It's time to celebrate Jackie

By now, you've heard.  Our beloved co-captain, Jackie, is subbing out. She's moving back to the Garden State and having a goodbye party on January 30, 9:00 p.m. at Porter's (19th & M).  You don't want to miss it.  The party invite is all the rage on facebook.

Jackie's going back to New Jersey to spend more time with family, re-energize herself from 10 years in the District, and, I suspect, find new ways to become a positive force in people's lives.

Why am shaken up over this?  Because she won't be a full-status player with us anymore, and that's pretty hard to believe.  She'll leave a gaping hole on the field.  If I were a striker in the Second Division, I would be psyched right now.  Like me, they've probably never played with or against a more enthusiastic, aggressive, tactical, and competitive player.  It's a pity we didn't allow slide tackles because imagine the fear we would instill.  Anyway, speaking for myself, I've never had a better teammate.  I love you, Jackie, I do.  Thanks in large part to your contributions to our team, I believe we'll be able to pick up where we left off in 2009 and keep the good times rolling.

And here's a little secret.  Jackie is poised to make a few appearances for us this year, if she can time her visits back to DC with our schedule.  Of course, that's totally up to her but we know she'll miss us as much as we'll miss her.

See everyone at the bar.

Opportunity for the Girleros

Here's an interesting opportunity to bone up on your soccer skills and help your team play for another division championship in the spring. It came over the wire from one of our league officers, Jim Sadowski. Your Captain is considering offering a rebate on dues for those ladies that attend!

P.S. - Let it be known that Griz coined the term, "Girleros."

Looking for a fun and healthy way to fight "cabin fever" in
February?!

GW Women's Soccer presents a "Weekend Warrior" women's soccer clinic to be
held on Saturday, February 21st from 11am-1pm at the Mount Vernon Soccer
Field.

GW Women's Soccer Coach Tanya Vogel and her GW Varsity Student-Athletes
invite women ages 25-65 to attend a two hour clinic designed to introduce and
work on the basic technical skills of the most popular sport in the world!
You don't need to be a superstar to join us. We're looking for
women who'd like to get out and exercise while working with Division I
student-athletes!

We will begin the clinic at 11am at the GW Soccer Field located the Mt.
Vernon Campus at the George Washington University (2100 Foxhall Rd.)

Pre-registration is preferred and can be completed via email or over the
phone. Registration for the clinic is $20.For more information or to
register for the soccer clinic, email Head Coach Tanya Vogel at wsoccer@gwu.edu or call the
soccer office at 202-994-0152.Bring yourself and a friend! We look forward
to working with you on February 21st!

500th Post!

Dear blog,

Congratulations on being so darn useful. You skillfully organize the team, provide an interesting space for players to connect and talk about soccer. And you fulfill your Type-A captain's desire to do talk/vent/show excitement about everything.

Happy 500th post! Here's to a 1000!

From Goleros

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!  

2009 is going to be a big year for the team.  Let's enjoy it.

That's it for this post.  I'm just dusting off the blog after a much-earned break.  We'll slowly gear up before the spring outdoor season.

Current player featured on evening news

Check out Cat giving her opinion on the need for a new Silver Line extension to Dulles.  I wouldn't have put this up but it just seemed like a nice parallel to Kara's interview.  It seems the Goleros have taken to the media this week.

http://cfc.wjla.com/videoondemand.cfm?id=28908

Former player featured on NPR

Check out this National Public Radio piece that ran last week. Our former player, Kara, is featured at 2:28 asking a chef how to make a romantic Thanksgiving dinner.

Kara moved to Denver earlier this year. She's back in Washington soon for foreign service officer training. I take it from the training that her stay in Washington will be temporary, before she and Nick will be posted in Timbuktu or Tokyo or....

Hoover FC wins double crown

According to the score sheet, Hoover FC has won the playoffs in the Second Division.  They also won the regular season - a rare double crown.  

Hoover FC will now be offered promotion to the First Division.  The second place team in the regular season, which was DC Divided, will also be considered for promotion.  I'm not sure under what circumstances they are guaranteed the opportunity to go up.  Will the officers ask whether the First Division losers want to go down?  Will it depend on whether two teams come up from Third?  Probably the latter.  The Flirts, having lost in the playoffs and been edged out during the regular season for second place, will stay in the division with us.

I'm just bummed that we won't have another shot at Hoover FC.  They didn't see our A game.  We'll have to get them next fall in the First Division!

Not sure what's happening in the Third Division this afternoon.  Tsunami won the regular season with a near perfect season.  Capital Crew was second on a head-to-head loss.  The two teams played each other in the playoff final as well.  Not sure what happened; the score isn't posted.

Perhaps I'll do a full promotion and relegation report later.

Don't miss it

The Goleros Social Committee ("GSC") has planned an end-of-the-season party on Friday, Dec. 12th at 7:00 p.m.  The hosts are none other than Mike & Jon.  

Don't miss it.  We'll probably make a late-night bar run in Clarendon afterwards for those who are interested.

Let Mike know by email if you're in.

Fan of the Year

Let’s face it, we don’t have many fans. It’s important to recognize the ones we have.

Top of the list is Missy, who not only puts up with Bubbles on a daily basis, but also comes out to support the team on Sundays. Missy has been a fan for a few years now. She has season tickets. My only issue is that she needs to be more vocal from the stands. What I’m looking for is the occasional shout – “Hey Zebra, you gotta call that!” or “Give me a break, ref, my boyfriend was onside!” Maybe she should bring some of those D-Fence posters.

Missy and Jon recently went to Aruba, which must have been nice. Jon missed a game but Goleros management fully supported the trip anyway.  It would be nice to see some pictures.

Missy, congratulations on this prestigious award.

Cast your vote!

It's time to recognize your teammates for their contributions. Let's start with these two categories:

- MVPs for Fall 2008 season (1 man, 1 woman)

- Goal of the Year

Read about past winners here.

There are other potential categories of course. Maybe you'd like to recognize someone for being "Most Dedicated to Happy Hour" or "Most Likely to Get Lost on the Way to the Game". Whatever, just let your teammates hear it. And vote on MVP and Goal of the Year too.

After shootout, offseason begins

What did you think of the game?

This face says it all.

It's tough to go out on penalties, but remember, only the champion of each division gets to end with a win.

We lost in the Quarters to Armory, after having tied the game 2-2 at the end of regulation and two brief overtime periods. We had a good penalty phase, to be honest, but Armory was able to get a critical +1 on its sixth attempt. The score in penalties was 4-3.

Give Armory the credit it deserves. They had to play short for the entire game and made it up with outstanding individual plays and quick passing by their women.

In contrast, we had to try to establish and re-establish a rhythm with nearly a full complement of players on the bench. That's difficult. Everyone wants and deserves to play, and when they finally get in the game, it's often in an unfamiliar role so it's hard for the team to adjust. Numbers usually work to our advantage. We are a deep team, with lots of combinations to get the job done.

Aside from our lack of rhythm, keep your heads up because it was a decent performance. There were some nice plays and some unsung heroes. For example, Nate made the best of few minutes and Katya displayed excellent possession. We stayed in it until the very end. Alec made sure of that. When it came to penalties, I know we're all proud of the people that represented us on the spot. The way we roll is that everyone has to be ready - if your number is called, you step up and give it your best shot. The penalties this time were all well taken. Good job, seriously!

We'll wrap up the season in another post. Here's the scoring summary for the playoff game:

18' - Armory scores off a deflection deep in the box.

25' - Nate scores with a hard shot into the netting from the five yard line following a long build up and easy assist from Ermy.

60' - Jon dribbles up the right wing and pounds a dominant long-distance shot over the goalie's head, from approximately the 40 yard line. The goalie had been playing well outside the box and we finally made him pay. How many times has Jon scored on a breakaway from the wing?

75' - Armory scores on a corner kick after some failed clearances.

After OT, we went to penalties. The PK score sheet was (Goleros/Armory): 0/1, 1/0, 0/1, 1/0, 1/1, 0/1.

That gives us a 2-2 record in games with penalties. Not too bad. Next time, we'll improve to 3-2, watch out.


[Notes: Quarterfinal playoff versus Armory on 11/15/08 at Washington & Lee HS. Score 2-2 after OTs, we lost 4-3 in PKs. Goals by Nate (Ermy), Jon. PKs taken: Jer (miss), Cat (make), Ermy (miss), Bri (make), Mike (make), Meg (miss). Alec had two saves in PK phase. GKs: Adrian, Alec.]

Fallfest tournament cancelled (again)

Bummer. Jason over at Columbia Soccer tells me that the annual Fallfest tournament is going to be cancelled again - for the second year in a row. It seems the youth football lobby is in firm control of fields in Howard County during the fall.

I can't say I'm surprised. When there was no announcement by September, I knew it was probably off.

We still have a potential tournament the first weekend of December.

We'll resume tournament play in the spring, most likely.

Stay tuned.

We want a sponsor

Put the word out.

We're looking for the right partner for the Spring 2009 season and beyond. The time is right. We have a great team - we're established, successful, and fun. The Spring 2009 season offers a special opportunity to bring on board a sponsor because it will mark our 10th year.

Have any good ideas?

Traditionally, rec soccer teams attract local bars and restaurants. Tortilla Coast, McFadden's, and Capitol Lounge are some initial ideas. We also want to look at small businesses, especially those operated by friends and family. Nate's and ET's businesses come to mind, as do some realtors. A range of businessses are already seeking more visibility in our demographic: shirt printing companies, Zipcar/Flexcar, SmartBike, doggie daycares, etc, etc.

We offer a good value proposition and look forward to improving someone's business. We can offer space on new jerseys and/or other limited financial support for the team in exchange for great visibility and the opportunity to increase sales. Our demographic goes beyond the estimated 60-70 individuals that closely follow our team to the CCSL community, which includes more than 1,000 upwardly mobile players plus their friends and family. Advertising gets directly to these people in a memorable way.

Hopefully we can strike a deal. Let me know if you're interested in helping or have some ideas.

[Photo by thinkpanama]

More cowbell!

This was a topic of discussion at the last happy hour:

http://www.funnyhub.com/videos/pages/snl-more-cowbell.html

Is it the funniest Saturday night live skit ever?

This one was pretty good too:

http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/update-palin-rap/773781/

Weekend notes

Prepare for Goleros overload. We have a game Saturday, hopefully drinks Saturday early evening, and hopefully a game on Sunday, not to mention the championship next weekend. And let's not forget the birthday boy (Liam) and his soiree Saturday night at Whitlow's. What, you don't know Whitlow's? Shame on you, it's a great spot. Virginia yuppy-ville.

Weather is so-so for the weekend - great if you don't mind a little rain. Saturday the magical Internet is forcasting breezy conditions, with rain, about 65 degrees. Sunday is looking a little cooler but sunny. However, none of this matters as far as the game schedule goes. We're on turf both days so no cancellations. Plan to show up!

Don't forget to bring your photo ID's to both games. They will be doing a full roster check. Everyone is on the roster so we're fine there.

Last note, and this is important. Have fun!

The post-season begins now!

Have any thoughts about the post-season? Share them here.

The last chapter of the 2008 campaign begins this weekend. Going into the playoff tournament, there is one standout team, Hoover FC (7-0-1). The other five competitors – DC Divided (5-1-2), Flirts (5-3-0), Goleros (4-3-1), Armory (4-3-1), and DC Thunder (3-3-2) – had comparable seasons. Take a look at the final table. The numbers show regular season record, total points, goals for/goals against, goal differential, and goal differential average.

1. Hoover FC 7-0-1, 22, 22/6, +16, 2.0

2. DC Divided 5-1-2, 17, 21/9, +12, 1.5

3. Flirting with Sobriety 5-3-0, 15, 22/8, +14, 1.8

4. Goleros 4-3-1, 13, 17/14, +3, .4

5. Armory 4-3-1, 13, 17/15, +2, .3

6. DC Thunder 3-3-2, 11, 21/20, +1, .1

7. Lost Tourists 3-4-1, 10, 19/15, +4, .5

8. The Diplomats 2-4-2, 8, 19/20, -1, .1

9. Funky Town 1-6-1, 4, 6/35, -29, -3.6

10. Far Post 0-7-1, 1, 3/25, -22, -2.8

Here’s a few thoughts on the table. Hoover FC is alone at the top. The next six teams are separated by only 2 wins. The top 7 teams have a positive goal differential. Although it was close in the middle of the pack, DC Divided and the Flirts separated themselves from us in points and goals. Armory went on a late-season run, but we finish above them on several tie-breakers, including head-to-head. Lost Tourists and the Diplomats both miss the playoffs but they could have easily been there. Funky Town and Far Post weren’t competitive this season. Funky Town escaped the last place finish it probably deserved based on severe attendance problems at Far Post. Of all the teams, we had the second most difficult schedule, since we didn’t play Funky Town, but everyone else did. Of course, we didn’t have the play the Far Post game – we picked up a forfeit win, so these things tend to even out.

On Saturday, we face Armory, a team we defeated 3-1 in the only previous meeting of the teams. It was a costly match, no doubt. However, their captain, Kurt, is a friend of mine from way back so we will be both reminding players that we’re going to play hard but safe. I’m anticipating a fun match. If we should win, we’ll face the No. 1 seed, Hoover FC, on Sunday.

Let’s dig in and try to win it all. If we can string together 3 good performances, we’ll have a pretty good chance of taking home the famed CCSL Trophy.*

Go team!

* There is no trophy.

League happy hour next Thursday

Check out this note the captains got from the Commish:

Hey All,

We are going to have a league wide End of the
Season happy hour on Thursday Nov 20th starting at 7PM hosted by our friends
Clare and Dons. We didnt get a chance to have a tailgate this season, so I
hope that we can a really good turnout for this event. CCSL will use our
social budget buy a good portion of beers and appetizers plus there will be a
bunch of food/drink specials on top of this. So make sure you get there
early!!

Where: Clare and Dons Beach Shack
130 N Washington StreetFalls Church, VA http://www.clareanddons.com/

When: Thursday November 20th
7PM-10PM

Who: All CCSL players and friends of the
league PLEASE forward this to your teams so that they know about the happy
hour.

Its a great way to get to know some of your
fellow competitors off the pitch and its a good reason to celebrate another fun
CCSL season. And did I mention free booze and food??? Hope to see you
all there!

Sanjay

November Madness

The scheduler has released the playoff bracket.  We have the schedule for the Quarters and Semis, but not the Finals.  We play in the Quarters at 4:00 p.m. on Sat. the 15th.  If we win, we would play again at 3:30 on Sunday the 16th.  The championship will be sometime on Sunday the 23rd.

Here's the bracket in the Second Division:

Quarters                                       Semis                                           Finals

 #3 Flirts vs #6 DC Thunder    --->   Winner vs #2 DC Divided

                                                                                                       --->   TBD

 #4 Goleros vs #5 Armory         ----> Winner vs #1 Hoover FC

The path to victory is clear!

What do you think will happen in the division?  What are the odds of a Goleros vs. Flirts rematch?

Saturday game will be played at 4:00 p.m. at W&L

Here's the email I sent out.  RSVP is taking place by email this time.  I'll remind folks later too, but don't forget to bring a photo ID with you.

Hey everyone,

We have half the information now.  Our Saturday game is at 4:00 p.m. versus Armory at W&L High School in North Arlington.  Super convenient location and a pretty good time.  To speed things up, let's RSVP by email now.  I know the following so far for Saturday:

PI - in

Bri - in

Jackie - out

Carlos and Anna, join the party.

Salud!

Good times were had at Happy Hour this week.  Most people were there by 7:00 and many of us didn't leave until close to midnight.

Here, Kate and Alec are shown leading the group in a round of shots.  I think Jackie purchased this round.

I ordered the chicken philly.  Don't recommend it.  I think I'll try something else next time.

There was much talk about the next outing.  Will it be another happy hour? Something more crazy, like a club night? 

Possibly. 

Letter to fans

The following open letter was released to fans of the DC United today. Our fans won't be getting such a long letter. Of course, we did a lot better than DC United did in our respective league!

Dear D.C. United Fan,

As the season has come to a close, we want to
share a few decisions and update you, our fans - the very best fans and
supporters in major league sports.

"Win Championships and Serve the
Community" is D.C. United's mission statement. We strive everyday to achieve it.
It does not mean that we will win championships every year, but we will be
disappointed if we don't - and will work that much harder to make sure it
happens the following year. It also means that we will put on the field not only
quality soccer players, but quality human beings, who represent you and us in
the way we want to be represented.

The 2008 season was a disappointment. We
had high hopes entering the season, but success was not achieved to our level of
expectations. We did win the U.S. Open Cup, our 12th trophy, and the night of
the championship game at our home stadium was exciting and a wonderful
environment for the team and our fans.

Except for the U.S. Open Cup, we had
a down year on the field and there are a variety of reasons why we did not
succeed. For some time now, we have looked at those reasons and spoken in depth
with the individuals involved. As a result of that investigation, our historical
success, their past performance and our belief in these individuals, we have
made no changes to our team executives. Kevin Payne, Dave Kasper and Tommy Soehn
will return. There are also no changes anticipated on the business side of the
company.
However, we don't want you to assume that those reasons will be
excuses for our lack of success. Another repeat of last year's performance on
the pitch is not an acceptable outcome. And we don't expect it
again.

Accordingly, we are becoming more active in the overall management of
D.C. United, and have added the title of Co-Executive Chairman for each of us.
While day-to-day management will continue to reside in our executives, all "CEO"
level executive decisions will be made by us. As part of our new role the
business operations and team operations will report directly to us.
The
business reorganization will ensure responsibility, accountability and focus. We
are instituting enhanced management practices and have agreed upon clear
performance metrics and expectations for all of the above named
executives.

Kevin Payne remains president and is directly responsible for the
business operations of D.C. United and as stated above will report directly to
us. Kevin will also assist in the oversight of the team operations, provide his
advice and be part of the decision-making process on player selection and other
aspects of that area of our business. However, the primary responsibility and
accountability will be with General Manager Dave Kasper, who will also report
directly to us. Tommy remains the coach of the team.

We have excellent
executives and, equally important, they are quality people. However, we are in a
very competitive business, and we have high standards for ourselves. Our job is
to ensure we achieve those standards by setting clear expectations and ensuring
that we hold everyone accountable for these agreed upon goals and objectives. If
these are not met to our satisfaction, we will take what ever action is
necessary to achieve those goals.

We want to thank you for your commitment
to the club. Your passion is unmatched.
Going into the future, we intend to
update you regularly to share with you our thoughts on D.C. United and the
decisions that we have made.

Sincerely,Victor MacFarlane and Will
Chang

Saturday Playoff Game

We are securely in 4th place. As such we play the 5th place team on
Saturday Nov. 15th. That team will either be Lost Tourists or Armory.
They play their final game against each other Sun. Nov. 9th. We play
the winner. In case of a tie, we will play Lost Tourists as they hold
the tie breaker of goal differential vs. DC Thunder and Armory (Tourists
also tied DC Thunder - so the tie breaker goes to goal diff.). We beat
Lost Tourists 2-0 and Armory 3-1, however we may not be sharp after the
bye weekend and I think we are missing some players.

Nate
(Hope to see you tonight if I can get away)

December tournament opportunity

Ally made me aware of the following tournament.  If you're interested, post a comment and we'll see where it goes.

Support our sponsor, Soccer Resort, and register a team in their 8v8 December tournament on turf fields in Fairfax.

About The Tournament Weekend

Fasten your seatbelts! The Soccer Resort is returning to the D.C. area - come play in our Beltway soccer tournament with our Men's and Women's divisions being the Saturday December 6 and the Coed divisions Sunday, December 7, 2008. We have great new artificial fields in Farifax County at Poplar Tree Park in Chantilly Virginia, so the tournament will go ahead rain or shine!!

Join teams from many leagues across DC such as NVSL, WISL, WAWSL, and CCSL - as well as teams from across the Northeast. We'll have the following 8v8 Soccer tournaments for Adults. Divisions include:

* Men's Soccer Tournaments (Three Divisions Plus 0 40's),
* Women's Soccer Tournaments (3 Divisions - A and B, and O30's)
* Coed Soccer Tournaments (Two Divisions - A and B) 

The tournament will be at a new location at Lake Fairfax on Artificial Turf.

* Four games guaranteed
* 30 minutes per game
* Soccer Travel Prizes Galore
* Trophies, Medals, and More

Early Bird Registration fee is $449 per team by November 8. $499 after November 8. (just for local teams in the MD, VA, DE, DC area).
Tournament Prizes

Click here for more information and to register your team.

Let's go to the bar

I couldn't pass up an opportunity to share this sweet photo.  I took it on a point-n-shoot in Baltimore a few weeks ago.  This classic joint is located 1 block off of Fells Point.

Speaking of bars, Jackie's email made it clear that you are supposed to come join us tomorrow night after work for happy hour.  We'll be at McFadden's.  Click on the link and hear Bubbles' favorite song.

See you there.

Kate steps in

Our goal in Week 8 was to come out and play well. Believe it or not, we did that.  Though we lost 4-2 to DC Divided, we closed the match with two unanswered goals.  From the sideline, it looked like we had busted loose on the offense.  Kate's save on the PK in the 90' was clutch.  I think it was a good statement of our toughness in the match.

Your Captain didn't organize the troops very well at the opening whistle.  But the players on the field organized and probably possessed the ball the majority of the time.  Some quick transitions and confusion on defense spelled our doom.  We had some good sustained pressure on offense, no doubt.  Ermy made some runs.  Griz had a few good shots from distance.  Bri supported the attack like a pro.  And so on.  We played well - dare I say...respectable?

Despite the loss, we finish the regular season with a winning record (4-3-1).  There have been a lot of positives.  For now, though, it's time to look forward to the playoffs.  I think it's an accomplishment to come to a new division and make the playoffs right away.  More on that later.

Scoring summary:

75' - Griz accepts a pass and hits Jon, who was posted up like a target forward, in the center of the box.  Jon turns, makes a nice move past two defenders and puts it in the back of the net.

85' - Jon dribbles from the left side into the box, shoots, collects his own rebound and kicks a rising shot into the net.

So, what do you think we should focus on for the playoffs?

Notes: 4-2 loss to DC Divided, 11/2/08, Trinity. GK: Kate (saved PK followed Nate's slide tackle in the box).