back in the net

So, I told you last week that I got myself hooked up for an adult soccer league for the Fall. One day, I was like, "Well, I haven't played soccer goalie in over three years (actually, I thought it was only two, but my wife pointed out otherwise last night :) ), why not join a soccer team? Duh..." Anyway, so I get in a little bit over my head for starters, and then I get an e-mail from the team's organizer about a 6-6 indoor co-ed soccer league that is running on Sunday nights, and they could use a keeper. Um...okay.

So, I go for a hunt through the closets for all my goalie stuff, realizing that I have no cleats and no shin guards. Then, I go to this game last night, and Sara comes along for kicks. When we get there, I meet Pat (the organizer) and a couple more of the players. I then put my gloves on, only to realize that they have pretty much rotted. Right. We go to the "kiddie field" for some warmups, and I start diving within the first few kicks. Surprisingly, diving was the first thing that came back to me. I couldn't catch the ball for a while, and I definitely was struggling with breakaways, but I was diving well.

What surprised me wasn't that my goalie skills were terrible, but my cardio vascular fitness was just awful. After 15 minutes of warmup, I was spent. I took 5 minutes to catch my breath, and then got another 5 minutes of warmup before I had to stop again. What a great former personal trainer I am...this was going to be fun...

So, the game starts. The other team really had us outmatched talent-wise. They had a few players that we ripping shots from about mid-field with surprising accuracy (remember, we were indoor, so mid-field is only about 30 yards). In the first 5 minutes, I made some pretty sweet diving saves and, in my head, I was like, "Heck, yeah...I'm gonna get like 20 shut outs in a row!" Then, the other foot dropped.

First, the other team seemed to realize that I was too in control of the net for them to score on me from far off. Second, I got tired. And, third, my team started get severely out hustled and outplayed. We had a 1-0 lead, but then it was quickly 2-1, on shots I couldn't do anything about. We had a sweet goal to make it 2-2, but it was all down hill after that. With two minutes left in the first half (24 minute halfs), the other team had a sweet cross that I couldn't cover in time. Then, with 30 seconds left, a guy ripped a shot right at me that I thought was going low, but it knuckled high...so, while I was going down, it was going up, and it was 4-2 just like that.

In the second half, I made a couple of nice saves, but the other team scored 5 (all of them shots taken with 5 yards of the goal), and we scored none. I learned that I really needed to relearn how to come out and dive at the ball on one-on-one situations...cause last night I was more just falling, than anything. So, things to work on. Beyond that, I learned how out of shape I am, so I am hoping the next few weeks will improve on that.

In other news, my AC trip last week was an unfortunate mix of unlucky hands, not hitting draws, and a few costly mistakes on my part. So, last time I was there, I won $411 in cash games, and this time I lost $445 (and a couple of great reads prevented me from losing another $200). I also played a couple of $50 tourneys to no avail, but I had fun with the guys I was with and the other players I met.

As far as real estate goes, I made this week real light with our move on Friday coming up. I will be in Baltimore tomorrow night with a client-couple, but that's about it...the rest is office stuff, and making sure my three upcoming settlements over the next two week go off without a hitch.

So, that's that. Happy Monday, everyone!

Peace,
Greg