Drum Update & Soccer Fours

Drum Update:

Still no word from the Q's organization - but due to when I sent my letter (last Thursday), they could have not received it until yesterday.

Soccer Fours:

I've finally returned to playing with Soccer Fours - the 4 v 4 program. After having great success at their San Francisco site (Franklin Park), Chris has decided to expand a little and now has weekly sessions in Marin and in Oakland. Naturally, since I'm located in the East Bay, I decided to check out the Monday night Oakland session last night. They are held at Raimondi Field in West Oakland. This complex was renovated in 2008 (replacing the grass field with turf). As I expected - after not playing for several months - the little endurance that I built up from the SF sessions was a distant memory. It was like starting all over - but the other players were great and it was alot of fun. First time using my new boots - Nike Ronaldinho Dois FG (I discovered this single pair at Ross in my size a month or so ago - $19.99 and couldn't resist). They were really comfortable and "looked fast" when I slipped them on, but alas, speed, quickness, and endurance on the pitch depends more on the person wearing the boots vs. the boots themselves :)

Quakes Win, Football Fans in the U.S. Lose

The Q's picked up 3 points against KC with the last minute (actually extra time) goal by Chris Wondoloski.  This season appears to be in the books already, but it is great to see that the lads are not giving up.  It has been a looooooooong season.  

Tonight is also the final summer session for Soccer Fours.  Starting this fall, it is moving to Thursday nights - which I cannot do.  :(  It was fun while it lasted.

Farewell to World Soccer Daily

Without much notice, the only daily football podcast in the U.S. has ended - World Soccer Daily.  I won't go into the details about what happened - you can do that by checking the web.  It saddens me that this program will not be available to us anymore because of the narrow-mindedness of some LFC supporters  that forced Steven Cohen to end WSD because of remarks he made about the horrible events that ended in the death of 96 fans at Hillsborough.  It is a loss for football fans here in America.

Enhancing Your Appreciation of the Beautiful Game

From several of my previous posts, you all know that I truly appreciate the game of football. I have recently discovered the most powerful way to solidify and make permanent one's romance with the beautiful game. Take some time to learn and play the game. Now I don't mean you have to go out and join a league for 11v11 games and a formal season. Being a total newbie (meaning NEVER EVER have I played the game), joining some formal football league was way too intimidating. H played football growing up and recently began playing again - in an indoor 5v5 league and in an infomral 4v4 outdoor program called SoccerFours in San Francisco.

H encouraged me to try SoccerFours and eventually I did. Before signing up (http://www.soccerfours.com/), I emailed the organizer of SoccerFours - Chris. I told him that I was a total novice who has never played the game and I was concerned how I would "fit in". Chris was totally encouraging. Now that I have played with them for 3 weeks, I have come to realize (1) How out of shape I am, (2) how Chris was right in terms of me being comfortable learning the game in the SoccerFours community, and (3) how much playing the game is really the only way to fully appreciate the players that I watch as a fan and what they can do on the pitch. Beyond the obvious things like passing, shooting, dribbling skills... just their endurance to play 90+ minutes on a full-size pitch just floors me. I am sure that this phenomenon is true for every sport (I don't think people fully appreciate the demands of golf until they actually try to play the game!).

International Football in the Bay Area this Summer + Soccer Fours!

2009 Gold Cup: I have my tickets for the first round matches that will be played at the Oakland Coliseum on July 5th (Guadeloupe vs Panama and Mexico vs Nicaragua)

Int'l Friendly August 8th: Today - I just secured tickets to the FC Barcelona vs Club Deportivo Guadalajara (a double header with the first game being the Q's vs the Columbus Crew).

I decided to pass on the World Football Challenge match between Inter and Club America (at Stanford Stadium). It would have been fun to do this one too - but $ is scarce and choices had to be made. Now if it were AC Milan or Chelsea.....

Soccer Fours:

Well - with the encouragement of H, I have finally stepped onto the pitch myself by starting to participate in a 4v4 program called Soccer Fours. They pick-up 4v4 games are on Wednesday nights at Franklin Sq Park in San Francisco. No refs, no score keeping, no league of official teams. It involves mostly club players, but even a novice like me felt welcome to join in. My legs were sore and I was definitely sucking wind during the 1 hour session that consisted of six 10-minute games. Check it out at http://www.soccerfours.com/

Franklin Sq Park pitch (artificial turf)