Playoff Time

Plainbellied asked me to write a piece on her game this weekend, because she would prefer that I give my "disinterested" take on it (quotes used for irony). Plainbellied's team lost, 2-0, which most likely means that they are now out of the playoffs for good. About the only highlight of the game for the good guys was Plainbellied in goal. Even though the other team scored twice, the problems lay with the defense, not the keeper. In case you think I'm just showing favoritism, I should point out that I played soccer for years--defense. One fundamental issue Plainbellied's team had was that the defense tended to bunch up and chase the ball, leaving opposing players open to take shots. Plainbellied did the best she could, but they kept shooting, and a couple got past. On offense, Orange Crush simply couldn't shoot. They had a few opportunities, but they missed the goal. Anyway, it was frustrating to watch.

Highlights of the game

One sequence in the second half where Plainbellied's defense completely abandoned her and she had to come out of the goal. She blocked three hard shots in quick succession, leading the crowd (me) to scream, "Nice!!" at the top of its lungs. She had a few other great saves, but that stands out more than any other.

The ref didn't seem to understand what his whistle was for. He tended to wait about thirty seconds to blow it after a foul was committed. I don't think he really knew what he was doing. Seriously, the players got to the point where they had to tell him to blow it when the ball went out of bounds and such. The other team started yelling, "Play the whistle!" because one never could tell if he planned to blow it at all. Absolutely amazing.

One of the opposing players is a friend of ours, and after her team's first game, she complained about how violent the other team played. She even had a scratch across her face to prove it. Well, yesterday, she took on the enforcer role. It was ironic. On one play, she totally tripped one of Plainbellied's teammates who was just about to break a big run past the defense. I screamed, "OOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH!" really loudly, expressing my displeasure. Probably she should have gotten a red card for the tackle, which seemed pretty malicious. She made two more tackles just like it. One of them sent a player off with a possible ankle sprain. I give her a big thumbs down for her Wayne Rooney imitation (on the link, scroll down to "Disciplinary issues").

Plainbellied's team only had one sub, so when one person went down, neither team had subs. So in the second half, the ref actually called a water break. I couldn't believe it. They only play 25-minute halves. He actually called a water break??!!!

Finally, I got to play the hero. I mentioned that Rooney, Jr. had injured another player. Well, no one had any ice to put on her ankle (it was so hot the ice in their water coolers was melted). Plainbellied asked me, "Don't we have an ice pack in the car first-aid kit?" In fact, we did. Plainbellied deserves the credit for remembering it, but I was the one who ran the 100 yards to the car and brought it back. Of course, one of Plainbellied's teammates is married to a doctor, who happened to be there and could check out the ankle, but I got the ice pack, dang it! That should count for something.