Weather report: plan to show up!

Here's what's happening in our neck of the woods.

Rain is in the forecast for Sunday's game, but it won't likely affect us. We're playing on turf, which means we play rain or shine. If there is lightning, the refs may make a game-time decision. But show up unless you hear from me or determine from the inclement weather line that the game has been cancelled.

We'll surely play. Remember our monsoon game last year?

See you there!

Budget not affected by global financial crisis

Don't worry, team finances are in good shape, despite the global financial crisis. Here is a budget report.

Almost everyone is paid up for the fall season. Dues were $1650 plus a $25 overage fee since we decided to retain a little known alternate by the name of Carlos. I'm not trying to say he's little. Unlike last year, when our roster could swell to 30, we're only allowed 25 players. We have 23 full time players, which is one of the largest teams we've ever had - thus, the lower dues. We shouldn't have a problem fielding a team week-to-week.

Do you have an opinion on dues - do we get our money's worth from the league?

People really stepped up for the charity program this season - about 65% of the team participated! I am thrilled with that; it beats expectations. We had always aimed for 50% and gotten about 33-40%. Shortly, we'll be sending a check for about $400 to United for DC. I'll do another post on it. Really cool.

Is everyone happy with our choice of United for DC as the charity recipient?

A little history

This fifa.com article lays out DCU's history in brief. Enjoy.

Stadium debate continues

In a recent post, I discussed the fact that DC United does not operate at a profit, allegedly because they don't have their own stadium. The stadium debate is a big deal for DCU. DCU wants to stay in the District, but city officials are lukewarm on the idea of putting up cash for a stadium. Prince Georges County is making a bid to build the stadium, but DCU's fan base is lukewarm on that idea. What will happen? Who knows. Here's a good blog entry on the issue - for those who like details:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/rawfisher/2008/09/will_fenty_let_prince_georges.html

RSVP for 9/28 game - 8:45 p.m. Geo Mason HS

It's time to RSVP for Sunday's night game versus DC Thunder.  We play at 8:45 p.m. at Geo Mason HS in Falls Church.  

We already know that Jon and Meg are in. 

Are you in?

Tickets going fast...sort of

Thanks to a surplus of season tickets in my account, and Leslie's, we have 20 tickets to the Oct. 16th DC United game versus the New England Revolution (7:30 p.m.).  

Yes, they're free to you.  About 10 of them have been claimed.  Still have some available.  Let me know by email!

We're going to have a happy hour before hand - Cap Lounge probably.

Final roster set

Yesterday, we submitted our final roster to the league. Here is the team in no particular order:

Women: Jackie, Ally, Kate, Heather, Kristin, Bri, Carolyn, Katya, De,
Cat, Meg.

Men: Pete, Chip, Griz, Jer, Mike, Jon, Liam, Alec, Chris, Adrian, Nate,
Ermy.

Alternates: Carlos, Anna, Tom.

Now that's a roster! We've got fantastic depth for a rec team. Long gone are the days in which we should be concerned about winning or losing based on which people show up. I think we can accomplish great things, but I guess we should start with a win this season before we get into that.

We have some relatively new faces still. Official welcomes to Ermy, Alec, Cat, and Meg.

There are still 4 "originals" in the mix: me, Griz, Chip, and Tom.

That's all the fun facts I have for now.

Scrimmage is on

We've organized a pick up game for 10:00 a.m. Sunday at the Alexandria Marina field. Other CCSL players are welcome. Bring a white and dark T-shirt. If you have an extra net, bring that as well since we only have one. See you there.

RSVP for scrimmage

Sunday 10:00 a.m. at the Marina. I'd like to see at least half the team there. We will invite others so there are enough bodies to play. This is the best opportunity we have to turn the season around.

Are you in?

Save the date

Please save the date for a possible social outing to the DC United game on Thursday, Oct. 16th versus the New England Revolution. I hope to be able to obtain a bunch of free tickets...

In memory

I like to share photos on this website, if you haven't noticed.

Here's a photo of the Pentagon Memorial, which I took on September 11th this year.  It's a nice memorial, I highly recommend a visit.  Its geometry is the most interesting part to me.  The benches are arranged according to age.

Goleros lose battle in the heat

A highly competitive game usually comes down to one or two plays.  That's what happened Sunday when we lost a close game to the Flirts 2-1 on a day of intense heat and humidity.

What do you think made the difference?  Post a comment!

I thought it was merely one tackle and some good goalkeeping by the Flirts, which prevented us from converting two crosses.  A lesson for the defense.  When we're under attack from so many offensive minded players, we need to get physical, tackle the ball, and disrupt the attack however we can.  Tactically, I would say that was our only major weakness Sunday.

We were disorganized at the opening whistle (oops) but managed to settle down without incident.  Though we were on our heels most of the first half, Liam came up with a lot of good, aggressive saves before one of their players got free in the box and sent it to the far post.  In the second half, we managed a more threatening attack and on a deflection, Adrian buried one.  Unfortunately, in the final minutes, one of their players made some good moves past three defenders and snuck one just inside of Liam's lunging effort.

She came back to help

Can't be too depressed about this one.  Concentration and effort was top notch by all players - now if we can regain our sharpness and teamwork, we'll pick up a win.  The reality is that they had 10 subs, we had 3.  We got some great minutes from trusty alternates Carlos & Anna - thanks! 

Notes: 2-1 loss to Flirts, Trinity, 9/14/08, Goal: Adrian (NK). GK: Liam.

Everyone's approach is different

Check out this ad placed by the Captain of Team X, now in the Premier Division. I found it funny. Everyone has a different approach. This is classic Alex. A previous ad sought a new keeper and had a scheduled try-out.

FEMALE STRIKER/MIDFIELDER FOR PREMIERE TEAM
by Alex on 9/4/2008

My Premiere Division team needs a Female Striker/midfielder who knows how
to position herself on the field and on the offensive line.We lost one of our
all times best female forwards and we need to replace her immedialtely.

Contact me as soon as possible if you think you are the "ONE" we are
looking for.

Age limit is 35.

Please be reliable and email me only if you are really interested. I have
had many people saying that they wanted to join a competitive and fun team
and at the end they've never got back to me.

Here is my email addressmailto:addressmanudelax@yahoo.com

Alex

In your face

Facebook. All the kids are doing it. It's...like...the cool thing to do. CCSL has a facebook page now as well. Check it out at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=29574192188.

What do you think - is facebook worth doing?

I don't have a facebook page. Probably not going to start one.

Weather report

The forecast looks decent for the weekend. We've got possible showers on Friday and Saturday evening. It doesn't look like enough to interrupt our game on Sunday. Follow the weather with our new weather module to the left of the blog homepage. Don't forget to use the weather line if you have a question regarding game status.

Makeup game scheduled

The game that was cancelled due to Tropical Storm Hanna has been rescheduled for Sunday, November 2nd. Otherwise, same time (9:45 a.m.), same place (Trinity).

Take note.

Be there.

Thoughts on the sked

It's going to be a challenging season, and we welcome that. Overall, I think the average quality of our opponents will be higher than we are used to seeing - on par with the Coed Classic this summer.

Since this is a new division, it's difficult to prepare for the games. We may have vague scouting reports for certain games, but the only teams we truly know are Far Post (against whom we are 2-1) and Flirting with Sobriety (against whom we are 1-1). We'll have to approach every game with a blank slate and make quick adjustments to mark players and stay in games. Scoring first will be important against the best teams.

I'm circling a few games as always. First one is the Flirts game this coming weekend. Since we've already shot ourselves in the foot by handing Hoover FC a win in Week 1, we need to get back into the win column and stay in the middle of the table. The Flirts have the better of us in goal differential, having outscored us 4-2 in two games in the spring. We can't say much because we know they spy on us, but let's just say the rematch ought to be good.

The other two key games will be against Diplomats (Oct. 12th) and Lost Tourists (Oct. 26th). These are both bound to be high quality teams. Diplomats finished at the top of the Second Division last year, while Lost Tourists were relegated from the 1st Division. Both will have high quality strikers and present quite a match for us, who have spent a year and a half in Third Division. The Lost Tourist game worries me for a different reason; it's at 8:00 a.m.!

Kickoff times vary so pay attention and clear your schedule now. We have some early morning, mid-morning, and afternoon games. We have one night game on Sept. 28th.

DCU operates at a loss

Interested in the business side of Major League Soccer? It's a very complicated business organization with centralized ownership, management, and control. Perhaps I'll do a legal and business analysis of it later on this blog on the off chance that you care - in my field of competition law, it's an interesting case study.

Oh, you're still awake. Let me get to the point. While the league used to go to great pains to maintain parity in salaries and financial performance among players and teams, the business is now maturing and some disparities are occuring that have been the undoing of previous leagues. Some clubs face immediate challenges. Like most professional sports, teams can more easily turn a profit if they control revenues from their venues.

DCU does not control its venue, and consequently continues to post an operating loss of approximately -$3M annually, according to Forbes. The value of the club still rests at $35M, which I'm guessing is approximately 3x the initial investment in 1996. Outlook: good, but with risk.

Read about MLS franchise values here: http://www.forbes.com/sportsbusiness/2008/09/09/mls-soccer-beckham-biz-sports-cz_kb_0909mlsvalues.html

New referee course

FYI - our referee assignor has notified teams of another certification course for new referees.



----- Forwarded Message ----From: Tom Frank twfrank@aol.com
Class Code: NORTH00108-09
Area:
NorthGrade: 8
Type: New Referee
Dates: 09/16/2008 - 09/25/2008
Times: 6:30 PM
to 10:30 PM on each night of Tuesday Sep 16, ThursdaySep 18, Tuesday Sep 23, and
Thursday Sep 25
Location: Greenstein DeLorme & Luchs, P.C., 1620 L Street, N.W., Suite900, Washington,
D.C. 20036
Club Name: WAWSL and CCSL
Instructor: Frank, Thomas
Contact: Jessie Kratz
Contact
Email: refs@wawsl.org
Minimum #: 10
Maximum #: 30
Comments:
Students must attend all four sessions: Sep 16, Sep 18, Sep23 and Sep 25. Each
session will start at 6:30 PM and end at 10:30 PM.Students must complete an
online registration to register as a referee andto sign up for the clinic (two-step process) at the State Referee Programweb page: www.vadcsoccerref.com. If you have a problem registering andsigning up for a clinic, e-mail Jessie. Cost of registration and the classis $65.00.
You can pay on-line or bring check to class, checks to be madeout to "State Referee Program."

RSVP for third game vs Flirts

Are you in?

Hope so 'cause want to win!

We know the following people are out: Chip, Jon, Kate.

Captain faces tough questions

Last week, we endured a 3-1 loss to Hoover FC at the Marina. I am told we were only able to field 10 players. We had some defensive miscues and missed a PK. Not our day.

Following the loss – our fifth in a row across all competitions – I sat down with the media to talk about the rest of the season. (BTW, this is not meant to be serious)

Q from NBC’s Bob Costas: What’s your greatest challenge this season?

A: Bob, I believe it all starts with communication and consistency. When we field a full squad, we work well together and often take home the W. We have a deep bench and sweet tradition of teamwork. However, when players do not communicate their status or show up late, we don’t give ourselves a chance to win – and that’s frustrating. Last season, attendance may have been the difference between promotion and staying put. This year, we’ve already had a lapse in week one, which means we’re in the hole early.

Q from ESPN’s Michelle Tafoya: What’s happening with your roster?

A: As you know, Michelle, the final roster is due to the league on September 21st. Almost everyone is returning, which is great because we have a kick ass team. We are making some minor changes as necessary. We’re losing our beloved co-captain, Megan, to retirement. Tom is shifting to alternate status and we’ve picked up a few more players to round out the team. We welcome Cat, who will help us continue the tradition of having the best all-around female roster in the league. We’ve also added Alec to mix, who stood out in the summer tournament and who will give us superb depth at the goalie position.

Q from ESPN’s Julie Foudy: Talk about what it means to have Jackie take over as co-captain.

A: Well, it obviously means a lot. Jackie is one of the best players and personalities we’ve ever had on the team. You can trace a large part of our roster to her recruiting efforts. Whether it’s delivering fierce tackles or motivating the troops, she’s there for us. Of course, this season, she won’t actually be there for us for half the season, but we’ll make do!

Q from the George Michael Sports Machine: What do you need to do to get the Goleros back on track?

A: Without revealing secrets to our competitors, I think we need to shore up our defense, improve the work rate of our forwards and midfielders, play a little more dynamically, and make sure enough people show up to games. We do those things and we’re going to be successful.

Q from MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann: Next year, you are entering your 10th season. What does that mean to you and your fans?

A: It means a lot, Keith, it really does. We’ll be sharing more details on that soon.



Notes: 3-1 loss to Hoover FC, 8/24/08, Marina field. Goal: Ermy (NK). GK: Nate, Liam. PK opportunity: Jon (earned by Jer).

Sunday's game is cancelled due to field conditions.  It's important to keep these expensive fields in playable shape.  We'll have a makeup game scheduled, probably for the end of the season. No pick up tomorrow.

Tropical Storm Hanna Comes

Tropical Storm Hanna is headed in our direction, projected to blanket the DC area with her wrath right around kickoff time on Sunday morning.

We are playing on grass (Trinity), so there's a high likelihood that the game will be canceled.  Make sure to check your cell phone for text updates and call the inclement weather line.  I keep it permanently posted on the blog, but for avoidance of doubt, it's 703.229.1705.  If you don't hear that the game is canceled, show up!

I caught the tailings of Gustav this past weekend in St. Petersburg, FL, so this is two-in-a-row for me.

Follow weather updates here and here.

Dues report

The deadline for fall dues is today (see prior post).  As of yesterday, my records reflected that only 7 people had paid.  Therefore, my blacklist is quite long.  Starting today, I reserve the right to publish it!

The charity program is working.  Most people have contributed.  Please do - it's an $18 optional add-on, and if necessary, you can give less than that.  I would like to get about $250 in contributions.  It would be modest, but it's beginning to add up season after season.

RSVP for second game - time to get serious

RSVP now for the second game of the season.

Sun. September 7th 9:45 a.m. at Trinity.  

We play DC Divided, the commissioner's team.  It's time to show that we belong in the Second Division.  This is the great field at Trinity.  Remember, there are special rules - mainly, no peeing, don't speed, don't cuss, no dogs.  Read about it here.

Are you in?  RSVP now!!!!