'Mo Salvages an Otherwise Miserable Sportsday

Thanks, Kei, for getting the dramatic equalizer in the 85th minute. (Recap. Recap 2.) We're tied up with RBNY so it's a simple matter of win and move on at Robertson next week.

Other than that, the weekend sucked. My son's team lost 3-2 to a team they had beaten 5-3 on the opponent's home field. It was their first loss of the season and was one of those frustrating matches where you dominate territory and possession, but give up a few quick counterattacks that make you pay. We were 2-2 at the half. We scored in the 3rd, they scored in the 7th, we went ahead in the 16th, and they equalized in the 30th. Both of their goals came from footraces between their forward and our defenders. Our first goal came off a header after the boys executed a corner kick sequence perfectly. (Short pass-layoff-cross-header-Goal!) Our second goal came from some combinations up the center that sprang our forward into the attacking third. The first half also saw a handball in our box, but our goalkeeper saved the successive PK. Five minutes into the second half, our opponent scored what would be the winning goal. It started from yet another fast break, but then slowed down when we kicked the ball out of bounds. A few bounces after the throw in and we lost the game. The remainder of the match was in the opponent's half ... but nothing went in the opponent's goal, unfortunately.

The worst part of the loss is that I (as the coach) think I sat a player out too long because (1) we needed our best players in to win, (2) this guy isn't one of our best players, and (3) worst of all, he half-trots around almost as if he doesn't want to play. Also, unbeknownst to me, I stopped my stopwatch sometime in the second half, so I was unaware how late we were in the game. So, either out of subconscious desire to hide our weakness or an accidental occurrence because I thought we had more time left in the game, I ended up breaking my own cardinal rule and played him less than the 40 minute minimum (half the game, spread over both halves). He had 20 minutes in the first half but only 10 minutes in the second. And I feel lousy. I've become one of those jerk-coaches who sacrifice player development in order to win.

And then to cap off the day, my Longhorns lost to Texas Tech. I don't know WHAT our problem was in the first half, but we almost made amends with our comeback in the second half. Had Gideon hung onto the interception with 8 seconds left, then I think my whole weekend would have seemed just fine. Now there is a pallor over everything. Everything.

And to cap things off, I'm traveling to Florida next Sunday for business during the week. I'll miss seeing the Dynamo game, and worst of all: I'll miss most of my daughter's 11th birthday. Next weekend isn't looking much better than this one.

Hopefully the Dynamo give me something to smile about next weekend too.