I admit, I instigated the whole thing.

At last nights Sharks game, there were alot of people coming up the stairs and standing during play. So I opened my big mouth, "Please sit down! hey can you sit down!" So when one guy starts it, everyone else gets brave and starts yelling too. It happened to a few people. Near the end of the first period, the biggest dumbest a-hole comes up. He stands there during play and no one can see. so I start it, "Hey sit down! Can't see!" Then everyone starts yelling at him. He is quite annoyed, and sits on the step. I yell "Thank you" but obviously he was beyond that. He kept turning around and then finally yells out "F*** YOU!" (or something to the same affect). well now you did it, you pissed off ALL the season ticket holders. During the stoppage, he gets up and throws all sorts of glances back at everyone behind me. Then starts yelling stuff and sits down.
End of period. He's still going off stands up and gestures that we are all ... female genitilia... and cusses some more.
The gentleman next to him tries to calm him down, trying to explain why fans are upset. That didn't work. The guy gets extremely aggressive and cusses him out. The gentleman gives up and ignores him as his tirade continues.
During this time other season ticket holders went down to the usher and told him how this fan was cussing at everyone. so the usher comes up to try to calm him down. Sure enough more ushers arrive. These guys had earpeices, all CIA style. The first usher leaves and the second and third ushers takes over.
Victoria and I left to claim a prize but when we returned, the guy wasn't there. When we sat down the lady next to us said, "They escorted him out. but as he left the turned around and was looking for you. ha ha."
I doubt he was looking for me, but was looking at everyone behind us.

Yeah I know, I started it. I am a season ticket holder. and I will ask people to sit down during the middle of play because we can't see. this guy obviously only thinks of himself and is not considerate of the people around him. The True Shark Fans are the ones who got there on time.

After he left, one lady in front of us said, "I'm a season ticket holder, and we don't put up with stuff like that." True... Very True.

Hmm. that's odd

What an odd night. It all started at Pizza Chicago. You have to understand that Pizz'a Chicago is under construction. There's limited seating. However they are letting us place the order so that when we sit, there's minimum time to wait for the pizza. So Victoria and I are waiting in line. The family next to us decides to order. And what do they order? Thin Crust Pizza.
Umm.. this is Pizz'a Chicago. Chicago pizza is thick fluffy crust pizza. Not thin crust.

The 2nd weird thing was that they made a table specifically for Victoria and me. hahaha. Like I said, there was construction. And there was a little bit of space for a table. So they pulled in a table and sat us there. We could only sit on one side because there was an electrical outlet that was sticking out and they didn't want us to electrocute ourselves I guess.

So after dinner we went to Smoke Tiki lounge, where our friend Sandra works. While drinking down some well deserved drinks, our friends Hans and Kristy come in. We hadn't seen or talked with them for months. So there was alot of catchup talk. All this time, I noticed a girl behind Hans and Kristy. She ordered a tray of shot glasses. Then came out a jug of water, and a jug of pineapple juice. And the finisher, a whole bottle of Don Julio (Tequilia). This girl was ready for a party. She was dressed in heels and skirt. However, she waited. And waited... and waited. Finally she turns to us and goes, "Do you guys want a drink?" and Kristy says, "What are you having a party for one?" (priceless question to ask!). Turns out her friends were supposed to show up at 10, but never did. Its now almost 11PM. That's horrible. Here you are with a full bottle of Tequila, and your friends no-show?!?!?! wow. I felt bad for her to spend hella money for the bottle, and your friends didn't even show up. Miscommunication somewhere. Hopefully her friends showed and they had a good night. Otherwise it's a lonely night with a bottle of tequilia. Oh yeah, Kristy and I made our dent in the tequila.

Lesson: Never buy a bottle until your friend actually show up.

Sharks begin again.

So here we go again. The Hockey season is going to start. And the San Jose Sharks remain the "Sexy" pick to win the Stanley Cup. It doesn't matter what they do in the regular season, it matters what they do in the post season. All the experts believe that they are going to make the playoffs, but it is how far in the playoffs that they question. We won't know till that time comes around in April.

Though fans wouldn't say it, the Sharks made major changes to the team. Gone are: Marcel Goc, Alexei Semenov, Tomas Philhal, Lucas Kaspar, Brian Boucher, Mike Grier, Travis Moen. Then traded away Christian Erhoff, Brad Lukowich, Milan Michalek, and Jonothan Cheechoo. That's 11 players!!! From a roster of around 25 players, that's almost half your team!

Now they received: Dany Heatly (the big aquisition), Scot Nichol, Manny Malhotra, Jed Ortmeyer, Joe Callahan. And to round everything out, let the kids fight for the remaining spots: Jamie McGinn, Ben Ferrerio, Derek Joslin, Mike Moore, Thomas Griess.

For those Shark Fans (before Dany Heatley) who said the Sharks didn't do anything, are you nuts? they retooled alot! All the guys who were happy-go-lucky, in the comfort zone, they are gone. poof! Everyone is on notice.

If you look back at last season I mentioned something would happen this year. I predicted the Sharks wouldn't win the cup. Tood McLellen would sit back and watch this team that he inherited; it was a very good team, why tinker it? But 1 year later, he would know who are the players he wants and which ones he doesn't want; and he'll get rid of them. And there you go. Out with the guys who don't buy into McLellen's system, and in comes a bunch of fresh new faces.

It will be a good season. The Sharks will again get into the playoffs. But the same questions remain, how far will they go in the playoffs? and will they finally get the Stanley Cup?

Our first team win

Last week was a hard week to take. I was mad and upset. I thought we were a better team than the Clash was yet we could not win a single game yet. There were missed opportunities and we could not beat them. I was so mad, I couldn't blog about it. and I spent the most of the week trying to figure out what we can do to make my team better.

So I decided that I needed to lead this team. This was the way it was going to go. i was going to rejoin the team on the field and take it to the other team. I was going to push my skills and LEAD this team.

But as it turned out, I didn't need to lead the team on the field, but lead the team while in goal. but first the game details. Everyone stepped up and improved their game. Jen came in and played a great defense. She didn't let anyone get to the ball. Sandra and Norma also stepped up big. They took up being a defender, and played a great game. Adrian, Steve, and Ed all stepped up too on Defense. They switched around abit, but they had great step ups on the D. Adrian had some good moves amd moved the ball around great. Brandon and Candice has given this team a huge talent boost. They are able to pass and shoot and set and example for others on the team. I think the team gets inspired and want to do the same.

Steve, Sandy and Brandon all scored for us. steve finally got that elusive goal to tie Sandy in the number of career goals. But Sandy stepped up and scored her 2nd goal of her career. Brandon tipped in a hard work goal to finish it off.
I didn't think it was a big moment, but I brushed it off ready to go to the next one. Apparently there was a huge shot and i quickly got my hand up and knocked it away. The bench and crowd were cheering the great save. Some thought it was going in, but I took a huge save.

I was extremely proud of this teams effort. And I think building on this win will boost this morale. I know I was relieved to have the big "monkey" off my back with our first win. And now its on to anothter team that we can take it too and beat.

Indoor Soccer Week 3; vs Superbad

Week 3
This last week we went up against the other half of "Cave Dwellers" called Superbad. Unforetunately, it didn't turn out any better. We ended up losing 9-4. But I think this team is significantly better than us. They are the top of the divison, whereas we are just getting started. They had more speed more skill more everything... except players. They had go into the stands to pull people to play with their team. I think 1/2 the team wasn't even on their team. As for us I asked 3 people to replace those who were injured. And this happened way before the start of the game.
I tried my best, but again, the talent level over there is greater than the talent on my team. They should really be called Rudy and whoever wants to play with him. Rudy once again, played the entire game. And with 3 guys on the bench, I doubt everyone played enough in the game. I think I am already seeing chunks of this team falling apart too. One of their players is looking to join a 3rd team. Why would you do that? oh yeah you're not getting playing time. Gee, I think I was on the same page. and a few of the other players on my team were feeling the same way.
In any case, that team is the top tier, and we are starting out. Hopefully this will improve. But this was the most fustrating game. It was probably because Rudy's highschool team was out-playing agaisnt us.
In the end, we only play them once, so who cares. It's just one game. Of the 3 games, we have enjoyed the 2 not against Rudy. The team needs to brush this off and move on. THere are other teams where it will be alot more fun to play and enjoy. Where the skill level is about the same and we can enjoy our time out there.

The Truth about "No F In Talent"

As my new team comes together, the truth comes out about my 1st former team. After I was kicked off the team, it subsequently fell apart. It all started from the return of the Manager's Wife. MW came in and decided that there needed to be changes. First, she wanted her nephew/Godson to come play with them. But that was at the expense of my team membership. That was the last that I had heard from the team. Other than saying hello from time to time, I had no contact with the team. And after that season, the team disappeared. It didn't come back for the season after.

So now the truth has come out. Apparently MW had some deep rooted jealousy issues. When she came back, she realized the team had changed. The group that was there had bonded together and, because she wasn't there, she felt left out (too bad she kicked me off. 1st time she came out with us, I went up to her and introduced myself. I tried to make her welcome.). And/or, it is possible, my removal had drawn tension within the teammates. I know some people were upset, confused, and disappointed about me being not allowed back.

She started making demands. She wanted to kick off 'this person' and 'that person' because they were too close to her friends. Then finally, half way through the season, she decides that "she is done" and took her husband (the best player and manager) away from the team.
The rest of the team is now divided. There are the ones that were her close friends. And then the people who were friends of friends. How do you decide which side, or better yet, how do you stay neutral?

The team went on to win the division, but the drama didn't stop. The day before the new season was to start, MW (and husband) decides to disband the team. The DAY BEFORE. Ironically, that is exactly what happened to me!!! This time, they are kicking EVERYONE off the team, with no way of recovering the team or holding on their spot. They took away everything, standing in Strikers Den, jerseys, fees, etc. If they wanted a team, they would have to start at the bottom as a brand new team.

Now there would be a time when the team would not come back together. Its progress. People have kids, and families, and the economy all progress to the end. However it's the way that this happened that really left a bad taste in everyone's mouth.

In the end, their disbandment is to my advantage. I'm now picking up some of the players to play with me.

The funniest fallout was on the first game. Victoria was asked "Are you going to walk the bench and make demands?" Victoria had a funny look, and said "No way," We didn't know the full story. But we do now. And in the end it turned out better than expected. I got on a championship team; and now I run my team with some of the players and we're having lots of fun.

So here's to a negative turned positive.

Indoor Soccer Week 2

This week we worked on positioning. And while we lost, we played alot better. I know I'm improving as a goalkeeper. I still have those moments where I don't know if I should engage or allow the defender to take the ball.

This was a tough week too for attendees. We had alot of absences: Rob, Matt, Hugh, Tonya, Eliza, though she made it right before game time. That's almost half the team. So we called in a few favors and ended up with Brandon and Jen from my former No F In Talent team. I had forgotten how good they are and they showed it. They definitely boosted the talent level on the team.

However everyone had a good game, especially Steve and Adrian. These two were so close to getting the goals. Steve had some creative shots and some creative passes. He's stepped up in winger and defender.
Adrian has improved his ball handling and it showed. He is starting to move through people, something that I haven't seen from him. I'm was getting impressed by him.

I think as people learn the system they will get into better position. I know 2 people who didn't completely understand the system. I think they stayed back too far, especially when the action is on the other end. I'll have to work with them and try to get them to realize that they can provide more support if they are in position.

All in all, I think everyone got a good workout in. No one loves losing, but people are having fun and stepping up and out of their comfort zone and it is improving their game.

On to Week 3!