A love story

We are proud to announce the engagement of Tom and Anne.

This is a very happy moment. Tom is an original Goleros player, a committed and multi-talented individual, and a good friend of your Captain. Now Tom is going to marry a wonderful woman who we have come to know and love as "Anne from the Yellow Team."

It's a Goleros love story.

In 2004, Anne and Tom reportedly met briefly at a party one night. Then, only days later, they faced each other in a soccer match at Falls Road Local Park in Potomac, MD. Anne played on the Yellow Team (made up of American U law students) and we were the Goleros of the Montgomery County league. We can remember Anne focusing more on Tom than the game. On a particular corner kick, Anne was busy talking to Tom and not picking up her man. We won the game and Tom won a date with Anne.

And forever after they made a great couple. They were recently engaged on a vacation. For those of you who don't know Anne, she is among other things a soccer player. She's also a bright and successful lawyer for a well-regarded firm. With all of her travels and experience with international transactions, perhaps some day she can represent Goleros if and when we get into the international transfer market.

Let's raise a glass for Tom and Anne. We wish the happy couple the best!

A fine engagement

Congratulations to Jon & Missy, who are now engaged if you haven't heard. I haven't been clued in on the details. Jon doesn't have a wedding blog that I'm aware of.

Anyway, this is great news. It was pretty smart of Jon to associate himself with Missy, a really great woman and our 2008 Fan of the Year! I think he's figured this out. In my experience, he goes after what he wants. Take our last game as an example. He stormed up the right wing and sunk a 40-yard shot over the goalie because he was tired of the guy playing so far off his line. I think it's fair to say that the engagement story is more romantic, but you get the point. He didn't hesitate because they'll be great together.

Congratulations to you guys. You are the latest Goleros love story.

Go West!

Nick and Kara are moving to my hometown of Denver.  They are joining the long list of Goleros players with roots in the great state of Colorado - me, Jer, Mark, Erinn, Mary, Shannon, and Justin.

We'll miss them an awful lot.  We've been playing together, off and on, since 2004 when we met them in one of our many matches versus Frightening Pace in the Montgomery County league.  They first joined the team in the 2005 Coed Classic.  Nick has been steady on the back line whenever he's played for us.  Kara was a runner-up MVP last season for her stellar play and also for saving us from a forfeit!  She took a call at 7:30 am and was at the field before 8. That's dedication. 

Check out some action shots.

2005 Coed Classic

Spring 2007 Season

There's more.  Nick and Kara recently got engaged!  It happened on a recent trip to NYC, which was supposed to be just a theatre weekend.  Nick had something more in mind.  He booked a fancy spa in Koreatown and asked Kara there.  It's great news!  Another Goleros love story (read about others here and here).

Our history Vol. II

This is the second installment of the critically-acclaimed three-part series: our history. Read the first installment here.

These are the Montgomery County years. They were always fun, but the field locations slowly wore on the team. In the beginning, we played in Bethesda, then Silver Spring, then Wheaton, then Olney, and then the suburbs of Olney! For our growing DC/Northern Virginia contingent, this meant sometimes more than 1 hour of driving each way.

Pete's Graduation in 2003

The significance of these years is clear: we turned things around. We were done simply kicking it around. It was time for some wins. It took awhile but we steadily developed a better work ethic, got some new talent on board, and saw some results. We said goodbye to some players but added some new ones - Kristin, Jackie, John Magoba, Patrick, Chris, Justin, Mark, Erinn, Ermy, Jessica, Megan, among others. In my mind, the turning point was a match in 2003 versus the dreaded Green Team. They had whipped us before but we bested them in a bitter match to close the season at .500. It was so bitter that the Green Team actually disbanded following the game. Some of their nicer folks proposed a merger with us to bolster our numbers for the next season, but we said no.

We hit a stride in 2004, going more than .800 for an extended time. Mike was steady in goal; Mark ran the midfield at that unforgettable pace; Jessica outwitted defenses on the wing; Justin and Chris scored more than 15 points each per season; and our women were very strong all over the field. I no longer cared if we won or lost because we were good and the wins would often just come. In 2005, we were promoted to the Second Division. We made the playoffs twice. Our first tournament was the 2004 Coed Classic, which we played in conjunction with Frightening Pace.

What else is noteworthy? Megan agreed to be co-captain. She really helped to organize us and make the team fun. We owe a lot to her.

High points: beating the Green Team, winning one game 10-0, listening to John and Patrick yell at each other in Ugandan.

Low point: missed playoffs in 2005 because of a forfeit. We just didn't have enough women.

Rivals to remember: G.O.R.F. (one of the few teams that we played more than once who we never beat - they once beat us 10-0), Green Team, Yellow Team (love story!), Frightening Pace (read this post).

Greg & Michelle's Wedding

Have any memories of your own?



Next installment: The Move to CCSL.

Happy New Year! (and some good news from a LUA player)

Hi team -

I've taken a much needed break from blogging and soccer organizing.  It will still be relatively slow, but it's time to come back from the wilderness and reconnect.

Let's start with a great story.  Remember Andy from Little Urban Achievers, who made a comeback from cancer to play in the Fall 2010? D2 championship game against us?  Read this old post.  Well, we didn't take a victory from that match, but the prelude was memorable.  We raised a fair amount of money for cancer awareness, something we have some experience doing. 

Anyway, I got a great update from Andy.  He's living a charmed life in London now, attending the London School of Economics and seeing some EPL games.  Here's the chain:

Tim -

As discussed via g-chat today, I am interested to hear more about your teammate, Andy, and how he is doing.  I would love to pass on any good information to my team, who will surely be interested to know what he's up to.  I plan to do another post on the blog about it.  Andy's a great fellow.

Happy Holidays!

Best,

Peter w/ Goleros

Andy	12/26/11 (10 days ago)
to Tim, me

Hi Peter- I hope you are well and your soccer team did well this year. 

This year I decided to make some bold moves.  After my health issues I decided life was too short not to take some chances and see what was out there.  So I applied for Masters programs in London- and somehow got into the London School of Economics!  It took some courage to accept, as I’ve been living and working on Cap. Hill for close to 10 years and most of my good friends are in DC, but I did it.  In September I packed up my life and moved to London, which is absolutely the right decision.  I’m studying International Relations at the LSE and working part time for think tanks in London.  It is an absolutely fantastic city where I meet interesting people all the time.  I do a lot of traveling around the UK and Europe thanks to the cheap airline tickets, so I’m seeing a good bit of the world while I read newspapers about the demise of the euro (a good time to exchange dollars for euros, and pounds actually).  I also got a Membership for the Tottenham Hotspurs.  They have been my team for some time now, and Ive seen about half a dozen matches at White Hart Lane as well as gone to watch Clint Dempsey at Fulham a few times.  I have a lot more matches line up this coming year- which is causing me to go broke.  But I’ll gladly eat PB&J sandwiches for dinner if I can watch a few EPL matches each month!! haha. Going back to school after being out of academics for a decade has been a bit of a challenge, but I really do relish challenges in my life now.  the big challenges are never that big once you jump in- and the rewards are always worth the effort.  The school has been fantastic for me- I am learning a ton about the world not only in the classroom but from my classmates.  My program has one of the most diverse student bodies in the world, so every day I learn something new about a culture or how someone else perceives the world.  I’ve also continued to raise funds for cancer research.  Over the past several years we’ve raised over $5,000 for cancer research and your team played a major role in these efforts.  This year I’m doing a fundraiser in London where I hope to raise around 1200 pounds to donate to cancer research in the UK.  So that is a bit about what I have been doing.  Some major-major changes, but all for the good.  I’m loving life and living it to its fullest.  If you or anyone is making any trips to London, please let me know.  There will be a good pint waiting for them, on me, and some soccer tickets if we can make that happen too. 

Happy Holidays.  I hope all is well with you.  And thanks so much for checking in.  It is very kind of you.

All my best,

Andy

   

Andy -

What a great update.  I couldn't respond earlier for fear of giving it short shrift.  It's fantastic to hear that you've thrown off the shackles and gone after what interested you.  My dad always gave me those speeches, and whenever I followed them, I always felt right about it.  But of course enrolling in the London School of Economics is not exactly like backpacking the world or becoming a ski bum.  What great experiences.  Are you taking Ryan Air or Easy jet or another carrier on these short jaunts?  I am an aviation analyst, I care about such things.

I wish I could visit White Hart Lane with you.  I eased into the EPL last season, but this season I dove in full speed.  I watch the games on the weekend.  My favorite show is the Premier League Review, produced by the league and played here on Fox Soccer Channel.  I have never fully committed to a team.  I won't do Manchester United or Man City or Arsenal for a number of reasons.  I've always been drawn to Liverpool and I would say I follow them most closely.  But of course I've had my eye on Fulham for years given the McBride/Dempsey connection.  They're finally on a tear this season.  And it's funny you mention Tottenham.  I never considered following them closely before, I'm not sure why.  But watching them this season has been a pleasure.  They're an extremely talented side.  I enjoy watching Modric play, and Adebayor and others are thrilling.  One question for you though - why is Gio Dos Santos riding pine?  It seems he's a pretty electric player - he's not even worth a shot sometimes?

It's also nice to hear about your cancer awareness efforts.  The Goleros have continued in that vein, recently raising a modest amount for our teammate, who did a Breast Cancer walk in support of a family member.

All the best,

Peter w/ Goleros

From: Tim
Sent: Sunday, December 18, 2011 9:56 PM
To: Andy 
Subject: Fwd: news about Andy

hey Andy!

The email below is from Peter, the captain of the soccer team Goleros that we played in the Div 2 championship game last spring.  It was Peter and Goleros that helped raise some money for cancer research during our championship match you may remember.  Anyways - Peter wanted to send around an update to his team, per his email below.  Can you get in touch with him?

Meanwhile - what is your plan for when you are in DC after xmas?

Tim Daly

Fall 2007

Fall 2007 is behind us. It wasn't impressive statistically, but it was fun. We finished 3-2-3, which is one game over .500 and in 7th place in the division - out of the playoffs. There's a lot behind those numbers though.

First, let's start with the fact that we had to rebuild, despite an extremely successful spring season. We bounced back and added an impressive list of people: Liam, Heather, Ally, Mike, Kate, and Katya. We reinforced the team with help from lots of people - that's why I find it hard to be too disappointed by missing the playoffs. Not me. I'm proud that we came as far as we did. Despite a handicapping forfeit loss and having to integrate new bodies, we almost got 2nd place.

Second, we started off slow. Game 1: forfeit win. Game 2: forfeit loss with only 7 players. Game 3: meltdown versus Red Devils (that was the low point). It was only a 2-game losing streak, but it seemed like an eternity. We tied Capital Crew in Game 4, but since we yielded a goal at the end, it didn't feel like a reason to celebrate. In Game 5, we nearly shot ourselves in the foot by fielding only 10 players, but we got it done anyway versus Celtic and took home a tie. We played really well - an obvious turning point in the season. In Game 6, we finally scored a win versus Red Tape. We followed up with another win versus Two Left Feet in Game 7. We know about Game 8: we tied Tsunami and yet again, that team got off easy. They had a lot of help from the refs, let's put it that way.

Third, despite some turnover, we still have the best roster of women in the league. Jackie, Kristin, Megan, Ally, Kate, Heather, Katya - you guys are awesome. Jen, Kara, Leslie, Julia, Kay, Courtney, Anna, you too. We have some good leads to make this an even more impressive female side in the spring.

Here's my usual bullet points for the season:

• We were 3-2-3, which is a .600 winning percentage. Not bad. We usually tie at least once, but not three times.
• We finished 7th due to tie-breakers (we were tied for 4th in points). If we would have won our last match, we would have finished an impressive 2nd. That's one goal that made the difference.
• We closed the season on a 5-game no-loss streak (tie, tie, win, win, tie). It's not dominant, but it's impressive.
  
• We dealt with the whole probation thing - something that even I will view humorously from this point forward.
• We scored 16 goals, which is low but fair. We left a lot of goals on the table so this is bound to catch back up to us.
  
• 9 players tallied points (2 points for a goal, 1 point for an assist), which is decent. We like to spread the wealth. The list included 2 women, which is good but not our best.
• The points leaders are: Jon (9 with 4 goals), Chris (6 with 3 goals), Adrian (4 with 2 goals), Ally (3 with 1 goal), Jer (3 with 1 goal), Mike (3), Griz (2 with 1 goal), Chip (2 with 1 goal), Jackie (2). This comes with the usual caveat: points don't tell the full story. Certain players - let's use Kristin as an example - play out of their mind and don't get the points.
  
• We only had 1 shut-out. We were in transition for much of the season.
• We have beaten everyone in the division, except Celtic. We have tied them twice by a score of 2-2 each time.
• Liam played in every game - and did an outstanding job. Well done my friend!
• Props to Chris, a legendary Goleros players who treks from Baltimore to run his butt off for the team.
• Thanks to our alternates for coming out. Kara, you saved us $200 by helping us avoid a forfeit (and you played well). Others contributed - Carlos, Jen, Leslie, Kay, Nick, Dianne.
  

The team is in great shape. I love playing with you folks.

All the best

Our friend and teammate Courtney has big news. She got married to her boyfriend, Scott, two weeks ago in Olympia. Megan alerted me to this little piece in the New York Times style section about the big event:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/10/fashion/weddings/10gregoire.html?scp=1&sq=gregoire&st=cse

We began covering this story in this earlier post about wedding bells. Looks like everything worked out great.

There's more news. But it's not so peachy for the team. Courtney and Scott are moving back to Washington State, so it appears that Court will soon file her retirement papers with me. We knew it was coming, we hadn't seen her on the field in a while. Based on our last conversation, it seems that she'll already be gone by the time our party comes around on the 22nd. I hope to cross paths with her in Denver at the end of the month.

Good bye Courtney, we love you.

All the best.