Soccer Hell

So we played today. It was by far the worst game I have ever been assiciated with.

First the weather. I loved it. The one nice spot in this sea of negativism. It was cold, wet, and rainy. I love soccer in that kind of weather.

Also, we tied. It's not a win...but at least we didn't lose.

Now the negatives. My team managed to blow a 4-1 lead (yes, I know I was in goal...but I'm not accepting blame) in the second half. See, by the end of the game we had 4(!) people kicked out of the game via red cards and penalties. We deserved to lose the game. Certain members of my team just played dumb. Directly attacking people and making no effort to go after the ball. I'm ashamed to be a part of this team right now. Some on our team would point to the officiating as the problem. They think there is a cultural bias against our team as we're mostly caucasian and the other teams and ref's are not (again for the most part - there are exceptions).

I like soccer. It's fun. And at our level...it should be fun. We're not playing for national pride or money. My team is taking the fun out of the game and making assumptions about other teams and rulings on the field. I'm all for a competitive game, and that means physical contact and an intent to win. However, we've moved beyond incidental contact and into targeting players on other teams with blatent slide tackles. I just don't know if I can keep it up if this is the kind of team I'm saddled with.

Additionally, I didn't play too good. I failed to defent two penalty kicks and I was slow moving today for some reason. The other two goals came when we were down 4 men, so I can't blame myself for a collapsed defense.

That's my news...I'm going to relax tonight. I'll make a decision on how I feel about my future with the team after I rest and can reflect on what transpired.