That is exactly what we have to do tonight.
Survive and advance.
I'm fine with playing the Ancient Warriors again. We played them the other night and we didn't shoot, rebound, or defend in the transition very well, yet we were still in striking distance at the end.
This is our 3rd straight year playing in this league and each year our team composition has declined just a bit. This is evidenced by our record getting worse and worse. In fact this was the first year where we had what I will call a bad loss. And we had two of them.
On the flip side of that we also had our best win ever this season by knocking off One on One.
Well tonight we can forget it all and play a 40 minute game where the loser has to wait until next June to lace them up again at Thoreau. Who knows who will be back? Who knows who will be new?
Quite honestly...who freaking cares?
I like the Vets by 3.
I also like the amount of whining/complaining to be rather high. We come across the most complaining in our games against Ancient and One on One. I think both of those teams are just used to showing up and beating some garbage like VIKA or Birdie's Squad every game. They don't like to have somebody show up and make it hard to hit shots or get around screens.
Oh well.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Thursday, July 24, 2008
3rd time is the charm
Well last night was the third time that I either was at RFK or had left for RFK to see United take on Houston. Since my blog has been on a huge summer vacation here is a little recap:
First try: June 4 - After 15 minutes of 0-0 game action the ref decides that the Biblical type weather in the District is enough to at least stop the game momentarily. After 90 great rain delayed minutes we are told, "Sorry folks the show is over. See ya next time". The rain delay story is best told separately.
Second try: July 22 - I am on my way to get the keg when Oscar calls me and says not to buy anything yet. "Give me 20 minutes to call you back," he says. So on a bright, sunny day in the world's most important city, we can't play soccer because somebody forgot to pay the electric bill. See you guys tomorrow!
Third and final try: July 23/July 24 - Well I'm not sure if we got it right. I mean United looked terrible in a 2-0 home loss - snapping their 6 game unbeaten streak - but that's not even the half of it. We made it 53 minutes w/o any problems. Good tailgate. Great weather. And then the skies opened. Next thing you know its pitch black at RFK. Again. This is all happening at around 830ish. Yeah the next time we see soccer it is 1145 and there are about 200 people left in the stadium.
I, of course, stayed.
I mean what was I going to do? Go home and watch some Georgetown game from the mid 90's in a lame attempt to forget how freaking old I am??? Yeah not tonight boys. Tonight I was hanging out at RFK into the early morning hours to catch some of the worst soccer of my life.
So let's dig deeper for the positives:
1. I found the team store. I spent 100 bucks. Not bad considering the fact that I could have easily dropped 1000 bucks w/o flinching.
2. I still have a phone. My phone died a horrible death at the first United - Houston match. Something about texting in a downpour. Hey Verizon why don't you plan for such events. Idiots.
3. Mike Terry. I made the big mistake of saying that I could give him a ride back to the metro. What started out as a nightmare ended with a good highlight. This guy slides through my back window onto the bed of my truck in order to secure a gatorade from my cooler. It was really awesome to watch as the driver.
4. We cleaned the Pod. The state of conditions inside the Barra Brava pod at the beginning of the tailgate were really bleak. An hour later and it was spotless thanks mostly to Connie. That guy is a relentless worker. It's like he had the whole thing planned since the time he got up.
You know what's annoying? When people go out of town. OMG it's been forever!
You know what else is annoying? When the following people fake on a mid week United game: Baker, Yvonne, Sam, Bobby.
You know what's awesome. When people go out of town but have the presence of mind to send you 6 boxes of Banana Crunch. Silly!
First try: June 4 - After 15 minutes of 0-0 game action the ref decides that the Biblical type weather in the District is enough to at least stop the game momentarily. After 90 great rain delayed minutes we are told, "Sorry folks the show is over. See ya next time". The rain delay story is best told separately.
Second try: July 22 - I am on my way to get the keg when Oscar calls me and says not to buy anything yet. "Give me 20 minutes to call you back," he says. So on a bright, sunny day in the world's most important city, we can't play soccer because somebody forgot to pay the electric bill. See you guys tomorrow!
Third and final try: July 23/July 24 - Well I'm not sure if we got it right. I mean United looked terrible in a 2-0 home loss - snapping their 6 game unbeaten streak - but that's not even the half of it. We made it 53 minutes w/o any problems. Good tailgate. Great weather. And then the skies opened. Next thing you know its pitch black at RFK. Again. This is all happening at around 830ish. Yeah the next time we see soccer it is 1145 and there are about 200 people left in the stadium.
I, of course, stayed.
I mean what was I going to do? Go home and watch some Georgetown game from the mid 90's in a lame attempt to forget how freaking old I am??? Yeah not tonight boys. Tonight I was hanging out at RFK into the early morning hours to catch some of the worst soccer of my life.
So let's dig deeper for the positives:
1. I found the team store. I spent 100 bucks. Not bad considering the fact that I could have easily dropped 1000 bucks w/o flinching.
2. I still have a phone. My phone died a horrible death at the first United - Houston match. Something about texting in a downpour. Hey Verizon why don't you plan for such events. Idiots.
3. Mike Terry. I made the big mistake of saying that I could give him a ride back to the metro. What started out as a nightmare ended with a good highlight. This guy slides through my back window onto the bed of my truck in order to secure a gatorade from my cooler. It was really awesome to watch as the driver.
4. We cleaned the Pod. The state of conditions inside the Barra Brava pod at the beginning of the tailgate were really bleak. An hour later and it was spotless thanks mostly to Connie. That guy is a relentless worker. It's like he had the whole thing planned since the time he got up.
You know what's annoying? When people go out of town. OMG it's been forever!
You know what else is annoying? When the following people fake on a mid week United game: Baker, Yvonne, Sam, Bobby.
You know what's awesome. When people go out of town but have the presence of mind to send you 6 boxes of Banana Crunch. Silly!
Monday, July 14, 2008
i'm your huckleberry...
Why do they call it Miss Universe? I mean they don't even let other species from Earth enter the contest let alone intergalactic contestants. That has always bothered me and I'm not sure I've really ever put it out there for my fans. So there you have it.
Bam.
That's your Mom.
Best game of the day: Click here to play!
My best time so far is 7:21 remaining. The major complaint of the day with regards to this game has been that "I don't know all of the Big East schools". That's weird. How can you be sleeping on the best basketball conference in America???
WWJWD: Now normally I wouldn't give a rat's ass about a Wizards Summer League game but tonight is a little different. And by a little I mean a lot.
Jon Wallace.
My main man Jon Wallace is suiting up for the home team out in Vegas. I already miss Jon. Let's relive one of his many clutch performances right now.
Match-day 6: VIKA: So who wants some? So far I am only counting 4 guarantees for tonight's huge game in the KG Vets march into the playoffs. Bret is out. Hales is showing up late and/or drunk. Kaala got stuck in South Carolina. Mark is always a maybe. So yeah that leaves me, Jess, Baker, and Adam left to protect this house. Maybe Yvonne or Kary can be summoned for some fouls. (Did I mention that Yvonne is a great score keeper and a real asset to the KG Vets? If I didn't she might cry about it in the comments section.)
Tombstone: I am addicted to watching parts of this movie everyday. I think it came out in '93 and I just saw it for the first time ever in May. I'm in love with Val Kilmer's character - Doc Holliday. Silly
Bam.
That's your Mom.
Best game of the day: Click here to play!
My best time so far is 7:21 remaining. The major complaint of the day with regards to this game has been that "I don't know all of the Big East schools". That's weird. How can you be sleeping on the best basketball conference in America???
WWJWD: Now normally I wouldn't give a rat's ass about a Wizards Summer League game but tonight is a little different. And by a little I mean a lot.
Jon Wallace.
My main man Jon Wallace is suiting up for the home team out in Vegas. I already miss Jon. Let's relive one of his many clutch performances right now.
Match-day 6: VIKA: So who wants some? So far I am only counting 4 guarantees for tonight's huge game in the KG Vets march into the playoffs. Bret is out. Hales is showing up late and/or drunk. Kaala got stuck in South Carolina. Mark is always a maybe. So yeah that leaves me, Jess, Baker, and Adam left to protect this house. Maybe Yvonne or Kary can be summoned for some fouls. (Did I mention that Yvonne is a great score keeper and a real asset to the KG Vets? If I didn't she might cry about it in the comments section.)
Tombstone: I am addicted to watching parts of this movie everyday. I think it came out in '93 and I just saw it for the first time ever in May. I'm in love with Val Kilmer's character - Doc Holliday. Silly
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
choose the sword - and you will join me
What to do, what to do?
I mean there are so many things that have happened since the last time we came to you Live from the Park
Currently listening to: Cyco-Lic-No (Bitch Azz Niggaz) - Tha Dogg Pound. 1995 baby!
Ok so in an effort to actually crank something out today that doesn't take 8 hours to read, I will just touch on some recent developments.
Last night: I missed a United home(ish) game. There. I admit it. DC United played at the SoccerPlex in Germantown and I was a no show. Shame on me. As crazy as it might sound to an untrained ear, I had bigger fish to fry - KG Vets basketball in the Vienna League.
Matchday 5 - One on One Basketball.
Our nemesis over the past two seasons. Entering last night we were 0-4, including 2 playoff losses, against these jokers.
Currently listening to: While my Guitar Gently Weeps - The Beatles
So most of us actually got there a little bit early to talk about some slight changes we could make both offensively and defensively. The best part about the whole getting there early part is that Thoreau Middle has this axillary gym where we can usually just dick around in for hours before tipoff. Well not this time. The irony gods were having a good time as they picked yesterday as the day to rip up the floor. Thanks guys.
One of my favorite parts about yesterday was our decision to go zone to open up the game. We have kicked around the zone idea for awhile now but upon walking into the gym and seeing Brian Miller, I knew it was bad news. I told Jesse that the score would be 9 - nothing before we had a chance to breathe if we went zone. Well after some arguing seconds before the opening tip we decided to go zone.
Guess what happened?
Uh huh. 6 - 0 courtesy of two Miller bombs. Man that sounded familiar.
THANK YOU SIR MAY I HAVE ANOTHER!
Long story short we came back and beat their ass by a single point. That same single point that eluded us in the 2006 Championship game.
Pretty much everybody made big plays at one point or another. Jesse was hitting from half court with regularity. Baker had a sick tip in that he had no business making - bizarro Rasheed. Mark was blocking shots. Adam hit some timely mid range jumpers. Kaala was going to the hoop. Bret made some good passes - and didn't get ejected! Oh and me. I managed to get their entire team upset and bitching about me to the refs before the first tv timeout. (that is before the first dead ball with under 16:00 remaining to the basketball novices reading this junk).
I think that was their 3rd loss in like the last 8 seasons or so.
We were due.
We have a lot of work left to do but that was huge for our playoff chances. I kept saying all weekend that we were fine so it's nice to be right every now and then. Well maybe not right but I wasn't wrong. Is that the same?
We are seriously the only team in that league that can lose to garbage and beat the best. What does that mean? Ah hell who cares - Let's just play again next week and see what happens.
United: So we all know I missed the game. Well they were also playing a team in which they don't exactly beat with any sort of consistency when the loser goes home. I had Kary hitting me up with live updates but I was really dreading the inevitable bad news. I checked my phone and I had 21 messages that read like an AP wire update. (btw: she might have a future job calling) So by the time I got through all of them I realized that all of the stars aligned and the good guys won all across the board.
Sick.
Almost forgot. We were shaking hands before the tip-off and Miller asked me what was up with our record not being so good. I said hey what you see is what you get my man. He's a pretty nice guy but for about 80 minutes a year I really don't like him that much.
Ok well I gots to get going now brah. I'm not sure if my soccer stuff is even clean and there is a battle for promotion in the NVASA 2nd Division.
until we meet again....
latEr brah
I mean there are so many things that have happened since the last time we came to you Live from the Park
Currently listening to: Cyco-Lic-No (Bitch Azz Niggaz) - Tha Dogg Pound. 1995 baby!
Ok so in an effort to actually crank something out today that doesn't take 8 hours to read, I will just touch on some recent developments.
Last night: I missed a United home(ish) game. There. I admit it. DC United played at the SoccerPlex in Germantown and I was a no show. Shame on me. As crazy as it might sound to an untrained ear, I had bigger fish to fry - KG Vets basketball in the Vienna League.
Matchday 5 - One on One Basketball.
Our nemesis over the past two seasons. Entering last night we were 0-4, including 2 playoff losses, against these jokers.
Currently listening to: While my Guitar Gently Weeps - The Beatles
So most of us actually got there a little bit early to talk about some slight changes we could make both offensively and defensively. The best part about the whole getting there early part is that Thoreau Middle has this axillary gym where we can usually just dick around in for hours before tipoff. Well not this time. The irony gods were having a good time as they picked yesterday as the day to rip up the floor. Thanks guys.
One of my favorite parts about yesterday was our decision to go zone to open up the game. We have kicked around the zone idea for awhile now but upon walking into the gym and seeing Brian Miller, I knew it was bad news. I told Jesse that the score would be 9 - nothing before we had a chance to breathe if we went zone. Well after some arguing seconds before the opening tip we decided to go zone.
Guess what happened?
Uh huh. 6 - 0 courtesy of two Miller bombs. Man that sounded familiar.
THANK YOU SIR MAY I HAVE ANOTHER!
Long story short we came back and beat their ass by a single point. That same single point that eluded us in the 2006 Championship game.
Pretty much everybody made big plays at one point or another. Jesse was hitting from half court with regularity. Baker had a sick tip in that he had no business making - bizarro Rasheed. Mark was blocking shots. Adam hit some timely mid range jumpers. Kaala was going to the hoop. Bret made some good passes - and didn't get ejected! Oh and me. I managed to get their entire team upset and bitching about me to the refs before the first tv timeout. (that is before the first dead ball with under 16:00 remaining to the basketball novices reading this junk).
I think that was their 3rd loss in like the last 8 seasons or so.
We were due.
We have a lot of work left to do but that was huge for our playoff chances. I kept saying all weekend that we were fine so it's nice to be right every now and then. Well maybe not right but I wasn't wrong. Is that the same?
We are seriously the only team in that league that can lose to garbage and beat the best. What does that mean? Ah hell who cares - Let's just play again next week and see what happens.
United: So we all know I missed the game. Well they were also playing a team in which they don't exactly beat with any sort of consistency when the loser goes home. I had Kary hitting me up with live updates but I was really dreading the inevitable bad news. I checked my phone and I had 21 messages that read like an AP wire update. (btw: she might have a future job calling) So by the time I got through all of them I realized that all of the stars aligned and the good guys won all across the board.
Sick.
Almost forgot. We were shaking hands before the tip-off and Miller asked me what was up with our record not being so good. I said hey what you see is what you get my man. He's a pretty nice guy but for about 80 minutes a year I really don't like him that much.
Ok well I gots to get going now brah. I'm not sure if my soccer stuff is even clean and there is a battle for promotion in the NVASA 2nd Division.
until we meet again....
latEr brah
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