U19 girls class 4 match was competitive

Not competitive for if I were being assessed it would count. But in the girl's eyes it was. My AR's whom I choose not to name could have been much better. Here's why. Call them pet peeves if you must:

1. The game of soccer requires the referee to show up 30 minutes prior to kick off. This will give ample time to check teams in, give a good and proper pregame. Any less, it diminishes the integrity of the pregame, the inspection, and so forth. I did a rushed job in checking the teams in and as a result I had to send one off (no red card) to correct the equipment.

2. It is really sad when the center (that was me) can beat both AR's in a sprint to the goal line considering they should have more than a head start on me. Yeah I'm in good shape, but there is no excuse for not being able to do this on more than one occasion. Needless to say I bailed them out on a couple what could have been real controversial calls. Basically I denied a wide open goal shot because it went over the goal line on my side. No flag. Had to replay the scene in my head (quickly) and realized it was the right call when nobody complained it was a bad call. They did complain on the lateness of the call. Anyway, I am glad I was on top of my game because they were not on theirs.

First half was interesting because I seemed to have been making a lot of calls against the white team. Problem is they were doing all the fouling, I had to really look for red to commit anything. Funny thing was at half time the white captain came to me and asked me to watch #13 red because she was holding. I said, I would look out for it. I did. She didn't. Her worst crime was getting to close to a player without touching.

Your Values Profile

Loyalty: You value loyalty a fair amount. You're loyal to your friends... to a point. But if they cross you, you will reconsider your loyalties. Staying true to others is important to you, but you also stay true to yourself. Honesty: You value honesty a fair amount. You're honest when you can be, but you aren't a stickler for it. If a little white lie will make a situation more comfortable, you'll go for it. In the end, you mostly care about "situational integrity." Generosity: You value generosity a fair amount. You are all about giving, as long as there's some give and take. Supportive and kind, you don't mind helping out a friend in need. But you know when you've given too much. You have no problem saying "no"! Humility: You value humility a fair amount. You tend to be an easy going, humble person. But occasionally your ego takes over. You have a slight competitive streak - and the need to be the best. Tolerance: You value tolerance a fair amount. You are open to new cultures, beliefs, and ideas. You have very few prejudices that you're aware of. And while you are tolerant, you do stand true to what you believe.

The Five Factor Values Test

Not enough hours in a day....

...and even if I do have more time, I'm too exhusted to do anything. This week is a busy week between Marlena's schedule, my wife's schedule and whatever I fill in when I get home from work. Work has been busy with training up the yin yang.

Had practice with the Cheetah Girls last night and it's been touch and go. I have one player in particular who cries when she doesn't get her way. I finally had to tell her, "I'm not your mother, I'm your coach. Crying is not going to get far with me." I can see she "told on me" to her mother, but I didn't hear a thing of it. I wonder how many other coaches deal with the fact they sometimes need to be tough on their players, but then have to deal with the wrath of the parents. I haven't experienced it yet, but I know it will come soon.

I have an U19 boys match which should prove fun. When it comes to coaches I'm not showing much tolerance for dissent with them in the youth ranks.

Cheetah Girls trailed the Wildcats

It was a very well played game between the two teams. I really didn't expect to win, but I didn't also expect the score to be just 1-0 either. It was a midfield game. Our goalkeepers in the first have did great. I unfortunately was talking to the girls and had my back turned for the next events because we got scored on. According to Rudy it was a bad restart that went against us. Important thing is the players had fun and some of them seem to improve every game I see them in. I have one in particular who took charge of the midfield. She was playing hard so in my book, she earned the right to play the entire match if she so desired. However, she needed a recharge so I subbed her out until I needed her. I can't honestly remember if I put her back in or not. I probably didn't just to make sure everyone got some playing time.
Another played half goal keeper and the other half attacking. She did great in both, but her wind in her sails ran shorter so I wound up subbing her, but I utilized her quite some time. She was the second to earn the right to play the full game. There was a third, but since everyone was there, She missed at least 25%.
Next on the agenda is scoring. Too much hesitation by the time the get in the net. My CPSA game got cancelled so the good news was I could relax. Bad news is I could have been doing a tournament today. Holloween, I will do a tournament.

Oh happy happy day a Friday can be.

Why is today better then others? I truly don't have a great answer. Just wanted to catch your eye. But here are a few things I am celebrating for:

1. As of yesterday I have 15 poker players on for the poker tournament. That means there is only one spot left. It will be by far my biggest tournament if I manage to fill that up. Thanks to an uncle for requesting I give several weeks notice. I didn't think it would fill up so quickly.

2. I went to Marlena's ice skating yesterday. She is really coming along. She's skating much faster which is really good for me to work on my speed photography. She is also doing the one legged skating which she had so much difficulty last session seems to be a pro on this one. Unfortunately her friend who is in the next session up on her tried to rain on her parade. However, Marlena has a good proverbial umbrella and wasn't swayed by that comment. She was still riding high. That is enough for me to be proud of her.

3. It's Friday

4. Marlena is going to get a uniform that fits. Too bad picture day was already there. Bad soccer league...Bad!

I was having a quick chat with a friend of our family at the Ice rink. She brought to my attention that none of her kids were placed on a team. She has several kids. (no she doesn't live in a shoe) Her paperwork slipped through the cracks and instead of making it up for them, she just got dropped. She also had not got her money back. Bad soccer league, bad! While I have respect for what the board members do behind the scenes, I don't think this board planned ahead when they did a hostile take over during the AGM. I have yet to get together with Andy to hear his story on the take over. It was like they came, they took over, they got their seats, then it was like....ummmm now what?

Poker tourney building up

I have been organizing tournaments for almost a year now. I have made some mistakes when I do, but more importantly I try to learn from them so the next one is better. Before we were able to get an 8 person tournament. They were fun, but I always seemed to be shy one or two players. On the other hand, most people tell me they have a great time. That's usually what keeps me having one every 3 months. My uncle (in law) mentioned had he got enough notice he could take time off to do the tournament. Then it dawned on me, maybe that would get others to jump on. Well this move seems to work with a vengeance because there is over a month of time before the poker game and I have 10 players as of this morning. I need to place a call to the "low tech" gang to give them a shot.

I read a Landon Donovan article which gives a much more intelligent analysis of his performance since he graduated from the soccer academy.

I went to my local Subway for lunch. There was a notice that there are no spinich products in the place due to the Ecoli outbreak. They are all looking for the reason behind it. Me? I think it is Bluto's revenge on Popeye. Rememeber, no more spinich, no more Popeye.

Patience is a virtue.....

.........that I seemed to checked at my door when I left my house to go to my U8 girls soccer practice. Rudy was under the weather and I was not prepared to do a solo act on practice. Was hard to coach and check on players when we did passing drills. Tried a scrimmage so I can try people in different positions I would have never dreamed of. That was good in the sense know who not to put in goal. Girls were having trouble listening. It got to a point I made them run a lap for not paying attention. One of the dads came to me at the end of the game and liked the fact I did that, but added, "I'm not sure how the women felt about it." Well considering after the first game we were accused of not running them enough, it works for me. My wife thinks I was a bit hard on myself.
I think after a weekend of stern talking and toughing up against players and coaches I forgot to pull back the reigns a bit with my own girls.
Wednesday will be another day. This time I need to be prepared for a duo act as well as a solo act.

In other news, my daughter scored 100% on her first spelling test. It seems like Marlena has done a complete 180 on her school work, other then motivating herself to do it, when she does do it, I find myself not having to correct her very much. Did I mention she scored 100% on her spelling test? Yes...I was a proud papa!

Played in a poker tournament until late last night, ranking 37 out of 906. I won some money, but I have to say, my heart wasn't in it anymore after deciding to call an all-in with a K-J suited.

Eventful Soccer Weekend

I spent Friday night training my daughter for the defender's spot while I also trained her in the forward. The head coach said she was ready for forward. I begged to differ so I kept her in forward for the first half. She barely got touches on the ball. As a defender, she was in it completely. We're not supposed to keep score, but I can tell you all the coaches did and we won 2-1. But it wasn't mean spirited as last week. Where last week, we could have used a referee, this week, the referee wasn't needed. My line up in the meditation room seemed to have paid off. It was a spur of the moment idea.

I reffed an U15 girls in Danville. Leaving names out, I'm just going to say that red was playing blue and it was supposed to be silent Saturday. That lasted 25 minutes as the parents bitched and a coach from blue bitched. I wound up cautioning 9 for persistent infringement. I was going by Robert Evans' prescription of how to read PI and number 9 made 3 fouls in the first half, two of them in a 2 minute time span and both occasions with her bitching at me. First time I just told her off. Second time I was going to talk about it being her 3 foul, but then she opened her mouth, so I decided this would be PI and if I wound up sending her off, would add the misconduct of dissent in the the report. Fortunately after the card, she was on her best behavior. The San Ramon coach was still going at it. Mind you I hear worse at the SFSFL so this really didn't bother me that much. However, this is a youth match and CYSA has a zero tolerance. Also would be doing the next referee a favor. Also wound up cautioning the red coach after an injury, he decided to confront me rather then take care of his player. I told him he was in my book and if he doesn't tend to his player, I'll find another coach on the staff to do so. Both cautions shut them up though and I pretty much had control for the rest of the match.

Sunday was a morning game, U16 Girls, San Ramon vs. Pleasanton. It was a better game for I didn't have any problems I couldn't shut down in a heartbeat. It was pretty even in the first half, but in the second half, Pleasanton had a slight hill advantage which made the ball roll faster. The real catalyst was when I gave a free kick 30 yards out and she kicked it through a wall and it rolled past 2 defenders and the goalkeeper. The common question on both teams was, "What just happened?" Several more goals came about and Pleasanton won 7-0. I added 3 minutes of stoppage not so Pleasanton would rub it in some more, but so if San Ramon had scored one goal, it could make all the difference in the long run in the standings. Had San Ramon not wanted to play and voiced it, I would have called the game right at 40.

Took Marlena out to ride her bike. We're trying to get her to ride enough so we can get her training wheels off. She's not comfortable, but she didn't notice I raise the wheels to the max.

Friday, Wierd Friday

It's only 6:30am in the morning. How can it get so weird? Well I started off in the Starbucks in Fremont and the guy who rings me up looks and shakes like he's already had too much of the stuff he is brewing. Then I overhear two others on how one guy closes and doesn't do the caramel the "Starbucks" way. Like give me a break. I'm staying with my local.

I go to take a gander in our news and Steve Irwin's memorial sold out in 15 minutes. WTF? Are people that insane? What happened to memorials are there to celebrate the life of the individual who passed?

In other news, I went to the DUSL board meeting last night. Exceeded my expectations. The president of the board knows how to run a meeting and did a good job of it. I got to address my issues which were well received. Apparently my reputation as a referee paid off because they bounced things off of me most of the night. It also helped that I knew half of the board, outside the board, and the other half knew me by name. I don't expect change to happen by this weekend, but perhaps the following weekend will be a different story. It also helps that they have shared with me that I am not the only one to complain, but my reputation and my willingness to come to them and address the issue meant a lot.

While the board is pretty new (There are still a couple of old hands there), they seem very willing to learn from mistakes.

Funny thing though was when I got there, the president said it would be a short meeting, but then other board members showed up and and the short meeting was 3 hours long. If I remember reading other things, they were usually an hour long. My wife when she woke me up with a noise briefly asked me how the meeting went and if I felt better. I said I did. I think she expected me to be confrontational, and I may have felt like doing so, but I and everyone has to remember, this is an organization ran by volunteers who have families. I sat and listened and one of them coaches two teams, sits on the board, referees, and it still stepping up to do more. There were similar ones there as well. One of them even earned my respect back, though he is unaware he even lost it or re-earned it.

I'm a Frat Boy now.

I few days earlier, my friend and mentor asked me for my mailing address. I was intrigued, but I figured there was a new event out of state or a league. Yesterday I found a package in my mailbox addressed to me, from my friend's town of residence. Now I am really curious. I open it and I find a two paged note on top. I have been inducted into a fraternity called the W.C.Y.W.S (West Coast Yellow Whistle Society). If I didn't know better I thought he was completely serious. The letter was so official, it was hard not to take it serious, but at the same time, you were chuckling at the same time. Since I am at work I forgot the letter. I was going to scan and OCR it so I can paste what it said. So I'm just going to summarize. Only a few (8 members) are in this fraternity. This is because our achievements in refereeing. I thought this was real in the sense because I am upgrading to a Grade 5. Well I saw the list of "brothers" and I know that isn't the case, but truth is it put a smile on my face.





So...the rules of the W.C.Y.W.S (I scanned and OCRed)

WEST COAST YELLOW WHISTLE SOCIETY

CONGRATULATIONS, you have been selected as a charter member of
this exclusive fraternity. YOU were selected as a member, not only
because of your dedication to the most popular sport in the world, but
also because you have fulfilled the expectations of your closest friends.
Your dedication and involvement has helped you climb the ladder of
higher recognition. You are no longer performing the minimal duties of a
beginning Referee. But you have excelled as a Referee who desires to
perform at his best ability. You started in the youth program and have
advanced to the Amateur Divisions, High School and College programs.
You have excelled I!
As part of your on-going recognition, you have been bestowed the
position of Charter Member, of this 'Dark Side' Fraternity, BE PROUD !I
BUT, this also beings additional responsibilities. You must follow these
guidelines. If you do not, the Society will strip you of your 'charter
member' status. You will no longer be invited to participate with the
'crew'. And, you will not be recognized for future programs involving the
Society .
First, you must use the YELLOW whistle only when you wear the 60LD
referee jersey. YOU must also use the BLUE whistle with the BLUE
referee jersey and the RED whistle with the RED jersey.
Second, you must support your fellow brothers in their efforts to
officiate as a Referee or Asst. Referee. Remembering that, according
To 'Law 5, the decision of the Referee is the correct decision based on
hidher angle of view. If the Referee is close to play and viewing play,
he/she has the best view to make the decision. If the A/R is in that
position,, the Referee should support the A/R decision, if so director
in the pre-game discussion.

Third, when at a tournament, the Charter Member who first gives a
'Red Card', including 2 yellows (hard or soft), will purchase the first
round of drinks that evening at dinner for all members of the Society.
Fourth, at that same tournament, if the a Charter Member gives more
then one 'Red Card', that member will purchase a round of 'coffee or
tea' for all the members. Now, we get home safe and are able to be on
the field at 8:00 AM the next morning without 'morning sickness'.
If you have any questions, you can find the answers in the current
edition of "Advice to Referees". OR, ask another Oark Side member.
You will be sure that he will tell you 'all he knows' about the subject.
BUT, do not ask a 'player', his opinion has been distorted and does not
meet the intent of the law, as WE interpret it.
REMEMBER - According to Law 5, "In the opinion of the Referee".
We will live and/or die on that fact I!!
Charter Membership includes:

For the love of the game I
The Membership Committee
P.S. -
The Society will be glad to replace your whistle if it becomes
permanently miss-located. All you need to do is justify your continuing
membership, and adherence to the guidelines to the current committee
Chairman. The 'Chair' will replace your lost item.
For your information, we also have a 'Mid-West' Chapter, so
please support that membership.

Ahhhhhhhhghh

I did an AB workout on Monday. Today is Wednesday and they still hurt like hell. I know, no pain, no gain, but this is extreme don't you think? Just learned a new AB stretch so I'll see if that helps alleviate the pain. No wonder those new to exercise quit easily. Exercise isn't new to me, but once I get out of the mode to exercise, it's hard to get back in.
Finally we get fun run schedules and my worst nightmare sort of comes true. First fun run is on the weekend of the one I promised my wife I wouldn't schedule anything. One, it's my son's birthday. Oh it's at 7:15am. I wouldn't worry about that much except now I have approximately 2 weeks to cram and train. And it's on a Saturday. Hello, can you say soccer games? Then there is one I can do which is in mid October. That's fine unless the location of TBA would be more like TBC(to be canceled). If that were to happen then I have to stay home during thanksgiving weekend (well come to think of it, I could still go down south for the actual turkey day and then go home on Friday), but it would still suck and I remember upgrading to grade 7 when I went to a fun run and found out it would canceled and I had to miss my Niece's birthday party. Anyway, I hope things pan out as planned or I will be pretty jaded.

I do venture to CK on occasion to either comment on a post or just entertain myself by reading a bit of fluff, but the one question that has been popping in my head. Where the hell is Butch? I understand he hasn't been around lately. It's kind of what Melissa told me a couple years back on CK's plans. It's no longer Butch's forum. It's the off topic forum, which isn't really the same thing. I could just call. What's he gonna say to me? F-U. Well maybe, but with affection. CKers it's an inside joke with us.

Cuts....

After labor day weekend I decided to make a significant cut in the household. I decided not to bring alcohol home for 2 months. Why? Well I'm in good shape, but I have to confess since the birth of my son, my physical fitness it not at the top like it used to be, so I am making changes.
I tell you this last week was a bitch as I felt the pull to make me want to go buy beer, just so I can say, "Ahhhhhh." Was kind of scary. Usually I could put it down and not give it a second thought. This week is better.

In other news, you would think the refereeing in the world cup was bad, take a look at this. With the amount of time, you would think one of them would have been smart to correct this grave mistake. Even a grade 9 could.

9/11 rememebered

Today marks the 5 year anniversary of 9/11. Can we have a moment of silence for those who lost their lives in this tragic event?


Thank you.

My only wish is they really focus on the ones responsible for the mess instead of blame shifting which has been the last 5 years worth.

In other news, I will be getting together with my team to praise them for the efforts and the fact they held their heads up high. Well most of them. One I noticed veered off at the end of the game and didn't do the handshake. I realized one of the players or more called her a loser. Who can blame her for not wanting to celebrate after that. Still I would like to take this game as a learning experience. They need to run. They need to help out when needed. They need to shoot more shots. We can't score if we don't shoot.
Basically after bouncing this around, I have come to the conclusion if they are not going to provide referees, we're just going to have to assert ourselves more if we are getting fouled or at the very least tell the girls that one goal didn't count because of the foul.

One final question. Where were you when you heard about the attacks?

More trash to yesterday's match.

But first the good stuff. Last night we had dinner at a nice resturant for the life of me I can't seem to rememeber the name of it. However the food was good and for the first time in serveral years I actually went for dessert. Everyone had a nice time despite the fact it was our anniversary dinner and we couldn't leave the kids with a sitter. We even extended it to breakfast when I took the family unit to IHOP. Food was good, service was well....rushed.

Went to take pictures. It was brought to my attention that one player got scratched during the game and one player was taunted (was called a loser on several occasions). I knew we were getting fouled but I didn't realize the misconduct that happened for U8 Girls. In all the games I did as a beginning referee, the worst that happened was a called a pushing foul and charging of the keeper. Never pulled a card, yet I read today they were considering doing this in another league (not in California). Just browsed for more soccer referee blogs. Anyway I find the conduct unacceptable in this age group and am considering pushing for referees.

After the pictures we had dinner and went for ice cream which we got a highlight from Gabriel which I'll have pics to explain themselves.

Opening Game day not what I hoped

The Cheetah Girls made their debut playing their first game. Unfortunately it wasn't the game I was hoping for. Sure we can't win them all, but we got slaughtered 5-0. One major problem of not having referees is you don't have a neutral person to make the crucial calls to make or break a goal. One of them was our keeper had a hand on the ball in order to get it kicked out. That should have had a whistle blown. Nope. The two we had out there. Mine, who was probably conflicted to make the call. The other, well she didn't want to "screw" her team.
Another case. My keeper took a hard shot and she started crying. Ball was still in play for two more shots and still no whistle. Now the referee in me was saying, there was no foul and the goal was legit. On the other hand, it was bad sportsmanship. The assistant coach next to me was celebrating even though my keeper was screaming in pain. For the record, she was just released from the hospital and we're still not sure of he capabilities yet.

And they just rubbed it in. I kept my sportsmanship in check up to this point. We even had a better second half. When it came time to shake hands, the ASS coach came up to me and said, "Excellent game! Excellent game!"
Excellent for who?
If anyone remembered the history of soccer in the referee class will remember why referees exist in the first place. We had umpires today and not good ones.
As I talked with my wife it turns out this is an older team. What happened to keeping the teams level? That was the pitch that was given to me in the beginning of sign ups. It was the pitch given to me during the beginning of the year to now. The hostile take over in Dublin was supposed to make things better.
So far things have far from improved. Teams seemed lopsided this morning. The uniforms got in our hands yesterday and some size issues are present in our team. Marlena's socks are too big. The referee coordinating is lazy. I got an email that said, 12 hours to fill spots. Hello....get your ass on the phone and make phone calls. See my "Assigning a Lost Art" blog for how I really feel. We are supposed to have pictures tomorrow. Again, we have uniform size issues.

It's Friday already

The week went by fast, but the full moon hasn't been fun this week. Weird people I have dealt with. Some of them I even know were acting weird. If I wasn't trying to avoid beer right now, I would be driven to drink. I'm just glad Friday is here. The wedding anniversary of the spousal unit is here. I was hoping to celebrate in silence with my wife, but with no sitter we have to take the descendants of the spousal unit with us. Still we tend to make the best of these things. As a result, as usual, I get the weekend off of refereeing (been the standing joke I think I have missed every opening weekend of youth soccer since getting married). However, I don't get a break from coaching. But since it's my daughter's team it's forgivable. Hmmm just dawned on me, we're supposed to be the ones setting up that morning. Us silly coaches managed to recruit a referee, but not people to set up. Maybe I'll get some help. The head coach has a team conflict so I'm doing the opening game as a solo act. Worried? Nah... I even have my starting line up ready.

Response to captain's armband

Okay I've been humbled. For the record when you send an email to askareferee@ussoccer.org, you get a response from Jim Allen, who is a National Intructor. Basically the answer you get is the USSF's stand point (He doesn't always make the decision on his own, but may confer with other National Intructors). We're lucky to have this and because of this, I will now be a tight ass on the "arm"band.

Hey just because I'm on the way to grade 5 and an instructor, doesn't mean I always get it right. We're lucky to have that source. Below is my email and response from Jim Allen.


I hate to bug you guys on a trivial piece, but it's a huge debate.
>Basically in section 19.4 in Advice states in one sentence: The captain
>usually wears an armband and is responsible to the referee for his or her
>team, but has no special rights or privileges.
>
>While I have no problem with the latter part of the statement, I have one
>in the former. I was at a kids tournament and the captains wear their band
>on the shins instead of the arm. Are we to make them wear it on their arm
>simply because it's called an armband?
>
>Signed,
>
>Embarrassed to ask.
Yes, Embarrassed, you make them wear them on their arms. Nothing is
allowed on players' shins but shinguards covered by socks.
Jim Allen
USSF National Instructor Staff

The captain's "Armband"

Last Saturday I had a good opportunity to be an AR for one the youth that was in the mentor program when I was in the program. Even though I'm not an active mentor, it doesn't mean I don't check on the various kids that take under my wing from time to time or those who have graduated from my referee class to make great strides in the program (gives me a sense of pride because it started with me).

So I was running line for her and was disappointed that she wasn't at the tent 30 minutes prior to kick off. Since Bill H. already gave her the riot act, I chose to let it lay. So we check in the teams and 2 of the players designated as captains that were wearing the bands on the legs. This doesn't bother me, for it's not a safety issue. I honestly don't see an unfair advantage to wearing one. However my former protoage asked them to put the bands on their arms. When it came half time I asked her, "Where did you get the notion that the band needs to be worn on their arm?"
SG: From the people.

Me: Ooooooohhh The people!! What people may that be?

SG: The mentors in my program.

Me: Okay, and did you go home and look this up for yourself?

SG: Ummmmmmmmmm no.

Me: Why not?

SG: Because I trust the people who told me.

Me: You should trust them, but you should verify because not always you are going to get correct information.

SG: Well I don't feel like it. (typical response from her by the way).

Me: sigh

For those that are reading this, and are referees because I know players and coaches don't seem to give a damn, look it up before you next game. If I'm wrong, I would challenge you to point to me a page where specifies in either the Laws of the Game or Advice for Referees where the captain's band needs to be. No, the title "Armband" isn't enough for me and it pisses me off when referees look for a battle before kickoff. Nuff said.

Now I did find something on section 19.4 on the Advice for Referees. It says: The captain usually wears an armband and is responsible to the referee for his or her team, but has no special rights or privileges.

It didn't say must. It didn't say have to. It said usually which to me is subject to negotiation and interuptation. Until they reword it, then that is my ruling.

Ramblings of Tuesday, Sept 5th

I already know today is just going to play catch up and so far I seem to have it done already. Okay it's confirmed. I'm caught up. No soccer today, this afternoon is light. I have made a pact with myself I'm going to swear off alcohol with the exception of special occasions. You know, weddings, funerals, birthdays, parties in general. I don't party like normal.
But I need to get back in training mode and I can't do that if I have the need to crack open a beer when I get home. So I got it out of my system on labor day.

My thought in getting back in shape should be simple. My own little Triathlon.

3000 push ups
3000 sit ups or crunches
3000 miles of cardio whether it be running, elliptical machine, walking, biking.

Just haven't given a time crunch for this. I was thinking 3 months.

=============================================

Okay I just did the math and while it may work for push ups and sit up, I would be setting myself up for failure on the cardio. So let's rework this.

3000 Push ups
3000 Sit ups
500 miles of cardio

All of this done by December 5th. Wish me luck.

==========================================

Well it looks like Matterazi broke the silence on what was said on the pitch to Zidane. And it turns out his sister was insulted. Still Zidane should have kept his cool. He could have been that one kick that kept the score 5-5 and going on to their 6th set of players. But now we'll never know.

I just discovered that there is a problem when it comes to commenting because I'm in beta and over half my blogging bud's are not, I can't comment on their blogs. So if you were to comment, but can't, you might want to sign as anonymous.

Great Scott....ish

We celebrated part of the weekend with Gabriel being O2 tank free. It's amazing how we spent 10-11 months carrying him and a tank around and now how it's so much easier to manuver him around without it. I swear sometimes as I told my wife, he has what I call a ghost limb because I keep moving a O2 line that he is no longer hooked to.
Saturday was spent refereeing the Mustang Devil Mountain tournament. I just had U12's but they were fun. There was a dark period though which happened in my center. A son of one of the illustrious board members of Mustang fell down on a fair challenge and broke his arm. I know there was no foul play, but I still hate that to happen in my watch. Fortunately the blame wasn't shifted to me. I had two rookie referees who hesitated when calling fouls and offside. One of them put me in a bind to assert the offside call when I knew it was going to take the only goal Ballistic was going to get. I also called a PK against them 4 minutes in the game, but the defender pushed and tripped him, so he left me no choice. As a result, Mustang didn't score on it, but then scored 2 minutes later.
We spent Sunday as our fun day at the Scottish Festival. Honestly I didn't know what to expect. There was an assembly of arsenal, which I can appreciate from my fencing days. My wife got a treat where she could find her logo for 3 of her major family tree. I also saw the Scottish soccer tournament, to my surprise not only Jesse was there, but my friends Jerry and Rick were there. I also have refereed every single team that was playing that weekend.
But the real treat of the Scottish festival was the beer. It was smooth and well, I asked my wife if she wanted one, and she said we could split one. When I saw it being poured, I knew I couldn't share. She had no regrets about drinking a full one. Yummmmmmmmm

Getting my gripes out before the 3 day weekend

Technically it has already started but this week was not the best of weeks so I feel I need to get this out of my system before I enjoy the weekend.

People need to do more RTFM.
I hate getting into a needless pissing contest to prove I am right.
Sometimes you need credit when credit is due. Where the hell is mine?
I still want that GPS 301. I saw the price drop almost to half. Now it's more tempting. Will help with my training.
I wish they would post the fun run schedules. I have a soccer schedule to keep up.
I sure hope they have more then one fun run and I hope if they have more then one, but less then three it's not done the day after thanksgiving.
I wish more people would comment on my blog if they are reading them. Even if it's just to say..."I read it." I was told by a couple of people I write good at the funeral. I didn't even know they read it.
Refereeing under 12 games this weekend for Mustang after they begged and plead. Downside, I may have more fun watching paint dry. Upside..I don't have to run so hard so I can let my nagging groin muscle heal.
Whoever said "great taste, less filling." for their marketing slogan needs to be shot.
I just found out a coworker who used to work in my department is no longer there. Hmmm could it be they didn't put up with his crap like my department did.
Great slogan by Terry Broaderick: "What you permit, you promote."
Reason 1087 why I don't post often in CK. Too many arrogant people. One who is a newbie (gold poster) decided to play "devil's advocate" and pretty much let on that it was okay to push, kick, punch, call names to one that is mentally or physically disabled. This wasn't about my Son, but someone else's on how to handle this. Basically the twit said it's okay to push, punch, kick, and call names at. Again, what you permit, you promote.


Good news after that last entry. Gabriel will be off the oxygen on a provisional basis. This means during the day he can have the canula off, but we would need to watch him during the naps and at night we put the canula back on. Not quite what we were hoping, but a step in the right direction. I have a feeling I lit a fire under the pulinary department's butt because I was told 3 to 4 weeks and I said, "That's not acceptable when we wait that long to get a monitor home." Poor Paula had to stay awake the whole night. I woke up and I was supposed to be up at 2am for "my shift" and I was going to play video games while I kept and eye on him as a way to keep me up, but Paula just took it on herself since she said, "she's doing okay. Well I think she'll sleep good tonight.