a lead. Then, the game went back and forth and the score at halftime was 5-4 in their favor. Once again, our offense puttered in the second half, leaving the defense vulnerable. The final score was 7-5 but we avoided the embarrassment of letting in 9 goals in a half as we did last time.

Yours truly had a GREAT time playing keeper, and made more saves than I let in. I am reasonably happy with my own performance, having not played between the posts routinely since 2004. One particular goal did stand out in my mind, however. The shot came from point-blank-range at high velocity. I got my hand on the ball, which simply laughed at my attempt to stop its progress. It deflected my hand violently backwards and went into the net at the upper right corner, leaving my wrist limp....well, even until now.

Many have asked me whether this puts my career in danger and whether I had "hand specific" disability insurance. My attitude has always been that crossing the street puts my safety at risk, and being friends with some of you puts my sanity at risk....and I still do it. Playing keeper helps the team, and is very stimulating for me. And since I have the chance only sporadically, I see no need for excessive concern. Lord willing, as long as I can still fly around diving, and jump and do splits, even as this scrapes my knee and bruises my elbows, I will still enjoy keeping goal.

The indoor season for AC D.C. kicks into high gear starting next week as Sunday Futsal in DC restarts after a one-year hiatus. We'll have games on Saturdays and Sundays again, just like in the fall and spring. Let's hope for fun and successful seasons for both squads. The Farifax squad has been promoted to the newly created "upper division." Having already lost one game, we'll have to pick up the quality starting next week.

Monday Morning Report: January 11

• Championship game
• Tale of two halves

I arrived at the Pairs airport in June of 2005 in a red-and-black soccer t-shirt. As I stepped off the plane, the pilot pointed his index finger at the logo on my chest and said "catastroph!" Ordinarily, I would be taken aback when a professional says something so openly derogatory at me. But I immediately agreed with him.

What he was referring to was AC Milan's monumental collapse at the Champions' Leauge Final one month before. They were 3-nil ahead of Liverpool going into the break. They had the game won with genius plays by Kaka and Shevchenko. But Steven "Captain Fantastic" Gerrard came out of the locker room, scored almost immediately, and motivated his team to the spectacular come-back. In the end, Liverpool won in a shoot-out and the "catastroph" was complete.

A similar collapse unfolded for AC D.C. at the Fairfax Sportsplex on Saturday. The only difference was that half the world wasn't watching our game and no Air France pilot would know about it. Playing against an undefeated opponent in the indoor championship game, our first half was brilliant. We played with poise and patience, and we defended tenaciously as a team. We climbed to a 5-nil lead without doing anything unusual....just played our game.

Our monumental collapse started early in the second half. Reasons for it are still unclear to me. Very likely, we felt that we have already won the championship, so we "switched off." As if our team collectively had a stroke and became demented, we simply forgot how to play team defense. Good-to-brilliant all season, our defensive positioning was atrocious. It was like no one wanted to defend the 5-nil lead with 20" to go. Was everyone looking out for their own glory in scoring a goal in the championship game?

We tried to make some defensive switches at 5-3 and that didn't work. The game was balanced at 5-5 for about 4-5 minutes, as we finally regained some defensive composure. Then it was back-and-forth a bit but we played poorly again at the end. The story is told with a play when the score was 8-7. Our opponent attacked with one striker. He shot the ball and it rebounded off the base wall. One would have thought that with only 2" to go, we would defend with all we've got. But yet, the shooter got his own rebound, and put it in our net. And the final score was 9-7.

Although it's easy to blame our defenders for this collapse and for letting in 9 goals in 25", defending is really a team effort. We can only win if we realize that. We also need to understand that the game is however long the clock says, and if we switch off, we can lose, whatever the score may be at halftime. Letting in 3 goals when we were leading by 5 is not the end of the world. We have to be mentally tenacious and keep playing the game!

Football is >50% mental. Our players who stepped on the field in the second half are identical to those in the first, with the same skills, same strength and same knowledge of the game. Fatigue was not a factor. Our performance in the second half was clearly a mental issue, not a physical one. We'll have to work on that aspect of our team in the future.

There may well be a silver lining, however. After the "Catastroph of 2005," AC Milan faced Liverpool again in the CL Final two years later. This time, they won. Let's hope the same storyline unfolds for AC D.C. as we enter the second session of the winter indoor season.

Monday Morning Report: January 4

Happy New Year...

....from the people who bring you your AC D.C. evites every week.

The picture shows us misbehaving on NYE. heh, heh....

2009 was a pretty good year for AC D.C. We won another indoor championship at Fairfax, and for the first time won a tournament! While I was sunning myself in Italia, the stalwarts of the team triumphed in the Columbia Tournament. What a great achievement!

We also organized our first 5-a-side tournament, and played well in both our co-ed and men's leagues.

Along the way, we've had several babies and weddings. Injuries were kept to a pretty minimal count.....what else can a manager ask for? A dry pitch for Cherry Blossom?

I want to thank everyone who helped me with running the team in 2009. In addition to the bozos you see in the picture, there's Carlos for dealing with all uniform and party issues, and Mumbs for being asst captain. Thank you all for being part of this great team last year and sharing your skills, talent and time with everybody.

2010 has already seen our first victory! We beat our opponent 12-4 on Saturday at Fairfax. Kudos to Peter, who was a scoring machine and Nicole and Hannah for playing without subs. They were incredible. With that win, we are assured a place in the championship game next week. We have stayed undefeated and untied this session, so hopefully, we'll continue to dominate next weekend. I'll let you know the time for the match and hope that some of you will come out to cheer the squad onto victory.

Until then.....Happy New Year!