“I’m old, I don’t slide.”
Pam, after being taken out by a Gang Green player, who then accused her of sliding.
There we were again—counting each other as we arrived, and satisfied when our numbers reached ten. Eleven is good, but ten is way better than nine, especially when Tsunami faces an opponent like Gang Green, which has rebuilt with the addition of several new youngish players with skills and attitude. Happily, two among our ten were new, youngish and attitude-free teammates Sammi and Brittany.* Gang Green had thirteen, but in a feat of puffery, made it look like they had 15 or 16 by substituting every 3 minutes.
The game got off to a fast start, and the first half saw both squads logging many miles running up, down, across and over the field. We got on the board first when Suzanne (I think, although it could have been Brittany) controlled the ball near the left side, then crossed it to Diane, who was perfectly positioned in front of the right side of the goal. Diane kept it low and to the right, beating the goalie who still anticipated a high shot from the left. Suzanne tried to set up a couple more similar plays, launching bigger crosses to our “11th man” who stood alone in the right corner—all alone as in on vacation, where all our 11th women were this week.
Sammi served first in the goal, and it’s a good thing she did—Gang Green threatened numerous times during the first half, and Sammi showed gymnastic form in repelling shot after shot. One of her athletic blocks got picked up as a rebound, however, and the Tsunami defense couldn’t react quickly enough to stop Gang Green from scoring. The half continued apace—the score stayed 1-1—but not for lack of trying by both sides. As halftime approached, Diane got mixed up with a Gang Green player, and ended up with a bloody nose and had to leave the field. The ref stopped the game and resumed with a drop ball. Pam took the drop, anticipating the usual courtesy tap on the part of the Gang Green player, who instead tried to score from the drop. We held on with nine players for the remaining minute or so, leaving it 1-1 at halftime.
During the second half Tsunami dominated possession, but could not get the ball into the net. When Gang Green did get possession, they often just sent it goal-ward; yours truly felt lucky to have her job resemble shagging more than gymnastics. Several times everyone except the GG player with the ball were confident that that ball handler was off sides, and left the lone GG player heading for the goal solo. Too often the refs and linesmen did not share this opinion and did not blow their whistles or swish their flags. The shagging became more urgent! Finally, Gang Green backed up one of these players and we were unable to stop the goal. The score became 2-1, with very few minutes left.
The power of ten: Belinda had burned most of her 688 calories by then; Pam had been kicked so hard she was hobbling; Stephanie had a pulled muscle in her back or shoulder and appeared unable to move her right (?) arm. Amy, Laura, Britanny and Diane had made so many sprints from the half line to the corners that their cleats were wearing thin. Power? Sammi, Pam and Suzanne got the ball into the GG half. Suzanne launched one of her missiles goalward. The GG goalie got a hand on it, but did not control it. Britanny was there! Score! 2-2. Everyone had just enough calories left to expend to keep GG at bay during the remaining seconds. Call it a tie, but the ten limping off the field (correction--Sammi and Brittany were not limping) felt like winners, every one.
See you next week for 909-united at 4:45. Get ready for Cougar Express the following week, also at 4:45.
ghu
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* What is attitude and why is it bad? Imagine you are playing forward. You take off to receive an anticipated pass. The pass arrives, and you have it all to yourself with a clear line to the goal. You run with it, but then hear the whistle. Alas, you were off sides. An attitude-free player taps the ball to the opposing defensive player who sets up for the awarded free kick. If you are one of Gang Green’s attitude-embued new players, you turn your back on the ball and walk away from it, so the other team has to retrieve it. Soccer values sportsmanship and forbids players from taunting and other ugly social practices. The rules don’t explicitly require common courtesy, but isn’t it an implicit expectation?
* What is attitude and why is it bad? Imagine you are playing forward. You take off to receive an anticipated pass. The pass arrives, and you have it all to yourself with a clear line to the goal. You run with it, but then hear the whistle. Alas, you were off sides. An attitude-free player taps the ball to the opposing defensive player who sets up for the awarded free kick. If you are one of Gang Green’s attitude-embued new players, you turn your back on the ball and walk away from it, so the other team has to retrieve it. Soccer values sportsmanship and forbids players from taunting and other ugly social practices. The rules don’t explicitly require common courtesy, but isn’t it an implicit expectation?
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