What to watch this weekend

The Soccer Insider is req'd reading for soccer fans in the DC area. One of my fellow CCSL captains - in fact, the captain of Far Post (that lucky team that got to face a 7-person Goleros squad last weekend) - is the soccer editor for the WP. Here's his post from today:

Posted at 2:30 PM ET, 09/14/2007
W2W4TW, non-WWC*
Hey there, Jon
DeNunzio here. Just thought I'd run through a few thoughts on the weekend in
soccer, outside of the Women's World Cup (four matches Saturday morning on
ESPN/ESPN2, btw).
- Fox Soccer Channel has
the North London
Derby at 8:30 am Saturday. Spurs have not been good, but they may
play Aaron Lennon in this game ... - FSC also has Chelsea-Blackburn at noon,
after West Ham-Middlesborough. Worth watching to root against Mourinho,
IMO.- GolTV has a
Bundesliga/La Liga mix on Saturday morning/early afternoon ... as Goffer would
say, zzzzzzzzz (I have at least one friend who would be upset I said that about
La Liga. Don't think I know anyone who watches the Bundesliga). - MLS: FSC has
Fire-Red Bulls at 8:30 pm Saturday. If you get HDNet, they have Crew-Wizards at
8 pm Saturday. And Telefutura has Chivas-Rapids at 3 pm Sunday.- Speaking of
Sunday, FSC has the black-and-white-stripes Italian derby, with Juventus-Udinese
at 9 am. Who plays for Udinese? How about Antonio di Natale, who had two goals vs. the Ukraine in
Euro 2008 qualifying Wednesday.
Also worth mentioning -- the 19th-ranked
Virginia Tech men's soccer team makes its first-ever TV appearance Friday night
at 8 pm on Fox Soccer, playing
No. 23 Tulsa.
I'm sure I missed something here -- what are you gonna be
watching this weekend?
(* - What To Watch For This Weekend, non-Women's World
Cup)
Posted by Jon DeNunzio Permalink
Comments
(45) Other Blogs' Comments: Technorati

Announcement on dues is coming soon

I'm afraid there's no good news when it comes to dues. The league raised our fees in order to pay for the premium fields that we've been getting.

I'm projecting dues of $92 per person, which is a very small raise over last season and still higher than what I'd like to be charging players. On top of this, we will continue our tradition of seeking optional contributions for our charity program. It's just a few dollars, please consider it. Also, I've promised the new recruits that we will pro-rate their dues, and we will. I'll get with you individually.

As usual, I keep our finances on a google spreadsheet that is available to all who want to see it. I'm sure you can all imagine that even with these dues I don't come out ahead in the pocketbook. But keeping dues to a minimum is important to me and to everyone.

When the formal announcement is made, you will have 1 week to pay up, so please be ready.

New recruits are on the way

Last week's shorthanded outing made it crystal clear that we need some more bodies to keep the team in good shape. So we launched a recruiting blitz. We've seen some results already, and it's not over yet!

We've been in contact with several interesting and experienced players. We've actually had several new "signings" as well - a few women and a guy. I haven't warned most of them that I would post their first names here and formally welcome them, so we'll leave that for later.

Anyway, welcome new recruits! I forgot to mention a key commitment of joining this team. We're like the army. You have to commit to two-a-day practices and run a minimum of 5 miles a day to stay on the team. Well, not exactly...

Next up: Sweden

Tomorrow, at 5:00 a.m., the U.S. women play their second first-round match versus a familiar opponent Sweden.

According to the Washington Post, we're 14-3-5 versus the mighty ladies of Sweden. They're one of the best teams in the world, so they are to be taken seriously every time. After what looked like a muscled but uninspired performance versus North Korea (2-2 tie), the U.S. women ought to be worried. No Abby Wambach, no win. Sweden is more physical and technical and just might out-class our young players if they're not careful. It's a pivotal game. A win and they look good to advance. A loss and they look bad - perhaps leaving their fate in the hands of others. This is a very difficult group.

Oct. 7th game moved

Folks, the league isn't playing at GCCA this season, which you know as the field in Temple Hills, MD. Games have been moved to Kenmore Middle School in Arlington. Our game on Oct. 7th is affected. The Kenmore field is right at Route 50 and Carlin Springs Road. It's pretty close to Ballston, but not really metro accessible. Great close-in location, though.

The schedule on this site has been updated.

Wedding bells

Yet another chapter in the Goleros Book of Love has been written.

This chapter is all about Courtney and Scott. Courtney, of course, is our versatile teammate who can play lots of roles on the field, but is ideally suited to a classic fullback role where she can be unleashed for runs along the wing to support the attack. We haven't seen much of her lately due to a nagging injury and a serious travel schedule at the new job. But she'll hopefully return to the fold soon.

And now for the love. Court and Scott are engaged to be married. It's great news - I think we all know how lucky Scott is. It's no big deal for me, 'cause I already know a Courtney and Scott who got engaged and then married. And they live in DC too. But there is only one Goleros Courtney and Scott.

We don't know Scott well, but he must be pretty awesome given Court's standards. He has contributed to our team though - I believe he took our team photo on the Mall last Spring.

Congratulations and best wishes!

****Schedule change for this week****

Please note: our game is now at 3:40 p.m. at St. John's High School in DC. I've never been there, but it's up on Military road in far Northwest.

Be there! We need and will have a strong showing this week.

Prinz does not mess around

The Women's World Cup is underway in several cities in China. World league women's soccer is good stuff, and I recommend you watch some of the games. There isn't much parity among the teams, however. You've got your Germany, USA, Sweden, China, and a few other contenders and up-and-comers like Brazil and North Korea. This lack of parity is exemplified in the opening match of the 2007 WWC, which was today in Shanghai. Germany sliced and diced Argentina by a score of 11-0! Read the early accounts here. Birgit Prinz of Germany had 3 goals. She may be the best female player in the world. Yikes, I'd like to sign her to our team some day.

The US women are grouped with Sweden, North Korea, and Nigeria - that's a group of death alright. We face the evil regime of North Korea tomorrow. It won't be easy clearing the group. There is a lot of mystery surrounding the secretive yet hyped-up North Koreans. Read about it on the Insider. We have a good team, but coach Greg Ryan has introduced so many new players it's hard for me to follow. However, just like the men's team, when it comes time for the WC squad, we end up with a lot of familiar faces. Keep an eye on the established leaders: Wambach, Tarpley, Lilly, O'Reilly, Boxx, Markgraf, Solo, and others. The US women have an incredible win-streak going - try three years without a loss!

Game time at 5am tomorrow morning - I'm tivo-ing the game.

Perfect storm

It was not Tropical Storm Gabrielle, but it was a perfect storm for Goleros. Anything and everything affected our players and led to only 7 people showing for the game.

First and foremost, let's give Kara the credit she deserves. As a faithful alternate, she took my 7:15 a.m. call and rushed to the field. Her presence gave us the minimum number of players and saved us all the unthinkable $200 fine that is assessed by the league for forfeits. Thank you Kara, we owe you - BIG TIME.

The game was fun but the result wasn't peachy. We took a 4-0 loss to Far Post, a full-strength-plus team who we had beaten by a combined score of 8-0 in two previous meetings. Don't get me wrong, we like Far Post a lot. But it's disappointing to hand them a win.

In the first half, we played keep away and did a great job early on of stopping their attack and using our wings. In about the 15', Far Post scored off a cross that was clearly offside. That took some wind out of our sails, but at the same time, it also freed us of any fantasy of winning. Therefore, we just played good possession soccer. With 7 players, however, it is quite challenging to make good passes into the opponent's half. Far Post wore us down and scored a few more time. Tim, one of their strikers, had a nice chip off of a fast break. I consider that the winning goal.

In the second half, we were tired and I believe we gave up another goal. By the end of the game, some Far Post players joined our side and we went on the attack actually. We had a few chances but nothing too threatening.

Props to those Goleros who played: Pete, Megan, Liam, Nathan, Kara, Chris, Jer. Liam in particular played great. Imagine joining a new team as goalie and starting your second game with only 6 players in front of you! But he made save after save, coming off his line and distributing well.

Notes: 4-0 loss versus Far Post at Trinity on 9/9/07, only 7 players. GK: Liam.

Game report: first week

As you know, I wasn't there for our first game versus Quicksilver. However, it resulted in a forfeit in our favor, which means a 3-0 win. I understand during the ensuing scrimmage that goals were scored on both sides, resulting in something like a 4-3 win. Anyway, I'm glad we had enough people to play.

Fall schedule

Here's your fall schedule in one post - although check the space above for updated information. A few thoughts. Notice that we have two night games toward the end of the season. Also, we have a new team in the division: Two Left Feet. We otherwise have the usual cast of characters. We'll have to be sharp to beat them and come out on top. We already handicapped ourselves by taking a near-forfeit loss versus Far Post, something that will definitely come back to haunt us.

Date	Time	Event	Type	Field
		Sun, Sep 9	8:00a -9:35a	vs Far Post (h)	Game	Washington, Trinity
				no dogs/no peeing in the woods
		Sun, Sep 16	3:40p -5:20p	vs Red Devils (h)	Game	Washington, St. John's
		Sun, Sep 23	8:30a -10:10a	(h) vs Capital Crew	Game	Washington, Trinity
				no dogs/no peeing in the woods
		Sun, Oct 7	11:00a -1:00p	vs Celtic (h)	Game	Temple Hills, GCCA
		Sun, Oct 14	8:30p -10:30p	vs Red Tape (h)	Game	Falls Church, George
		Sun, Oct 21	8:30p -10:30p	vs Two Left Feet (h)	Game	Falls Church, George
		Sun, Oct 28	2:00p -4:00p	vs Tsunami Naranja (h)	Game	Washington, St. John's

Slide tackles!

The league posted this information about slide tackles. Get to know the rule. Basically, don't do it!

Slide Tackles

To address some questions regarding the interpretation of the slide tackle rule for CCSL, Carm has provided the following language to clarify things:
Slide tackles are not allowed in CCSL. If a player commits a slide tackle – it is considered a “Dangerous Play” and an Indirect Free Kick will be awarded. At the referee's discretion, a player committing a dangerous play (and in particular a slide tackle) may be sanctioned with a yellow card, but is not required. If the slide tackle results in a FIFA recognized foul then the referee will make the proper re-start based upon the foul committed (trip, violent tackle from behind etc). Like any dangerous play foul, you can allow play to continue if there is advantage but the referee can still elect to blow the whistle after the play and award a yellow car if needed.

A slide tackle involves a slide PLUS a tackle. CCSL referees have the final discretion on identifying a slide tackle as distinct from a slide, a lunge, a clumsy fall or a player tripping over a blade of grass. The distinction is not black and white and referees are instructed to put player safety first when making a CCSL Slide Tackle call.

Spring 2007 results

This post is for posterity and ease of searching on the website. Here were our results in the Spring 2007. We were one goal from promotion, and one questionable call from going to PKs in the championship match. Aside from bad taste of the last game, it was an outstanding season.

Results

• 4-2-2 regular season (.625)
• --------------------
• Mar. 25th - 2-0 Win vs Far Post
• April 1st - 2-2 tie vs Quicksilver FC
• April 22nd - 1-0 loss to Tsunami Naranja
• April 29th - 2-1 Win vs Capital Crew
• May 13th - 3-2 loss to Team X
• May 20th - 3-0 Win vs Red Devils
• June 3rd - 2-2 tie vs Celtic
• June 10th - 5-1 win vs Red Tape
• ---------------------
• June 23rd - QUARTERS - 6-0 win vs Red Tape
• June 24th - SEMIS - 2-0 win vs Tsunami Naranja
• July 2nd - FINALS - 3-2 loss vs Team X

Back in the house (sort of)

Folks, I'm back.

It was an amazing business trip that I may do a post on later.

This week, I'm on a planned vacation to the outer banks. I'm available on my cell.

Nathan and Jackie and Megan have been awesome to keep us organized. It's actually been a very tumultuous period with departures, new players, discliplinary issues, administrative duties, and a schedule that's not fully set. We owe these folks a lot.

See you Sunday the 9th. Megan or I will be in touch via email regarding instructions.

Post your thoughts on the game

Team,
I thought everyone might want to post their impressions on our first
game in the comments section for Peter to review.
Thanks,
Nathan

Midfield and defensive strength added

The Goleros have been busy this week! We just signed another player. We know him well. He played in midfield for us in the Coed Classic in July, he's versatile. He is Mike. Welcome.

Goleros have a new player

Today, we signed Ally to the team for the Fall. We know Ally well from tournaments and our playoff run in the Spring. Great player, great person. Welcome Ally!

Promotion? Vote here!

Team, depending on the outcome of this "investigation," we may be offered promotion at the Captain's meeting next week. It depends on whether the league makes a second spot available in the 2nd Division, whether Tsunami as the 2nd-placed team accepts, and if not, whether the officers are in the mood to extend the invitation to us.

Please vote on whether you think we should move up to the 2nd division or stay in the 3rd division.

Let me add this: you rarely get the chance to get promoted and you can always return to the lower division later. Your captain is firmly in the promotion camp. We will take people's views into account, but no guarantees that the result of the vote will be what happens.

Handball!

The league sent out this message today regarding how "hand balls" will be dealt with in our league. I too think it is something that is called too often.

Posted by: "Carmella Alvaro"

Captains, This is an email recently sent to our ref corps. Please forward it to your players for some leisure reading. Knowledge of the game makes it a more enjoyable day out on the field for everyone involved. Subject: Clarification of Handling Hello Refs, In an effort to continuously train and develop our ref corps, I will send out occasional clarification on the Laws of the Game. For the first installment, I have chosen my personal #1 pet peeve in all of the misunderstanding of the rules of our great sport: “Handball”, or really, the lack thereof… THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A HANDBALL FOUL in soccer, futbol, calcio or whatever you call it. Law 12 says a foul occurs when a player “deliberately handles the ball." To show the players you are truly not blind and saw the ball contact the hand but not result in a handling foul, it is ok to yell out “No Foul!” etc to get ahead of dissent. To see the full article, click below: http://www.vadcsoccerref.com/whistletalk/57893.htmlHere is an excerpt:“Let me give some examples of "handballs" that are not fouls:Players are standing in a wall with their hands placed across their chest or in front of the groin area to protect themselves. The ball is kicked into their arms or hands. While the ball has made contact with the hands or arms, this is not deliberate handling of the ball and is not a foul.

A hard shot, taken 3-5 yards away from a player, streaks toward the player’s head. In a flinch reaction, the player throws his hands up to protect his face and, in the process, strikes the ball. This is not deliberate handling of the ball. It is an involuntary reaction that is guaranteed to happen no matter how good the player is. This is not a foul. \u003cbr\>\n A player dribbles the ball on one of our "smooth as satin" fields when the ball hits a rock or clump of grass and bounces up. The ball strikes the player in the hand. This is not deliberate handling of the ball. \u003cbr\>\n And it doesn’t even matter if an advantage is gained. Consider the following:\u003cbr\>\n \u003cbr\>\n A striker shoots on goal. The keeper catches it. The striker turns and begins running up field vigorously pumping her arms. The keeper gets off a low line drive punt that arrives at the striker just as she swings her arm backwards. Her elbow strikes the ball driving it backwards into the goal. Did the player gain an advantage? Certainly, she scored a goal. Did she deliberately handle the ball? Not hardly. She was running with her back to the ball and didn’t even see it. Unless the referee sees the team practicing this play before the game, it is not a foul!!! Proper restart is a kick-off after the goal.”\u003cbr\>\n Please feel free to suggest topics or ask for clarifications or tips at any time across the season.


A hard shot, taken 3-5 yards away from a player, streaks toward the player’s head. In a flinch reaction, the player throws his hands up to protect his face and, in the process, strikes the ball. This is not deliberate handling of the ball. It is an involuntary reaction that is guaranteed to happen no matter how good the player is. This is not a foul. A player dribbles the ball on one of our "smooth as satin" fields when the ball hits a rock or clump of grass and bounces up. The ball strikes the player in the hand. This is not deliberate handling of the ball. And it doesn’t even matter if an advantage is gained. Consider the following:A striker shoots on goal. The keeper catches it. The striker turns and begins running up field vigorously pumping her arms. The keeper gets off a low line drive punt that arrives at the striker just as she swings her arm backwards. Her elbow strikes the ball driving it backwards into the goal. Did the player gain an advantage? Certainly, she scored a goal. Did she deliberately handle the ball? Not hardly. She was running with her back to the ball and didn’t even see it. Unless the referee sees the team practicing this play before the game, it is not a foul!!! Proper restart is a kick-off after the goal.”Please feel free to suggest topics or ask for clarifications or tips at any time across the season.

Thanks, Carmella AlvaroUSSF Assignor

Beckham's debut, from the stands at RFK

It really happened and WE WERE THERE!!!

<object width="425" height="350"> <param name="movie"
value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ANtY3hgU-4c"> </param>
<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ANtY3hgU-4c"
type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425"
height="350"> </embed> </object>

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3 tickets available for DCU vs. LA Galaxy

My friend Chris has 3 tickets available for the DCU vs. LA Galaxy match. Beckham is likely to suit up, but I wouldn't expect more than 10 minutes of play. Even that is probably about a 40% likelihood in my estimation. Tickets are apparently $26 each. Email golerosteam@gmail.com if interested.

Season starts Aug. 26th

Folks, the league has informed us that the season will start Sunday August 26th. No games over Labor Day weekend. Games will likely go until the end of November. Hot at the beginning, cold at the end.

I will miss the first game of the season due to work travel. However, I will be there for the game on Sept. 9th.

Dues are projected to be $90 at this point.

Money money

What would you pay for our red jerseys?

There were 27 Nike park jerseys, with numbering, clean, vintage 2004.

I put them up for sale on the CCSL Captains list-serve. Then, Lou - the scheduler - posted them on the NVASA website. Man oh man, that created a lot of interest. There were 10 suitors. In the end, I sold them sight unseen, and actually turned away a competing bidder who said he'd go above my asking price.

They are sold and the money is back in the Goleros' coffers.

How much do you think they sold for? Comment here.

My day in the sun

Your captain traveled home to Colorado for the weekend. Upon his return via National Airport, he ran into the DC United, who were returning from a whalloping of the New England Revolution. The whole team gathered in baggage claim, where I was also waiting for my bag. Bobby Boswell is tall but skinny. Oh ladies, stop. Guy Roland Kpene is short. Christian Gomez seems like the only guy who's got "people." He's not too tall but in sick shape. Jaime Moreno didn't look as old in person as he does on TV. Emilio's knees have a lot of scars. Two young up-and-comers - Devon McTavish and one of my new favorites, Marc Burch - were surprisingly tall. Burch has Beckham-like vision and long ball passing skills. Didn't see Ben Olsen or my look-alike, Josh Gros. Carlos and I met Olsen a couple of years ago actually.

Anyway, there they all were, sans entourage. I was able to talk to some of the guys while we waited and went out to passenger pick-up. Man, I wanted to chat them all up, but of course that would have been pretty lame - for them. Anyway, I walked out of the terminal with Clyde Simms (pictured; photo by Carlos). I told him he had a sweet pass to goal that should count as an assist (it won't). New England GK Matt Reis failed to secure the ball and Gros punched it in for the first goal. Clyde agreed with me. Then I talked to Emilio who waited with me at the cab stand - welcome to Washington and all of that. After putting two in the net yesterday, the guy's got 12 goals this season, which now ties him with Eddie Johnson for the league lead. There wasn't much to talk about, nao fala ingles. My portuguese - which I've actually studied - isn't even worth trying out it's so bad.

That was my day in the sun.

Pickup?

Pickup anyone?? I would love to get some games in at
Washington and Lee High School before we can no longer
enjoy the carefree days of summer.

Friday nights? Any other ideas?

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