I have spent the last week reflecting on how much my Aunt meant to me during my life. She was most effective when I was a kid growing up. When I was really young, to her I was always her "little man." That part was triggered yesterday as I looked at my son when people told me yesterday at the funeral how much he looked like me. My mother used to hang with her alot back in the younger days. Apparently they were close and I never knew how close until after my mother died. I think Sherril took it a lot more harder then I did.
During my teenage years, she was around. She played video games with me, even if she wasn't that good. I was reminded of that when my cousin, Doug, talked about how Sherril would slap 50 cents down and play pool against him. Sherril also played cards with me alot. She was my buffer during the years Nana had guardianship over me. Especially when it came to sports. Sherril would just say to Nana, everyone gets hurt in sports. Well she raised two athletes, one of them a semi-professional baseball player. That said, she was good when it came to taping ankles which she did for me for my soccer matches.
My really rough year, my Aunt Sherril made sure my sister and I had xmas presants. I confessed to her last week how I peaked at them early on.
My only regret was we lost contact when I was in my 20's and on. I'm just happy she got to say goodbye to her and that the reason she was buried next to my mother was because she bought the lot when buring my mother. Since she was divorced she felt it appropiate. I just hope she is with my mother in a better place remenicing the good times.
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
No gel
Yesterday I finished practice. Marlena is picking up a few new tricks and using them. Our practices in the back yard are starting to pay off because while she isn't the fastest, she is getting the job done. She still can defend. I would like to put her on offense, but I need to work her more. Her kicks are getting better. But I need them to be stronger so when she dribbles and takes a shot on goal. I taught her last week how to shield the ball. Wouldn't you know it? The guy I coach with decided to teach shielding. Well in my opinion I did a better job at teaching her and it showed when she did the best job at shielding the ball. I'm happy because for once I put her one up on most of the kids even though I'm supposed to train all the kids.
I just wish the head coach and I would gel a bit more. Kids are fine. Just us coaches seem to be clashing more then my liking. Not good before our first game. Hopefully we'll work out the kinks beforehand. Otherwise it's going to be a long season.
I just wish the head coach and I would gel a bit more. Kids are fine. Just us coaches seem to be clashing more then my liking. Not good before our first game. Hopefully we'll work out the kinks beforehand. Otherwise it's going to be a long season.
Monday, August 28, 2006
Assessments gone amuck
Saturday I spent the day with my son as my wife and daughter had a girls day out. Basically it was what the wife wanted and I felt she needed it so why not? She was back well in enough time for me to get ready for my game. So I was looking forward to tonight's game as the 3 amigos were going to be together as a crew after a good time span of this not happening. Jesse who hasn't seen me since February makes a comment about my beard and how a grade 5 shouldn't have one. I mention Ali H. who has 4 times the beard I have and is also going for his 5. Jesse thought we were being assessed. I told him I got my final assessment the week I came off the injured list. So Jesse was happy I made it and relieve that we could "be ourselves" tonight. We showed up at the field and our first clue we were not going to have a game was in the picture:
After we waited until the 30 minute mark and not seeing a soul we decided to call our assignor. He called us back and said the game was moved to a different time and place. Initially I was laughing with my compadres because that meant we could catch up with stuff over beer and pizza. It also meant that I could have helped my local league on Saturday and didn't. However, the fact my wife got out to do her stuff eased the blow of that fact. One of my buds was having a hard time getting his assessment. For some of us, it's a last minute deal. The SFSFL is ending its season with a few straggling games left over. He could do CPSA but those centers are hard to get. There will be a lot of Nationals who need assessments still.
So Sunday it's confirmed that the same guy who has watched my back this season is going to watch my bud's and get his assessment done. I was scheduled for the same field as my friend. Usually when referees are getting assessed the games tend to fall behind because of the AR's assigned to that match. So my friend Brian, got assessed, then another referee got assessed. So that delayed it more. My game ran and it was in control, if not smooth. 6 yellow cards. First two to knuckleheads who had it in for one another. The one from Haitian Exp. I really had to work to keep him in the game. Still with good assistants, I had control of the match. Even called two PK's where none went in. Good goalkeeping? Nope. Bad kickers.
My last game was....you guessed it. Assessed. My good buddy Rafael S. was being looked at. I'm just going to say I bailed him out a few times that game. Sons of Italy seemed to have forgiven me for the reds the last time I was there.
After we waited until the 30 minute mark and not seeing a soul we decided to call our assignor. He called us back and said the game was moved to a different time and place. Initially I was laughing with my compadres because that meant we could catch up with stuff over beer and pizza. It also meant that I could have helped my local league on Saturday and didn't. However, the fact my wife got out to do her stuff eased the blow of that fact. One of my buds was having a hard time getting his assessment. For some of us, it's a last minute deal. The SFSFL is ending its season with a few straggling games left over. He could do CPSA but those centers are hard to get. There will be a lot of Nationals who need assessments still.
So Sunday it's confirmed that the same guy who has watched my back this season is going to watch my bud's and get his assessment done. I was scheduled for the same field as my friend. Usually when referees are getting assessed the games tend to fall behind because of the AR's assigned to that match. So my friend Brian, got assessed, then another referee got assessed. So that delayed it more. My game ran and it was in control, if not smooth. 6 yellow cards. First two to knuckleheads who had it in for one another. The one from Haitian Exp. I really had to work to keep him in the game. Still with good assistants, I had control of the match. Even called two PK's where none went in. Good goalkeeping? Nope. Bad kickers.
My last game was....you guessed it. Assessed. My good buddy Rafael S. was being looked at. I'm just going to say I bailed him out a few times that game. Sons of Italy seemed to have forgiven me for the reds the last time I was there.
Saturday, August 26, 2006
Elbow incident
A horrible elbow is what we need to watch for. Click on Bob Evan's blog for comments regarding what I have posted. When you first look, it looks like a push. As one quotes, "every time I look at it, it gets worse every time:
Friday, August 25, 2006
Assigning...The Lost Art
Now I should be the last one to really write this because I was offered the referee assignor position for my local club and I turned it down because I knew it was going to interfere with a lot of my other referee goals which I placed as a higher priority. As a result someone with less experience in both assigning and refereeing filled that spot. Actually two did. Problem is one had to bail out due to moving.
Still one who has done it for two seasons should know what referees to put on the higher level matches and which referees to avoid. They should know which referee if called on will help at a drop of a hat and which ones would be the last to call on because their showing up to the games they agreed to do are a bit spotty.
Problem is within the last 5 years or so, technology has come in great strides and has been used to aide the assignor in assigning games. Before it was utilized in one club I said to the coordinator at the time, you should use it, it would save a lot of assigning time. Well the next one listened to me and then there was a bigger problem. Too much reliability on the online assigning.
What? Just what are the pitfalls in assigning online? One, if you don't have fail safes installed, Joe Blow can just assign himself to do an U19 Boys class 1 match....when he isn't near ready. Motivation? Money? Yes it's happened before. San Ramon one year had the assigning and the pay was rediculously high. As a result on an U19 Class 3 game where there was a rivalrey involved involed myself and a married couple.....who passed my class that same year. Needless to day they were nowhere near ready for the full on assult the players were about to dish out to each other and to the entire referee crew. I know one of the two is not refereeing and thankfully the other chose to learn from it and grow to be one of San Ramon's chosen few. But this could have been avoided had the coordinator at the time had fail safes.
Another issue: Just today I got an email from my local assignor. He is asking for referees over the waves of email if he can get some help...for tomorrow's tournament. Good but, not good enough. Here's why: Not everyone uses email on a regular basis. I have a good friend and colleague who rarely checks his email. Therefore he is lucky to get a good assignment. Not everyone has a computer, but that problem is taking care of itself more and more as computers are getting cheaper. Remember, it used to be expensive to own a telephone at one time. When it get crunch time, the assignor needs to get on the horn and make calls.
Let me talk about the one who is a master at this. This guy gets availability from the referees on the 15th of each month for the following month. Talk about planning in advance. He uses the Internet, but his is very low tech email. No assigning yourself. You just give the availability and he gives you games based on the availability. When it's crunch time he makes calls.
Very rarely he ever has an open hole.
If assignors put a little less reliability on the Internet they would be a better assignor for it.
Still one who has done it for two seasons should know what referees to put on the higher level matches and which referees to avoid. They should know which referee if called on will help at a drop of a hat and which ones would be the last to call on because their showing up to the games they agreed to do are a bit spotty.
Problem is within the last 5 years or so, technology has come in great strides and has been used to aide the assignor in assigning games. Before it was utilized in one club I said to the coordinator at the time, you should use it, it would save a lot of assigning time. Well the next one listened to me and then there was a bigger problem. Too much reliability on the online assigning.
What? Just what are the pitfalls in assigning online? One, if you don't have fail safes installed, Joe Blow can just assign himself to do an U19 Boys class 1 match....when he isn't near ready. Motivation? Money? Yes it's happened before. San Ramon one year had the assigning and the pay was rediculously high. As a result on an U19 Class 3 game where there was a rivalrey involved involed myself and a married couple.....who passed my class that same year. Needless to day they were nowhere near ready for the full on assult the players were about to dish out to each other and to the entire referee crew. I know one of the two is not refereeing and thankfully the other chose to learn from it and grow to be one of San Ramon's chosen few. But this could have been avoided had the coordinator at the time had fail safes.
Another issue: Just today I got an email from my local assignor. He is asking for referees over the waves of email if he can get some help...for tomorrow's tournament. Good but, not good enough. Here's why: Not everyone uses email on a regular basis. I have a good friend and colleague who rarely checks his email. Therefore he is lucky to get a good assignment. Not everyone has a computer, but that problem is taking care of itself more and more as computers are getting cheaper. Remember, it used to be expensive to own a telephone at one time. When it get crunch time, the assignor needs to get on the horn and make calls.
Let me talk about the one who is a master at this. This guy gets availability from the referees on the 15th of each month for the following month. Talk about planning in advance. He uses the Internet, but his is very low tech email. No assigning yourself. You just give the availability and he gives you games based on the availability. When it's crunch time he makes calls.
Very rarely he ever has an open hole.
If assignors put a little less reliability on the Internet they would be a better assignor for it.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
The Separation of State
No there isn't an oppression of California so bad that I heard a rumor that California was going to split into 2 states. What I am talking about is the separation of State Referees. I've been talking with a couple people and one of the main topics is you wonder how some got their badges. Sound like a gripe? Well yes and no. In an earlier post I mentioned how I worked with one State referee who was making more mechanical mistakes then a grade 8 referee coming out of class. It was amazing we had game control. We have had several new state referees in the last couple years. Some have really worked hard on it. Others, you want to know what their story is.
One referee who has become a close friend of mine, has worked hard behind the scenes. I was happy he went for his grade 7 and then shortly later announced he was going to throw his hat in the ring for a state. I rememeber a few years earlier, one formally active member of the district, said this individual needed work. Well how much work? So I took a closer look at him and helped him with a few mechanics. But when he threw his hat in the ring, the question popped up, "Does he need work?" It was quickly answered during a fun run when he did the run and said, "My time wasn't good. I need to take this State badge seriously." I stopped worrying. When he was assessed, he failed one of his 3 assessments. Most cases this would stop a man dead in his tracks. But he took the two to make up the one and passed.
While this is going on, I ran line for a referee who was maintaining his State badge....on a U19 girls game. Might as well gotten the feedback before the game. With all the U19 and U16 boys games, and Amatuer matches (which any Amatuer match counts), some take the easy way out. Does that make them a good referee? No. It makes them lazy. They are just coasting.
Now I have been guilty of this. When I was overweight, I got my State Badge. Looking back, I didn't deserve it. I was not fit enough. On my first two assessments, my fitness wasn't an issue. My last one, I had Bill Miller. During the feedback he showed me 3 pages. One was the graph of a physically fit referee. One was a graph of a not fit referee. Then he showed me my graph he made during the 15 minutes of the second half. It was not fit. It was not as bad as the graph of an unfit, but it was closer to that then the fit. Woke me up. So I spent the next year losing the weight. However, I spent the first couple of years even though I was refereeing the amatuers to do my maintanence on U16 boys matches. Then I did my next one on U19boys. All of those matches didn't really pose too much of a challenge. However, my next assessment I pushed myself and did it on a WPSL match. There I got a bit more challenged, so I got more feedback. Basically my level matches increased.
This was the point where I looked at other State referees. And there were two types of Grade 6 State referees. Ones that did amatuer matches and those that didn't. It was that and people who thought I was already a grade 5 that helped me decide to upgrade to grade 5.
One referee who has become a close friend of mine, has worked hard behind the scenes. I was happy he went for his grade 7 and then shortly later announced he was going to throw his hat in the ring for a state. I rememeber a few years earlier, one formally active member of the district, said this individual needed work. Well how much work? So I took a closer look at him and helped him with a few mechanics. But when he threw his hat in the ring, the question popped up, "Does he need work?" It was quickly answered during a fun run when he did the run and said, "My time wasn't good. I need to take this State badge seriously." I stopped worrying. When he was assessed, he failed one of his 3 assessments. Most cases this would stop a man dead in his tracks. But he took the two to make up the one and passed.
While this is going on, I ran line for a referee who was maintaining his State badge....on a U19 girls game. Might as well gotten the feedback before the game. With all the U19 and U16 boys games, and Amatuer matches (which any Amatuer match counts), some take the easy way out. Does that make them a good referee? No. It makes them lazy. They are just coasting.
Now I have been guilty of this. When I was overweight, I got my State Badge. Looking back, I didn't deserve it. I was not fit enough. On my first two assessments, my fitness wasn't an issue. My last one, I had Bill Miller. During the feedback he showed me 3 pages. One was the graph of a physically fit referee. One was a graph of a not fit referee. Then he showed me my graph he made during the 15 minutes of the second half. It was not fit. It was not as bad as the graph of an unfit, but it was closer to that then the fit. Woke me up. So I spent the next year losing the weight. However, I spent the first couple of years even though I was refereeing the amatuers to do my maintanence on U16 boys matches. Then I did my next one on U19boys. All of those matches didn't really pose too much of a challenge. However, my next assessment I pushed myself and did it on a WPSL match. There I got a bit more challenged, so I got more feedback. Basically my level matches increased.
This was the point where I looked at other State referees. And there were two types of Grade 6 State referees. Ones that did amatuer matches and those that didn't. It was that and people who thought I was already a grade 5 that helped me decide to upgrade to grade 5.
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Looking good on paper
Well I got my final assessment paperwork in hand and with three assessments saying, "Upgrade", I have a clear path to my grade 5. Just need to do the fun run and take the written which both are done on the same date and send my paperwork in. That's it. I will then be the highest ranking referee in the city. Okay I'm not one to really toot my horn, but I have to admit that was a cool factor. As a grade 6, I'm just the longest running State referee as one has been in and out of grade and the other just got his. I think I will celebrate when the fun run is over. Beer and Pizza on me. Date and Place: TBA
In other news. Still no word on my Aunt. I know it sounds bad, but I hope when she passes it the service will not on the weekend. I'm told it's unlikely but then again, I rememeber when a friend passed at a young age her services were on the weekend. Usually doesn't bother me except I have games I need to pull out of which I would do at the drop of a hat. Just want to make it painless.
In other news. Still no word on my Aunt. I know it sounds bad, but I hope when she passes it the service will not on the weekend. I'm told it's unlikely but then again, I rememeber when a friend passed at a young age her services were on the weekend. Usually doesn't bother me except I have games I need to pull out of which I would do at the drop of a hat. Just want to make it painless.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Time marches on
Monday I dragged my heals. Basically I was depressed with my Aunt's state. Basically hanging between life and death. I wanted her to move on so she can have the peace she deserves. It is unbelieveable what she has gone through in the past year. How the hell the doctors didn't catch stage 4 cancer when it should have been caught sooner is beyond me. And around all of this is bickering. Should be a time when family comes together to celebrate what we have and who we have. Not to cause the petty shit wars I have indirectly witnessed. Breaks my heart. Sunday when I saw her, I lost it. Not in the room fortunately but one minute I'm telling my wife I didn't think I would feel a blow like this and the next moment I'm sobbing. I haven't been in contact with Sherril much during most of my adult life, but I haven't forgotten how she was there for my sister and I during the time I lost my mother and went through what I'm just going to label as shit childhood.
I saw her yesterday and before I went to visit I was working and people we calling. Wanting to know the scoop. Bearly held it together. I decided today if I was going to lose it, I might as well do it at home. So I worked from home since I was not needed in the office.
I saw her yesterday and before I went to visit I was working and people we calling. Wanting to know the scoop. Bearly held it together. I decided today if I was going to lose it, I might as well do it at home. So I worked from home since I was not needed in the office.
Monday, August 21, 2006
Weekend: From great to emotional.
Well you heard about Friday's game with Japan. That was the true highlight of my weekend. Saturday, I spent the day cleaning a good portion of the house for that night's poker game. We had 7 players. Would have like to have had 8, but 7 seems to be the lucky number on a single table game. Decided to try the re-buy option. Glad I did or it would have been an early night for me. The hand of the night. Pre-flop betting round, they just bet the minimum. I had the big blind so it didn't cost extra for me to bet. In my hand was an 87 unsuited. Flop comes and two more 7's come on the board accompanied with a Queen. I made good size bet, but Marty raised and then two other followed. I decided it was time to go all in. Marty called. I looked at him and asked, "What you have? Pocket Q's" He said, "You're not going to win this one." Christine called. That was a WTF moment. My dad calls. Major WTF moment. Cards are up. I show my three of a kind with 7s. Marty turns his up and he has a Q-8. Christine turns hers up and shows a Q-J. My dad. I'm just going to say a WTF moment! He's lost. The turn comes and I am smelling the money. On the river, the only queen left shows up. Had it not, I would have had a major huge chip lead. Instead Marty and Christine had to split the pot. Dad and I had to re buy. Good thing too. Brandon, my brother in law, had to re buy earlier. My dad eliminated him twice. Eliminated Doug too. I pretty much kept my 225 give or take a few for most of the game as I watch my dad take out 2 people for good. Then Marty took out my dad. That left us with 4. Ron, my FIL, had the least chips. I tried to take him out with an AJ suited. Unfortunately he had pocket 10's that held up. Christine whom I expected to hold out for either Ron or myself to take each other out, played aggressively. I went all in with her and doubled up. Marty finished her off. Then there was Ron. I was waiting for either Marty to finish him or the raising blinds. Turned out Marty did the job. I did a couple all ins. One won, the other he folded. I went all in and at first it seemed like I won again, but Marty pointed out he made his straight. Bad news, I didn't win. Good news I didn't win because people were wondering how my games were won in my own house. So second is good, I got a little profit and it was the same profit as i would have got had I not had to re buy.
Sunday morning I refereed a double header. First game was being assessed. I was assessed out, but turns out this guy was not bad. Didn't have much for me, but loved my offside and non offside calls. I didn't make a call which had I was assessed I wouldn't have passed an upgrade, but he never said that. Second game was a little more live as I needed to help out the center. He had to pull a few cards to keep the players in the game. Pulled a red eventually. Good calls, but mechanics could have been better.
As I drove home, I found out my Aunt was in the hospital and in a coma. She doesn't have long to live. Some of even thing she's got one foot in. I didn't even recongize her. I saw her in March and she looked good dispite the health issues. Another case where the majority of the doctors are dumb fucks. She went in and they looked at one area of problems. According to my cousin, who has been driving her in and out, she said to them the last time, "My mother is not coming home until you get find out what is truely wrong." That was when stage 4 cancer was the diagnosis. Doc's said she had 3 months to live. That was last week. Dumb fucks. My cousin Stu got a hold of me and said I needed to come ASAP because she doesn't have long to live and was given the last rites. I knew I had to go.
Sunday morning I refereed a double header. First game was being assessed. I was assessed out, but turns out this guy was not bad. Didn't have much for me, but loved my offside and non offside calls. I didn't make a call which had I was assessed I wouldn't have passed an upgrade, but he never said that. Second game was a little more live as I needed to help out the center. He had to pull a few cards to keep the players in the game. Pulled a red eventually. Good calls, but mechanics could have been better.
As I drove home, I found out my Aunt was in the hospital and in a coma. She doesn't have long to live. Some of even thing she's got one foot in. I didn't even recongize her. I saw her in March and she looked good dispite the health issues. Another case where the majority of the doctors are dumb fucks. She went in and they looked at one area of problems. According to my cousin, who has been driving her in and out, she said to them the last time, "My mother is not coming home until you get find out what is truely wrong." That was when stage 4 cancer was the diagnosis. Doc's said she had 3 months to live. That was last week. Dumb fucks. My cousin Stu got a hold of me and said I needed to come ASAP because she doesn't have long to live and was given the last rites. I knew I had to go.
Friday, August 18, 2006
A good game, but lot of room to grow.
First the good. I thought I was going to have it a little easy being AR2 and all. The teams? Mustang U19 Girls vs. the Japan Women's U19 Girls National team. I worked with one referee I am pretty familliar with and another who in my opinion needs a lot of work. Unfortunately he was the one in the center. I'm leaving the name out for obvious reasons.
Mustang U19 Girls. Led by Coach John Doyle, former assistant coach of the San Jose Earthquakes.
Japan. My Japanese as limited as it was, I was able to aay "Hi how are you?" The caption during the internation walk on was pretty impressed and it got some of them smiling. It's amazing what little things do.
Mustang pressed on the attack. The good thing? They got more goals. Bad thing, they were called offside alot.
Japan had the meanest offside trap I have ever seen in my career as a referee. I mean they would pull up at the last moment before the pass and the Mustang girls got dumbfounded. Problem was the trap was too relied on and the got scored against twice.
The center who was supposed to be a State sure didn't referee like one. Made a bunch of error that should have been cleared up at the 4 assessments to get to state. Blowing the whistle to signal a goal is not a mechanic a state referee does. Stopping the clock on a PK is not a mechanic a state referee does. Lack of eye contact was the last one, and had it been followed, the players should not have had to yell sub.
Otherwise it was a great and exciting game. Pic to come soon.
Mustang U19 Girls. Led by Coach John Doyle, former assistant coach of the San Jose Earthquakes.
Japan. My Japanese as limited as it was, I was able to aay "Hi how are you?" The caption during the internation walk on was pretty impressed and it got some of them smiling. It's amazing what little things do.
Mustang pressed on the attack. The good thing? They got more goals. Bad thing, they were called offside alot.
Japan had the meanest offside trap I have ever seen in my career as a referee. I mean they would pull up at the last moment before the pass and the Mustang girls got dumbfounded. Problem was the trap was too relied on and the got scored against twice.
The center who was supposed to be a State sure didn't referee like one. Made a bunch of error that should have been cleared up at the 4 assessments to get to state. Blowing the whistle to signal a goal is not a mechanic a state referee does. Stopping the clock on a PK is not a mechanic a state referee does. Lack of eye contact was the last one, and had it been followed, the players should not have had to yell sub.
Otherwise it was a great and exciting game. Pic to come soon.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Integrity
I'm doing my quarterly poker tourney this Saturday and I have people on a huge list that I regularly invite. Naturally it's unrealistic to expect that everyone on the list will attend. This time it's due to summer trips mostly. Seemed like the poker tourney when I bought the poker table was the best because we had a good number of people which mean the prize money was huge for first, second and third place players. 12 players with a 20 dollar buy in will do that. After that I've only been able to get 1 tables worth. Plus side is it doesn't take as long. Down side is the prize pool isn't so high.
Other problem is I won the last two tourney's I throw. No... I do not rig the deck. I always to keep everyone, including me honest without questions is to start with a new wrapped deck. When the host present an unwrapped deck where the host is going to sit at the table, you're asking for trouble if you happen to place in the money. I do this regardless how much they trust me. So with the problem of winning twice, people think twice about playing me. I know if I win the next time, I'm going to have a bigger problem. So I will personally be happy if I place 2nd or 3rd.
Another problem I face is flakes. People who say they are showing up and then back out at the last minute. It hasn't damaged any games I have thrown to bad, but it does affect the other players. Last game one, bailed out and it nearly damaged the game except The first place wasn't so high and I won it so all in all, I wasn't too bothered except for the fact she did it. This time she says yes with a, "I'm going to do my best to make it." Then yesterday says, "Please forgive me if I don't show." WTF? Needless to say if she doesn't show, she will be off my list for good. I would rather get a definite no or if they were not sure, have them put themselves on the Waiting list (I do this by Evite). Then I don't count on them and if the seats are filling up fast they get notice to make up their mind or risk losing a seat. At least everyone knows where they stand. If I say, "Are you coming yes or no?" then you are going to have flakes, who bail at the last minute. Get enough of them and what you thought was a game of 8 turns into a game of 5. Which could mean it has to be a winner take all or a 60-40 ratio which is not high, but at least two people walk away with a profit. However, if I know enough people are not interested, I can cancel the event and not waste people's time.
Other problem is I won the last two tourney's I throw. No... I do not rig the deck. I always to keep everyone, including me honest without questions is to start with a new wrapped deck. When the host present an unwrapped deck where the host is going to sit at the table, you're asking for trouble if you happen to place in the money. I do this regardless how much they trust me. So with the problem of winning twice, people think twice about playing me. I know if I win the next time, I'm going to have a bigger problem. So I will personally be happy if I place 2nd or 3rd.
Another problem I face is flakes. People who say they are showing up and then back out at the last minute. It hasn't damaged any games I have thrown to bad, but it does affect the other players. Last game one, bailed out and it nearly damaged the game except The first place wasn't so high and I won it so all in all, I wasn't too bothered except for the fact she did it. This time she says yes with a, "I'm going to do my best to make it." Then yesterday says, "Please forgive me if I don't show." WTF? Needless to say if she doesn't show, she will be off my list for good. I would rather get a definite no or if they were not sure, have them put themselves on the Waiting list (I do this by Evite). Then I don't count on them and if the seats are filling up fast they get notice to make up their mind or risk losing a seat. At least everyone knows where they stand. If I say, "Are you coming yes or no?" then you are going to have flakes, who bail at the last minute. Get enough of them and what you thought was a game of 8 turns into a game of 5. Which could mean it has to be a winner take all or a 60-40 ratio which is not high, but at least two people walk away with a profit. However, if I know enough people are not interested, I can cancel the event and not waste people's time.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Teaching
I love to teach. I mean I really love that I have an outlet to pass on my knowledge and experiences to potentially new referees. I have done more then my average number of classes this year and it was basically time and support from my family that gave me this opportunity. Normally I do 2 a year on average. Sometimes 3. This time I did 4 and I have to tell you, I hit my wall. The last class I finished was the best one of them all. 18 students and they are animated as I was. The were a pleasure and there was class participation. It was also the only class I had where I didn't have to schedule make ups because they all passed with the minimum. I didn't even have to talk some though because they were short by a couple questions.
Last night's class was a total contrast. 8 people. Had one kid who made a horrible attempt to be a class clown. Hopefully he scores better then he is funny. Either case, Van is doing the field session and I think I have taught my last class of the year. My daughter is starting soccer and my attention needs to be shifted to that. So that is less time for classes and all the excuse I need not to do anymore. Not that I need any, but truth is I have done more then my fair share compared to most. Especially since 2.5 of my classes where by myself. Time for the other long list of instructors to step it up.
Last night's class was a total contrast. 8 people. Had one kid who made a horrible attempt to be a class clown. Hopefully he scores better then he is funny. Either case, Van is doing the field session and I think I have taught my last class of the year. My daughter is starting soccer and my attention needs to be shifted to that. So that is less time for classes and all the excuse I need not to do anymore. Not that I need any, but truth is I have done more then my fair share compared to most. Especially since 2.5 of my classes where by myself. Time for the other long list of instructors to step it up.
Sunday, August 13, 2006
No guts, no glory.
Before I get into the meaning of my topic, I will just briefly go over the weekend. Saturday my family left for Fresno for my niece's birthday party. Why did I stay behind? We'll it's a bit complicated, but let's just say it had to do with promises, commitments, and basically trapped into promises, even if my end of the bargain was killed beyond my control. Or anyone else involved in my commitments. As a result I was free to take a grade 9 class to teach. Which I did. Tuesday night was the classroom session and Saturday was the field session and test. I had a good involved class which made my night fun. At the end of the test, I had a first and that was I didn't have to talk anyone through questions and all had passed. Must mean my teaching has improved, although, I noted there was a question on the test everyone missed. Looking at the answer, I can see why. Still everyone passed the first time around.
I came home after a long morning an early afternoon and took a nap. I then get a call when I expect it to be my wife telling me she has arrived, it was John with a plea for me to take a 2nd AR spot on a CPSA game. He must have been desparate because it's not like him these day to put someone back to back. Through other referees, I know John took my injuries as a consideration.
So the moment of truth is almost here. I did the first game and found out that sucking down a GU energy boost 15 minutes prior to a match and washing it with a bottle of water really gives you a good boost. Of course I had my left over pasta and fiber one before I left the house. I had a good game, but I had to call the referee Ziad and have him book a player because he would not shut up when it came to my offside calls which was a lot. He said, "Give me a fucking break." on one of my calls and I almost responded, "Give me a fucking break and stay onside." He got booked none the less.
2nd game is where it happens. Teams are Concordia SC and Mezcala. Mezcala and I have a history and it's usually not a good one. I have 4 red cards with their name on them in my career. I was just the AR. Needless to say, I had to get involved in this one. I was working with Siad Ravenfar, whom is always a pleasure to work with. As a Concordia player entered the penalty box, he was in between two players and looked like he was going to be sandwiched. Next second I saw the one Mezcala player on the goal side grab a fist full of jersey and shorts and pulled him down. I think I saw the player's underwear. I flagged the foul and went straight to the corner. Siad went to talk to me because as I flagged it, he pointed to the other direction. He went to me and I told him my version. He went with the PK. Concorida scored and the keeper was livid. He said to me, "It's always you! No matter what it's always you screwing us!" He got booked finally after the goal when he did a few more outbursts, but it was clear I was not very popular with 50% of the crowd for that call. But I will sleep good at night knowing I had the courage to make the call. For the record, Siad thought the Concorida player was taking a dive and was about the make a huge mistake as it would have been the second caution. There was no way he would have seen the shirt grab from his angle.
I came home after a long morning an early afternoon and took a nap. I then get a call when I expect it to be my wife telling me she has arrived, it was John with a plea for me to take a 2nd AR spot on a CPSA game. He must have been desparate because it's not like him these day to put someone back to back. Through other referees, I know John took my injuries as a consideration.
So the moment of truth is almost here. I did the first game and found out that sucking down a GU energy boost 15 minutes prior to a match and washing it with a bottle of water really gives you a good boost. Of course I had my left over pasta and fiber one before I left the house. I had a good game, but I had to call the referee Ziad and have him book a player because he would not shut up when it came to my offside calls which was a lot. He said, "Give me a fucking break." on one of my calls and I almost responded, "Give me a fucking break and stay onside." He got booked none the less.
2nd game is where it happens. Teams are Concordia SC and Mezcala. Mezcala and I have a history and it's usually not a good one. I have 4 red cards with their name on them in my career. I was just the AR. Needless to say, I had to get involved in this one. I was working with Siad Ravenfar, whom is always a pleasure to work with. As a Concordia player entered the penalty box, he was in between two players and looked like he was going to be sandwiched. Next second I saw the one Mezcala player on the goal side grab a fist full of jersey and shorts and pulled him down. I think I saw the player's underwear. I flagged the foul and went straight to the corner. Siad went to talk to me because as I flagged it, he pointed to the other direction. He went to me and I told him my version. He went with the PK. Concorida scored and the keeper was livid. He said to me, "It's always you! No matter what it's always you screwing us!" He got booked finally after the goal when he did a few more outbursts, but it was clear I was not very popular with 50% of the crowd for that call. But I will sleep good at night knowing I had the courage to make the call. For the record, Siad thought the Concorida player was taking a dive and was about the make a huge mistake as it would have been the second caution. There was no way he would have seen the shirt grab from his angle.
Friday, August 11, 2006
Red cards
I don't have much to say this friday, except happy friday. I'll leave you soccer buffs this video of all red card offenses. Turn sound down like I did if you don't like the rap music. 2:44pm Okay I have one thing to say. I passed but it was a bittersweet victory. So much I'm almost certain this is my final stop. We'll see what the next two years bring. It was brought to my attention this was the worst year as far as upgrading goes because I missed quite a bit as a result going on in other aspects in my family life like the fact I'm definitely missing nearly every youth tournament as a result, missed some big gatherings, got injured, sick, and in some aspects jerked around whether it was intentional or not. Fortunately I had enough people in my corner and I honestly think it made a difference this time. Yes it will be a nerve racking year next year, but I at least know what is coming. Do I want to go into full pro? It was simple when I had hardly any responsibilities. Now I have 3 people depending on me financially, emotionally, and otherwise that I missed in my job description. This year in the center of an NPSL match which is the highest level I have reffed in the middle, I was adequate, but with a lot of room for improvement. If that is my game now, think what my game would be like in the MLS. I would get lynched. | |
Thursday, August 10, 2006
The waiting game
I checked my email this morning. I finally got something but yet it leaves me to question. I still don't know if I passed or not. He said it was border line. Did I pass or did I not? I'm getting to a point where I'm about to go off on him which is a bad idea before you get the paperwork or the final word of pass/fail. I've only been doing the level of play for the last 4 years. I'm supposed to call him today and then I hope I get a definite pass or fail. The suspense is killing me.
1:33pm It's a pass, but I'll be under scruteny for the next year. Without going too much into it because it was mentally draining to say at the least, I have the hammer and saw, I just need to put more use to them. More detail then that will cost you a Sam's.
1:33pm It's a pass, but I'll be under scruteny for the next year. Without going too much into it because it was mentally draining to say at the least, I have the hammer and saw, I just need to put more use to them. More detail then that will cost you a Sam's.
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Happy hump day
So what's going on today? The goalkeeper from the SFSFL who was arrested on the field, has been cleared of any wrong doing according to prosecution. Must be a huge relief for the 19 year, for a couple days, he was probably wondering what his future would be like, if he threw his life away.
Still waiting on the assessment report to see if I passed or not. The more I wait, the more it pisses me off, wondering if this weekend will be worth something. I'm pretty much assessed out.
Today has been a long day at work. A lot of stupid things are making production a lot more tougher then it should be. There has to be a better way.
Lastly, I managed to get the RSS feeds working so my 360 site is getting my blogger feeds for my friends in 360.
Still waiting on the assessment report to see if I passed or not. The more I wait, the more it pisses me off, wondering if this weekend will be worth something. I'm pretty much assessed out.
Today has been a long day at work. A lot of stupid things are making production a lot more tougher then it should be. There has to be a better way.
Lastly, I managed to get the RSS feeds working so my 360 site is getting my blogger feeds for my friends in 360.
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Lost in space
I'm still waiting for some inlink to whether I passed or not. Last time I had to wait like this was pure torture. It will be the difference between full speed ahead or feel like when I was doing hurdles in high school and took a spill bigtime.
Second issue of the moment is waiting for Dublin's league to get information out to the coaches on what players we got this year. Of course my daughter and her friend are going to be on the same team because of my friend and I who will be coaching. There is supposedly a coaches meeting tonight, but I have not heard anything directly mean it always starts with "I think...." Nothing on their web page. There is a board meeting I plan to sit at. I have a couple of things with the way the classes ran and the fact nobody has done any scheduling for the tournament at the end of the month. Of course I won't be able to do Saturday due to a CPSA match that night. I'm hoping I'm not on the SFSFL list for the following Sunday so I can do games for them on Sunday. I'm keeping an eye out.
11:21pm I just got wind that the game I was scheduled to be assessed on was cancelled. I now have to see if my other AR game can get an assessor on it. Paula's pissed and rightfully so. Not so much for sympathy for me, but for the family and my missing another family event due to a screw up. Still have heard nothing regarding last Sunday's match. Talked to Van and he said I would have to really screw up to lose this assessment. Seems like everyone has confidence on my game except for the man who's opinion I have to rely on the most.
Monday, August 07, 2006
The Ultimate Red Card
Sunday I show up for my game at Beach Chalet. No sooner as I get there my colleagues are dying to tell me the new about a Celtic goalkeeper who was arrested on a fatal hit and run. When told the story, they said it was a pedestrian he hit. My first thought was, "Well he was stupid to run because he made a very bad situation into a worse one." Of course since I do know the goalkeeper he's been on the receiving end of my yellow card a few times naturally I was curious to see if he was as dumb as they say. I found a news clip that poked several holes in that story and actually can give him a good defense or at least a lighter sentence.
Well I didn't have to worry about that for very long because I had my assessment to worry about. My first game back after a month long injury looks like I favored one muscle over the other. My groin muscle acted up in the second half. I survived the match with 5 yellows. I dealt with time wasting, but according to the assessor I only got one player for persistant infrindgment. I'm not so sure if I agree with that. For instance the assessor had a mad on for #7 but after the last hard foul, I kept an eye out for him and didn't find him to be anymore of a threat. That was the true big thing. The second was my foul selection. He said he was going to do the points and get back to me by wednsday. Hopefully this would be all for the centers and after next weekend I will have nothing more to worry assessment wise, but just focus on the fitness test and written test which should be somewhat of a cake walk after all I have been through.
Well I didn't have to worry about that for very long because I had my assessment to worry about. My first game back after a month long injury looks like I favored one muscle over the other. My groin muscle acted up in the second half. I survived the match with 5 yellows. I dealt with time wasting, but according to the assessor I only got one player for persistant infrindgment. I'm not so sure if I agree with that. For instance the assessor had a mad on for #7 but after the last hard foul, I kept an eye out for him and didn't find him to be anymore of a threat. That was the true big thing. The second was my foul selection. He said he was going to do the points and get back to me by wednsday. Hopefully this would be all for the centers and after next weekend I will have nothing more to worry assessment wise, but just focus on the fitness test and written test which should be somewhat of a cake walk after all I have been through.
Friday, August 04, 2006
Laser Tag today
Yes you read it right. Today we have a company sponsored event where our "team building" session will be settle with laser tag. It's at a place I have never heard of before in mountain view. Only sucky thing I can see is I'm leaving even later which mean traffic is going to be a bitch. Wonder what to do for dinner tonight. After a couple of days at home, things again change. I find I have a queue dedicated to me...well sort of. The initials are GP. Will put a pic on when I get it. It actually stand for something else which I can't divulge into too much into. It will cost you a Sam's.
Being sick did have it's advantages. I lost some weight. Which is good since I have been off track on the CK plan. I'm only 2 pounds over what I should be. Funny part is I stepped away from the scale for the first time since my journey for a month. I thought I would fail miserably. Turned out I came ahead. I mean I ate when I was sick, but my appetite wasn't huge. However the pounds I have to carry this Sunday is not too big a concern and checking myself in the mirror I wasn't too disappointed either this morning. Just a couple of places I would like to improve.
Don't ever trim your beard and then try to blend it with your hair with your glasses or contact out. It will not look good. I think I might get my haircut tomorrow. It's due anyway and she might be able to fix the mess I made.
I've found with the new camera a few things. You don't always want to use auto flash. Taking shots of Marlena as she was ice skating, it was better to turn off the flash then to leave it on. In dark areas, when shooting at light like my display board for calls in the queue, leave the auto flash off. The pictures I take are in higher quality, but take up more disk space. This means I could only fill the month of June on a CD when taking pictures. This means I'm going to have to reconsider my archiving methods. I took an HP online course on beyond point and shoot, which has taught me a few tricks. I was just getting the hang of performing action shots with Marlena free skating and boom, she takes a fall and bumps her noggin. No concussion, but I have noticed she has toughened up the last year and bounces back. Yes she has a sense of danger, but at 3 she wanted to climb one of those rock climbing models.
Happy Friday. And for those who think beauty pageants are boring check this out.
Miss Universe Pageant - Miss France Headbutts Miss Italy
10:35pm. Laser tag was fun. I took the sniper stance which made it real easy to pick off players.
Being sick did have it's advantages. I lost some weight. Which is good since I have been off track on the CK plan. I'm only 2 pounds over what I should be. Funny part is I stepped away from the scale for the first time since my journey for a month. I thought I would fail miserably. Turned out I came ahead. I mean I ate when I was sick, but my appetite wasn't huge. However the pounds I have to carry this Sunday is not too big a concern and checking myself in the mirror I wasn't too disappointed either this morning. Just a couple of places I would like to improve.
Don't ever trim your beard and then try to blend it with your hair with your glasses or contact out. It will not look good. I think I might get my haircut tomorrow. It's due anyway and she might be able to fix the mess I made.
I've found with the new camera a few things. You don't always want to use auto flash. Taking shots of Marlena as she was ice skating, it was better to turn off the flash then to leave it on. In dark areas, when shooting at light like my display board for calls in the queue, leave the auto flash off. The pictures I take are in higher quality, but take up more disk space. This means I could only fill the month of June on a CD when taking pictures. This means I'm going to have to reconsider my archiving methods. I took an HP online course on beyond point and shoot, which has taught me a few tricks. I was just getting the hang of performing action shots with Marlena free skating and boom, she takes a fall and bumps her noggin. No concussion, but I have noticed she has toughened up the last year and bounces back. Yes she has a sense of danger, but at 3 she wanted to climb one of those rock climbing models.
Happy Friday. And for those who think beauty pageants are boring check this out.
Miss Universe Pageant - Miss France Headbutts Miss Italy
10:35pm. Laser tag was fun. I took the sniper stance which made it real easy to pick off players.
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Feeling better today.
But staying home and working from home. I figure I can make all the vick rubbing, nose blowing, humidifiing here where I'm not disturbing my cubicle neighbors.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Feeling miserable today
Came home with a runny nose and my eyes watering non-stop. Staying home today to see if I can exercise this from me. Bad enough I have an assessment coming up this sunday. Not the best time to get sick.
In soccer news, it looks like I will get assessed for sure this Sunday and the possibility of the following sunday provided I do good. I know I can call it, but I'm hoping I can keep up with play without hang ups. I really am starting to be concerned.
In soccer news, it looks like I will get assessed for sure this Sunday and the possibility of the following sunday provided I do good. I know I can call it, but I'm hoping I can keep up with play without hang ups. I really am starting to be concerned.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
My new brain exercise
In the last couple of weeks I have discovered Sudoku which exercises the brain. I now usually play at least one puzzle a day. Even my daughter has gotten into it which I think would be good for the long run. See this link for the reason why. After playing a couple of my wife's puzzles I went a little crazy before the trip and bought a lot of puzzle books, which is keeping Paula busy. I discovered websudoku which it my personal preference but she doesn't like it because she can't do her process of elimination. Forgot to mention. On Websudoku, the other thing she doesn't like is you have a "how I'm doing" button which to her is grand scale cheating. For me, it's desparation if you don't want to guess.
In other news, I got a major division game this Sunday and am in the process of getting an assessment. Hopefully this one will go well. If it does, it will make the hunt for an AR assessment easier for I will have more time to do that one.
In other news, I got a major division game this Sunday and am in the process of getting an assessment. Hopefully this one will go well. If it does, it will make the hunt for an AR assessment easier for I will have more time to do that one.
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