Bored w/out soccer? Sky's the limit this weekend!

She Got Game

Notre Dame’s Skylar Diggins Knows What She Wants

By ANDREW GOLDMAN

Published: February 9, 2012

As a high-school basketball player in South Bend, Ind., you were considered a phenom in the vein of LeBron James. But LeBron made $4 million in his first season in the N.B.A. The top W.N.B.A. salary is about $105,000. Does this depress you?
If it’s about money, you shouldn’t play.

Thomas Chadwick for The New York Times

But men’s college basketball stars can envision making a fortune afterward. Your dream path isn’t as clear.
Do you think we don’t know that we don’t make a lot in the league? We can’t sit on the edge of the bench waving a towel and get paid $400,000, so we have to make sure we come up with a strong Plan B. Right now I’m in business-management entrepreneurship in one of the country’s top undergrad business programs. This summer, if everything goes right, I’ll be interning with espnW. Eventually maybe I’ll get into sports commentating.

The N.C.A.A. makes a fortune. It also requires athletes to sign away their likenesses in perpetuity without pay. Does this bother you?
When I see these people walking around with my jersey on, I’m like, Where does that money go? But I’m living the life. As high as the tuition is, I probably wouldn’t be able to go here as a regular student. So anything that’s good for Notre Dame is good for me and our program.

You frequently change your hairstyle at halftime, depending on the kind of game you’re having. What’s that about?
If I had a bad first half, I’ll come back after halftime, and you’ll see a bun or a fan ponytail. When my hair goes up, that means it’s time to get down and dirty — I must have been messing around in the first half, and I’m just a wild child now.

I never saw the bun as a predatory hairstyle.
Maybe not to you. Maybe not to anybody else. But I know what it means.

People generalize that women are the more empathetic sex. Ever felt bad after stealing the ball?
Never. I’m not very good with mercy.

You took Notre Dame’s loss to Texas A&M in last year’s national championship game particularly hard. What do you think about when you replay that game in your head?
I think of 15:52. That’s how much time was on the clock when we were up by 7 and they made their comeback. I should have had better game management. I’m the point guard, that’s my job. It could be 100 factors, but to this day, I won’t let anybody else tell me that. I know. Because I was out there playing.

You were criticized in the press for leaving the court before the traditional postgame handshake.
I don’t regret that. I have relationships with those A&M girls, I told them congratulations. I just didn’t stay after for the confetti dropping and them diving on each other. Do you know what it’s like to lose a national championship game?

I certainly do not. When people see a young talent like yours, they envision an overbearing stage parent. How much were you pushed by your stepfather, who coached you in different capacities through high school?
It was kind of the other way around. I knew he had the keys to the gym, and I would drag him out of bed early, I mean early, and I would be at the gym for six hours every day. He once asked me: “Are you sure this is what you want to do? Are you willing to put the work in?” I said, “Yes.” And from then on we have had a very, very close bond.

Your mother ran an incredibly strict house.
My mom, she doesn’t play.

I heard there was a permanent ban on the word “can’t.” And that she’d insist on getting the license plates and cellphone numbers of any suitors. She also demanded you sign a contract prohibiting anyone else from driving your car.
I signed it when I was a sophomore. It was typed. No joke, it might still be in my glove compartment. And if my mom doesn’t like a guy, he’s not going to make it very far.

Considering Notre Dame is in your hometown, I’m surprised you didn’t decide to take off to Stanford.
If I went to Stanford, I promise you, my mom would have moved there.

Cookie updates for tonite and next week!

Main Event Grille being renovated! Go in Opdyke Road entrance (the big building is the Silverdome so head that way). Practice next week for those in town with Bill Friend. First outdoor practice at Orchard Lake on April 9 - 6-745PM

Alice's spring update! "Tech" training winds down

Please see the note below regarding practice times.

LOCATION CHANGE for practice, Mon/Thurs 6:30-8:10 we are at Orchard Lake Middle School on Orchard Lake Road between Walnut Lake and Maple.

This Weeks Practice Schedule

Tonight Aaron Byrd NLT 4:30-6

Thursday night practice 6-7:30

Friday technical training 6-7:30 Winstar Mini Dome

Next Week’s Practice Schedule

Thursday practice 6-7:30 Silverdome combined depending on who is in town

NO Aaron Byrd NLT

NO Friday technical training

April 9^th Practice Schedule

Monday 6:30-8:10 Orchard Lake Middle School (OLMS) back fields

Tuesday NLT 4:30-6

Thursday 6:30-8:10 OLMS back fields

Indy Burn Tournament April 13-15

PLEASE RSVP for dinner both nights dinners and breakfast so that I have headcounts to order with. If you are not sure yet Friday night is most important. Thank you.

Men's ODP still has some work to do!

SPORTS   | March 27, 2012
United States 3, El Salvador 3:  Late Goal Ends U.S. Bid for Place in the Olympics
By ANDREW KEH
An injury-time goal gave El Salvador a tie, knocking the United States soccer team out of the Olympic qualifying tournament.


-- As regular readers know I love, love, love soccer talk: the "18", in the "sticks", on "frame", pace, "good idea," "unlucky", possession, distribution, and so on.

Even more than this I love soccer talk when the conversation turns to the failure of US men's soccer to compete on an international level. I love these kinds of conversations because they are so breathtakingly obtuse. It is as entertaining as when they ask Ms. America candidates questions ("How would you bring about world peace?") Why, folks ask, can US women do so well in soccer but "our" men fail?

The answer is simple, of course, but soccer talkers treat it like neuro-science.

Briefly, "our" women are good because the US leads the world in women's rights. Feminism was born here, thrived here, and has changed the country (please don't call Rush, L. Brooks, and so on). At my large institution I have (at least) three female "bosses" ahead of me in rank. They deserve to be there. They are smarter, more ambitious, and more organized than I am. As a Democrat, I regret very much Hilary got railroaded by the "hopey/changy" thing. Generally speaking, I consider the women I work for better people, too. It is no surprise, then, that our female soccer teams excel. In some more primitive parts of the US (I regret to say Michigan now fits in that category, ranking last in spending on science research, higher education and so on) this may be easy to forget. Go on to a soccer pitch, a basketball court, a tennis court, a baseball field -- wherever boys' teams are playing and girls' teams are playing and tell me honestly which animal you would choose to coach? The girls are smarter, sleeker, cleaner, better conditioned, funnier, better teammates, more coachable and on and on and on. They are that way because the US decided sometime after "Madmen" to allow and encourage them to thrive.

American boys? Oh, boy. I give a lecture in my early English lit course where I try to explain the difference between Renaissance (as in "renaissance" man) European masculinity and our current American masculinity. The former defined himself by how much he could do -- music, horsemanship, diplomacy, farming, poetry, swordplay, wooing and on and on. The idea is beautifully depicted below in Hans Holbein's famous The Ambassadors. American males tend to define themselves by what they refuse to do or learn: music, poetry, diplomacy, gardening, courtliness and so on. "Real men don't...." goes the t-shirt.

Men's soccer fails here routinely because it is still "new" and male culture refuses to embrace something new and relatively different.

 Athletics in America remains defined by American football, basketball, and baseball -- in that order. If America wanted a male team to win they would only have to take all the money they put toward "training" programs now and go to every large American high school and say, hey, give me your 9th grade starting quarterback, point guard, and shortstop/pitcher -- regardless of soccer experience -- and we will guarantee them college scholarships if they play soccer for the next 6 years. Gold medal.

That's probably impractical. So we will just have to wait until some of the current girl players become coaches -- and take over mens' programs.

Let's hear it for the boy! Let's give the boy a chance!

Like most who were teens or pre-teens in the 1980s I burst in to incredulous laughter when I heard that a remake of the Kevin Bacon film *Footloose* (1984) was in the mix. The first film bordered on kitsch, even for the 16 year old crowd who didn't know what "kitsch" was.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitsch

(Although, in the spirit of many courageous "Fanilows" out there, I must admit I did and do respond to the wedding dancing energy of the title song. Having grown up admiring the athleticism of Gene Kelly or Donald O'Connor on the old Bill Kennedy movie afternoons I love musicals, particularly those that feature dance. That's a little, as the girls say, "awko-taco"[sp?], a brilliant phrase that seems to refer to any awkward conversation or situation)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3YWWfnWBJM


But, the film's premise -- that bans on dancing needed a "fight for freedom" film devoted to just that struggle -- was absurd in 1984 and even more absurd in 2011/12 and after the initial belly laugh I didn't give the remake a single thought.

When, however, you have an 11 year old daughter about to turn 12 seemingly goofy bits of pop culture have a way of entering in to your life in ways you wouldn't expect. So I found myself sitting down recently to watch Footloose redux.

Twice. Indeed, the second viewing preempted a good NCAA bball tournament game (Florida v. Louisville)!

I liked the film both times and, again, in the spirit of Fanilowism, I admit I even got a bit teary. The reason, as NYTimes film critic A.O. Scott put it, is the director handles the absurd premise with "sensitivity and conviction."

That is to say, the director decided not to spend too much time on the "right" to dance -- trying to make sense of this "right" either socially or psychologically -- but instead concentrates seriously on themes buried in the original: most specifically, the need for adults to enforce rules and the equally strong need for children or teens to try to break them -- to grow up and live.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mzpuUzLKx4

In most films that traffic in the relationship between teens and adults we are asked to sympathize with one side or the other. The adult is either crazily oppressive (like the John Lithgow campy father figure in the first Footloose) or the teen is either provocatively and stupidly rebellious (the young girl who fascinates Kevin Spacey in American Beauty comes to mind). Many films seem to suggest that a parent only has two choices: either become a friend or a foe and ignore the basic fact that a good parent is neither.

Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is, of course, the locus classicus here.

The second Footloose has a more grown up, pragmatic, and post-tragedy look at this divide. Quite simply, the film makes clear that each side has a job to do -- one has to parent, and one has to try to grow beyond the parenting. It is a mistake to demonize or overly celebrate one side or the other in the necessary conflicts and even traumas that arise.

Readers won't be surprised to hear that I identified most distinctly with the overly protective father in the film (when did that happen!! I'm the old guy!! the one who is at his best only when he lets his wife check his own excesses). Dennis Quaid gives a rich performance as the preacher who enforces the rules against dancing but finds himself, literally and figuratively, hurting his own daughter in an attempt to protect her. The break through moment in the film (that is when the original catchy title song starts pumping through in the background) is when Quaid checks himself and, to a certain extent, repents. He does so not by giving up on enforcing the rules -- the ban on dancing he initiates stays intact, a fact subtly handled. He does so, simply, by hoping and praying. Ultimately I can't control what you do he says to his young congregation, but I hope you have listened.

And I pray you will be smart and safe. Moreover, the preacher Quaid says please pray with me, reminding his audience and congregation that a prayer is neither a completely solipsistic act -- that is, just for an individual -- nor completely a communal act that violently collapses the difference between me and you (usually with me having the say). Rather, a prayer is a call for something else entirely.

In fact, one reason the remake is so much better than the first is a respectful -- rather than antagonistic -- posture towards religion. In the original Lithgow's preacher is simply and evangelical Christian kook, almost a stupid parody of Hollywood's hostility to the church. In this remake, however, Quaid is thoughtful, sympathetic, reasoned. His prayer towards the end of movie sets off a celebratory dance; it isn't mocked. Rather remarkably, too, the director takes care to set Quaid in an Abrahamic (Abram, Abraham, Ibrahim), rather than specifically Christian context. Here is what I mean: Quaid is surely a Christian preacher (we see the church. although the interior is distinctly less Christian than the exterior!). But there are distinctly no references to Christ in the film.  There are no references, in other words, that might inadvertently divide the religious from the religious. When Quaid prays it is an open prayer, one acceptable to many faiths. The critical scripture cited comes not from the "New" testament but from Psalms and Samuel. Curiously, the only new testament references are to St. Paul when Quaid is rehearsing a sermon, a rehearsal respectfully interrupted by "Ren" (Kenny Wormald who I am told is "very cute").

True religion, the film suggests, is an embrace of others and of life -- not a rejection. It is an embrace of spirit -- and body.

Warning: the film does flirt with the "INAPPROPRIATE" (perhaps the most useful word in the parenting lexicon) but it does pull the curtain at appropriate points. On these things I sympathize with the filmmakers. 11 and 12 year olds aren't particularly interested in seeing 11 and 12 year olds in films. They want to see what happens next. They want to see 17 and 18 year olds. Collectively speaking, we know what is coming and that can make you teary -- both sad tears and happy tears.

And the film doesn't have particularly nice to things about guys who race cars. That could have been corrected.

March madness for Baylor

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsqldI6kyLw

Winstar catches up..Final Force standing Winter 2

orce FC '00 Purple U12/13 Girls 11v11 2nd Session 2012

U12/13 Girls 11v11 2nd Session 2012 Standings

GP   W   L   T   GF   GA   PTS   GD   WP  Vardar East 00 9 7 0 2 16 4 23 12 0.778 Force FC '00 Purple 10 6 2 2 25 8 20 17 0.600 BASC SHOCK RED 9 5 1 3 23 6 18 17 0.556 RSC Lightning 00 White 9 5 2 2 18 8 17 10 0.556 Vardar Red 00 (Beck) 8 3 1 4 8 1 13 7 0.375 BASC SHOCK WHITE 9 4 4 1 11 12 13 -1 0.444 OUSC-99 Girls 8 3 3 2 14 11 11 3 0.375 MI Impact 99 White 9 2 6 1 8 22 7 -14 0.222 Waza East 00 Kelly 9 1 5 3 3 14 6 -11 0.111 RSC Lightning 99 Gold 9 1 6 2 4 24 5 -20 0.111 TSC Comets 9 0 7 2 4 24 2 -20 0.000

Force FC '00 Purple's Schedule

Date Home   Away Time/Status Venue Game Type Officials Sat-Jan 14   Vardar Red 00 (Beck) 0 - 0 Force FC '00 Purple Complete Pontiac Silverdome Regular   Sat-Jan 21   Force FC '00 Purple 1 - 1 OUSC-99 Girls Complete Winstar Dome 11v11 Regular   Sat-Jan 28   MI Impact 99 White 2 - 4 Force FC '00 Purple Complete Winstar Dome 11v11 Regular   Sat-Feb 4   Force FC '00 Purple 5 - 0 TSC Comets Complete Winstar Dome 11v11 Regular   Sat-Feb 11   Force FC '00 Purple 0 - 2 BASC SHOCK RED Complete Winstar Dome 11v11 Regular   Sat-Feb 18   Vardar East 00 2 - 1 Force FC '00 Purple Complete Winstar Dome 11v11 Regular   Sat-Feb 25   Force FC '00 Purple 5 - 0 RSC Lightning 99 Gold Complete Winstar Dome 11v11 Regular   Sat-Mar 3   BASC SHOCK WHITE 0 - 4 Force FC '00 Purple Complete Winstar Dome 11v11 Regular   Sat-Mar 10   Force FC '00 Purple 4 - 1 RSC Lightning 00 White Complete Winstar Dome 11v11 Regular   Sat-Mar 17   Waza East 00 Kelly 0 - 1 Force FC '00 Purple Complete Winstar Dome 11v11 Regular

2012 Spring predictions ....

1) The weather will be a significant factor. Please, please my dear Oakland County friends and neighbors and co-Force parents -- don't report me to L. Brooks, Rush, one tough nerd, Mr. Beck, or The National Review for saying so. But when you think back to last year's spring deluge and this year's non-winter now grafting into an early July you have to at least consider that the times might indeed be a chang'in.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCWdCKPtnYE
2) Speaking of changes: I think we can safely predict a growth spurt of one kind of another will play a determining role in the spring!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W55Smyyzs58

3) Cookie's patient and rather remarkable work with ball possession will show through as we get outside -- but expect some early season regression as the girls adjust to smaller outdoor fields (what a strange modern world -- where indoor pitches are bigger than outdoor ones!). Our speed and quickness is less of an advantage at cramped and crumbing Novi and Canton fields where physical bump and run teams can thrive. Take it from a former big kid who liked contact: if I can get closer to you I have the advantage -- if I have to run more to get to you, you have the advantage. I still have nightmares of playing on the punt team in American football.

4) Lauren is due for a highlight footage goal from distance. Get the video cameras ready.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X72R9yu_4hU
5) Now that the Fitness Forest has a full time PR professional Cookie's bootcamp attendance will double!

6) Jill's Dad's Iron Maiden inspired outbursts at officials will finally yield a yellow card.

Chaucer, climate change, and spring soccer

The first -- rather long -- sentence of Geoffrey Chaucer's General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales (1400) used to be one of the best known lines of poetry in the English speaking world. Indeed, if you were silly enough to try to get a Phd in English Literature one of the things you were asked to do was memorize this sentence in the original "Middle" English. I present it here translated into modern English and thus suitable for Iphone reading.

What Chaucer is describing here is the framing context for the 22 tales he will tell. His narrative fiction is that a number of English men and women from different walks of life have been brought together to go on an annual religious pilgrimage to Canterbury. Such pilgrimages took place in the spring when the weather turned pleasant. In short, warm weather and a common mission brought together folks who might not otherwise get together. As a way of entertaining themselves and not unduly irritating one another their "host" proposes each member tell a story.

The unseasonably (well, let's be honest -- even in Oakland County -- the climate change) warm weather made me think of this -- it is March not April and the pilgrims are not unlike soccer parents about to embark on yet another spring season.

What stories will the spring bring?
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QE0MtENfOMU

When April with his showers sweet with fruit The drought of March has pierced unto the root And bathed each vein with liquor that has power To generate therein and sire the flower; When Zephyr also has, with his sweet breath, Quickened again, in every holt and heath, The tender shoots and buds, and the young sun Into the Ram one half his course has run, And many little birds make melody That sleep through all the night with open eye (So Nature pricks them on to ramp and rage)- Then do folk long to go on pilgrimage, And palmers to go seeking out strange strands, To distant shrines well known in sundry lands. And specially from every shire's end Of England they to Canterbury wend, The holy blessed martyr there to seek Who helped them when they lay so ill and weak.

Soccer and Saudi women in Olympics!

This page was sent to you by: 

SPORTS   | March 21, 2012
Saudi Arabia May Include Women on Its Olympic Team
By JER'E LONGMAN and MARY PILON
Every participating nation at the London Olympics is expected to field at least one female athlete, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Brunei, which have previously sent only male competitors.

Interesting links from Kyra's Dad

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/06/magazine/06Soccer-t.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

http://ideas.time.com/2012/03/21/the-high-cost-of-youth-sports/

Great thing of us forgot! Alice's update

All,

We are done with our indoor games at Winstar.

Tuesday Aaron Byrd NLT 4:30-6

Thursday night practice 6-7:30

Friday technical training 6-7:30 Winstar Mini Dome

 Footnote for obscure literary reference in blog post:

At the end of Act 5 Scene 3 of Shakespeare's King Lear there is an unintentionally funny moment when -- as all the various plot devices are being resolved -- Kent comes on stage and reminds everyone (including an audience) that the title character still needs to be brought on stage.

KENT                               I am come
To bid my King and master aye good night.
Is he not here?     [270]
ALBANY           Great thing of us forgot!
Speak, Edmund, where’s the King? And where’s Cordelia?
See’st thou this object, Kent?
[The bodies of Goneril and Regan are brought in]

 COOKIE [272] The Force may yet do something on Saturday, March 24

First Bootcamp Review is in!

Well - now that I can move my fingers and hold my arms up to type (without motrin) - I will tell you that Steve's boot camp didn't miss a muscle! It was a great workout. It seemed like everyone in the class had a great time and a great workout. Would I do it again? Yes - with a morphine drip waiting! Haha. Yes I would do it again! Thanks Steve.

Annabelle's Mom

http://www.mhsaa.tv/events/32260

Extraordinary moment in girls' sports. Madison Ristrovski, "Miss Basketball" in the state of Michigan, grabs the clipboard from the coach in the final minutes to run the team. Despite her 42 points GP Liggett loses to Morgan Stanley.

The moment in the "huddle" is set at 1:32.....

Winstar catches up (almost) to standings!

Based on the remaining schedule it looks like BASC SHOCK RED will win the division with the Force in a tie for third behind Vardar East

U12/13 Girls 11v11 2nd Session 2012 Standings

GP W L T GF GA PTS GD WP Vardar East 00 8 6 0 2 14 4 20 10 0.750 BASC SHOCK RED 8 5 0 3 20 2 18 18 0.625 Force FC '00 Purple 9 5 2 2 24 8 17 16 0.556 RSC Lightning 00 White 8 5 1 2 18 6 17 12 0.625 BASC SHOCK WHITE 8 4 3 1 11 11 13 0 0.500 Vardar Red 00 (Beck) 7 2 1 4 6 1 10 5 0.286 OUSC-99 Girls 7 2 3 2 10 8 8 2 0.286 MI Impact 99 White 8 2 5 1 8 20 7 -12 0.250 Waza East 00 Kelly 8 1 4 3 3 13 6 -10 0.125 TSC Comets 9 0 7 2 4 24 2 -20 0.000 RSC Lightning 99 Gold 8 0 6 2 3 24 2 -21 0.000

Force FC '00 Purple's Schedule

Date Home Away Time/Status Venue Game Type Officials Sat-Jan 14 Vardar Red 00 (Beck) 0 - 0 Force FC '00 Purple Complete Pontiac Silverdome Regular Sat-Jan 21 Force FC '00 Purple 1 - 1 OUSC-99 Girls Complete Winstar Dome 11v11 Regular Sat-Jan 28 MI Impact 99 White 2 - 4 Force FC '00 Purple Complete Winstar Dome 11v11 Regular Sat-Feb 4 Force FC '00 Purple 5 - 0 TSC Comets Complete Winstar Dome 11v11 Regular Sat-Feb 11 Force FC '00 Purple 0 - 2 BASC SHOCK RED Complete Winstar Dome 11v11 Regular Sat-Feb 18 Vardar East 00 2 - 1 Force FC '00 Purple Complete Winstar Dome 11v11 Regular Sat-Feb 25 Force FC '00 Purple 5 - 0 RSC Lightning 99 Gold Complete Winstar Dome 11v11 Regular Sat-Mar 3 BASC SHOCK WHITE 0 - 4 Force FC '00 Purple Complete Winstar Dome 11v11 Regular Sat-Mar 10 Force FC '00 Purple 4 - 1 RSC Lightning 00 White Complete Winstar Dome 11v11 Regular Sat-Mar 17 Waza East 00 Kelly v Force FC '00 Purple Result Pending Winstar Dome 11v11 Regular

Happy St. Patrick's Day, Force 1 Waza 0

The girls finished their 2nd indoor session with a 1-0 win over a winless Waza team this AM. But it certainly was not as inspiring as last week's soccer ballet.

Indeed, if I didn't know better I would have guessed that the girls were out last night with Coach Cookie and Kate's Dad celebrating St. Patrick's Day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EPsuOEH1fY

That said, one can't deny the girls got off to a quick start -- and I mean first minute quick -- when Kyra (whose energy really showed through on a rather listless morning) hustled on the right side, applied pressure, stole the ball and sent a perfect pass to Jazzy in her favorite spot: dead center of the box.

From there, Jazzy deftly left footed the ball past a skilled Waza keeper and continued her goal scoring streak.

A few minutes later a Waza handball just outside the 18 had superstriker Lauren chomping at the bit. And she found the frame with a solid boot -- but the Waza keeper stretched high for nice save. Kyra and Jazzy would have a few more chances but, time and again, the Waza keeper kept the game close. Annabelle provided some thrills, too, in the first half, playing at mid. Yet the highlight was that 1st minute.

Coach Cookie went back to his regular starting line-up and positions to open the second half -- but not much changed. The girls remained flat footed, falling into their old habit of playing at the pace of the opponent.

There were brief bright spots: Emmi, still bravely playing with a brace on her arm stepped up big in the second half. She intercepted balls at midfield -- and kept possession. On two or three occasions she nicely pushed into the offensive end and followed her passes to add an extra player to the Force attack. Zoe distributed the ball with outsanding precision, as did Grace. And when a backpass to Kate ended up in the center of the field with two Waza players standing ready Annabelle had the touch of the game to prevent any real opportunity.
ps: stay tuned for review of Cookie's bootcamp

First Fitness Forest Bootcamp a Success!!

Annabelle and Zoe's Mom post forthcoming!!!!!!!!

Stay tuned -- any minute now we will a review from the bootcampers

Mad in March

ip

Rare footage of Annabelle's Dad cruising Woodward as a boy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zR9Dp9Gdhx8

Looks like we made it...to the end of indoor sessions!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vm-NcRrjQp4

 Everyone,

Great win this weekend for the girls!!!! They continue to use their foot skills and brains to play better soccer.

Please get your hotel reservations done for Indy if you have not done so already.  I have not heard from everyone yet.

Tonight Aaron Byrd NLT 4:30-6

Thursday night practice 6-7:30

Friday technical training 6-7:30 Winstar Mini Dome

3/17 Saturday Game-Last game for this indoor session

9:00 am game time, please arrive by 8:30 Winstar Dome, wear BLACK, WAZA East 00 Kelly

3/14 at 103OAM -- Ladies AND Gents!!

Cookie's free bootcamp is on! And this very interesting news just in: Cookie also now open to
"gents" as well as ladies...

click here for a sneak previewhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAl_iRw6KVM

More Manilow and Soccer more seriously

Given that both are global phenomena it is no surprise that Soccer and Barry Manilow intersect at points.

It does come as somewhat of a surprise, however, that one cultural point of contact between Manilow and the "beautiful game" is English anti-Semitism.

As I have posted before I am always struck by the depth of English anti-Semitism. We must recall that this is the country that purged all Jews in the 13th century. Even Shakespeare, the writer who so habitually extends a certain hospitality to all ("what you will") has at the center of his canon the disturbing treatment of Shylock in The Merchant of Venice. Prior to WW1 and WW2 links between English and German aristocracy were quite strong. More recently, frustration with the politics of Israel and Muslim immigration patterns have turned UK universities into a rather scary place to be if you are a Jew. Toss in a little anti-Americanism and an anti-American political correctness and well....

You find things like the Tottenham Soccer Club's toleration for their fans who insist on calling themselves the "Yid" army (the north London neighborhood was once mainly Jewish). Only in the last few years has there been a call to correct this.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/8450760/Anti-Semitic-abuse-rife-among-football-fans.html

This kind of anti-Semitic language and thought is tough to manage in part because it can be easily yoked to a seemingly affectionate, ironic, lads will be lads kind of behavior. Enter Manilow:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZmhlSSuakQ

Coping

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSDma9gixVk

I actually started this blog in the hopes that I could harness my daughter's fascination with soccer and her soccer team to some kind of writing instruction. I imagined, for example, that I could get her to respond in comments to the blog and work with her on writing (I was stunned when I realized that in her 5 years in a supposedly "top" school district -- Birmingham -- no teacher has ever responded in writing to her writing. This is a basic form of writing instruction. If teachers don't respond in writing to writing...well, it is like trying to coach soccer without soccer balls).

Almost a year into the blog I am left with a parental "ah, well" back to the drawing board. Perhaps I can provide some language instruction through my daughter's increasing interest in music.

I think the link posted above speaks to us all.

March 10, 4-1 win over first Place RSC

Both things had to happen sooner or later. I just didn't think both would happen at the same time.

First, Coach Cookie's patient teaching of possession soccer -- combined with excellent passing -- netted the girls a big 4-1 win against a first place opponent in 11 v. 11 soccer. We are now some distance from our rough fall season.

Second, Coach Cookie's brand of possession soccer outpaced this blogger's ability to note and describe play with any accuracy.

I always wondered why pro soccer writers were so bad. I couldn't find a satisfying model.

Now I know: when the soccer gets good it gets really hard to put on paper.

In other words, writing about the Force U12 girls used to be pretty simple. Pick two or three of the following and weave a paragraph:

 Sawyer made a great strike, "MSH" had a great run, Lauren dominated the air, Zoe controlled the field, Jill continued to defy logic, Emmi stepped up big, Sophie made some great defensive dashes, Sophia made clutch plays in the box, Kyra outhustled everyone, Grace made picture perfect touches, Rhea dazzled with field vision and passing, stop on a dime Stasia found the back of the net, Annabelle just made us a gasp, Kate caught everything, and, most recently, Jazzy created space for herself to score.

But today, against division leading RSC, that trick won't do the trick. Team soccer is indeed a beautiful game. From the opening touch the girls found the open player and applied pressure. Within minutes, Jazzy jammed a ball into the corner to put the Force up 1-0.

RSC came right back with pressure of their own. And only Sophia's willingness to go hard for the ball in the box and take a bone-jarring hit kept the game 1-1. Seconds later, though, a speedy and powerful RSC striker accelerated through the middle of the Force defense to go in -- seemingly alone -- on Kate. The Force had a counter, however, in the figure of Annabelle whose brilliant athleticism and intensity somehow not only caught the breakaway forward but allowed her to get position in front of fast moving opponent, shielding the ball some 10 feet into the box. In frustration the RSC forward extended both arms and shoved Annabelle to the ground and the resulting lose ball ended up behind Kate. 1-1.

The Force sideline, both parent side and coach sideline, erupted (well, Cookie doesn't really erupt -- but you know what I mean) while the RSC parents barely cheered this obviously botched call and dangerous play. A few minutes later  Jazzy took a call after an RSC defender ran into her -- and then fell down herself. The ref was clearly trying to manage the emotions and physical play emerging -- but started making up the "Annabelle" call in the wrong direction. A parent -- it might have been Jill's Dad -- had to be warned by the official to pipe down. To his credit the ref did regain control of the game.

The bad call seemed to energize rather than demoralize the Force. Lauren nearly missed with a bomb strike from 15 feet outside the 18. This would have been the strike of the season. Soon after, Kyra, realizing she didn't have a shot, patiently took two attempts to get the ball to Jazzy -- who had herself well positioned all night -- for a second and game winning goal. This was  bit like watching the Euro-Red Wings in front of the net ("Shoot the ***** puck!! -- oh, Great play!!!!) Minutes later, Kyra, who has been on an offensive tear, got the ball to Grace -- who is usually quietly distributing the ball from midfield -- for a very pretty loft over the keeper's left shoulder.

How did all this offense get generated? Lauren and Zoe won ball after ball -- and found feet -- at midfield. RSC really no had answer for these two players.

3-1.

Still, this was a good team and the game didn't seem secure even twelve minutes into the second half. MSH, finally reaping the benefits of several hard sprints up the right side, put it in, though, to make it 4-1.

But, again, this hardly describes the entirety of the game. For example, at the start of the half RSC came out charging. But Grace tracked back hard from midfield to win the ball and get it up the field, suddenly cutting the momentum. Jazzy and Sawyer were perfectly in sync with crosses all day, as was Stasia and Kyra while in there. Emmi stepped up hard at critical moments and Kate made necessary saves, including a hard shot from the corner.  Sophie and Annabelle matched up against the RSC striker all day.

And the RSC couldn't muster any forward motion against Jill's side of the field.

At one point, Annabelle snagged a deep pass into our end and used her now patented hard, ankle breaking cut to the right to sidestep two pressuring forwards (learn one move Cookie says and do it well -- indeed). Head up, ball on feet, she moved by a third and dashed into the offensive end where she delivered a beautiful ball into the box. (Gasp)

One last note: Sawyer, who usually gets her ink by scoring goals, played a remarkable all around game. She trackbacked continuously to win balls. She moved consistently from the center of the field to her sideline to interrupt RSC transition. She sent three headers into the offensive end from midfield. And created offensive opportunities all day. You had to see it -- not read about it. Where was Sawyer's Dad to see this show?

Standings as of 730 AM March 10

A very good test for the Force this AM. They have really played well since the fall. But they have yet to get a big win against a solid opponent. Let's push for a win, no tie. Force FC '00 Purple U12/13 Girls 11v11 2nd Session 2012

U12/13 Girls 11v11 2nd Session 2012 Standings

GP   W   L   T   GF   GA   PTS   GD   WP  RSC Lightning 00 White 7 5 0 2 17 2 17 15 0.714 Vardar East 00 7 5 0 2 12 4 17 8 0.714 BASC SHOCK RED 7 4 0 3 14 2 15 12 0.571 Force FC '00 Purple 8 4 2 2 20 7 14 13 0.500 BASC SHOCK WHITE 7 4 2 1 11 9 13 2 0.571 Vardar Red 00 (Beck) 7 2 1 4 6 1 10 5 0.286 OUSC-99 Girls 7 2 3 2 10 8 8 2 0.286 MI Impact 99 White 8 2 5 1 8 20 7 -12 0.250 Waza East 00 Kelly 7 0 4 3 2 13 3 -11 0.000 RSC Lightning 99 Gold 7 0 5 2 3 18 2 -15 0.000 TSC Comets 8 0 6 2 4 23 2 -19 0.000

Force FC '00 Purple's Schedule

Date Home   Away Time/Status Venue Game Type Officials Sat-Jan 14   Vardar Red 00 (Beck) 0 - 0 Force FC '00 Purple Complete Pontiac Silverdome Regular   Sat-Jan 21   Force FC '00 Purple 1 - 1 OUSC-99 Girls Complete Winstar Dome 11v11 Regular   Sat-Jan 28   MI Impact 99 White 2 - 4 Force FC '00 Purple Complete Winstar Dome 11v11 Regular   Sat-Feb 4   Force FC '00 Purple 5 - 0 TSC Comets Complete Winstar Dome 11v11 Regular   Sat-Feb 11   Force FC '00 Purple 0 - 2 BASC SHOCK RED Complete Winstar Dome 11v11 Regular   Sat-Feb 18   Vardar East 00 2 - 1 Force FC '00 Purple Complete Winstar Dome 11v11 Regular   Sat-Feb 25   Force FC '00 Purple 5 - 0 RSC Lightning 99 Gold Complete Winstar Dome 11v11 Regular   Sat-Mar 3   BASC SHOCK WHITE 0 - 4 Force FC '00 Purple Complete Winstar Dome 11v11 Regular   Sat-Mar 10   Force FC '00 Purple  v  RSC Lightning 00 White 9:00 AM Winstar Dome 11v11 Regular   Sat-Mar 17   Waza East 00 Kelly  v  Force FC '00 Purple 9:00 AM Winstar Dome 11v11 Regular