Bon_Mot

Their season starts in December while UIL doesn't start until January

Our only district loss came at the hands of this dude: [Hidden Content] who plays at SA MacArthur. We play Smithson Valley Friday who haven't won in district yet, and then last year's district champion, SA Lee who are currently in 2nd, next Friday to finish out the first round of district games.

For the two people wondering: San Antonio Churchill beat SA Madison 4-1 to remain in first place with a 5-1-0 district record.

[quote name="tvc184" post="748153" timestamp="1264206972"] People lose their voice off of a single goal because the sport is so boring that the single goal might mean the game. A single run in the first inning of a baseball game is important but not likely the game winner. The same for the first bucket in a game of basketball and so on.  [/quote] You do realize that when a football game ends with a score of 21 to 14 that the teams didn't score 21 times and 14 times respectively, right?  They scored 3 times and 2 times (along with extra points).  Which almost sounds like a typical score from a soccer game...

Nederland beat Brookshire Royal 3-0 this morning in Brenham.  I think they are playing 30 minute halves on practice fields, but I'm not positive of that. They play powerhouse Boerne Champion next I believe.

[quote name="westend1" post="747384" timestamp="1264090538"] One other thing.  In football, when a collision happens, the players try to get up and act like they are not hurt.  In soccer, if you touch the other guy, he rolls around like he is in agony.  For me, a non soccer fan, it's a bit of a turnoff.    JMHO      [/quote] I know you don't watch soccer, but I wanted to clarify a little.  Diving and flopping isn't prevalent in all of soccer.  It's typically worse in nations around the equator.  I'm painting with a broad brush here, but in England or Germany, diving is considered reprehensible, and many times a diver will get shown what a "real foul" is later on.  But in many Latino countries, it's considered a part of the game.

I think it's time for a little...MONTAGE! [Hidden Content] There's some good USNMT v El Tri action around the 5 minute mark.

[quote name="The Ingredient" post="746974" timestamp="1264015505"] Plus it's played in schools at the worst time of the year weather wise. Why??? [/quote] It's only played in the winter in the south.  Mainly because soccer became a high school sport so much later than the other sports.  For instance, in Texas, UIL didn't recognize soccer until the mid-80's.  They then had to figure out a time during the school year to put it.  There was abso-friggin-lutely no way they were going to put it in the fall so that football might have to compete for athletes.  And they didn't want to start it too late.  So they wedged it between basketball and baseball.  Up north and out west, it's played in the fall for the most part - where (except for Cali) football isn't necessarily king.

I gotta agree.  Back in the day when I played, we [i]never[/i] used our fists.  Any time there was a disagreement, it was time for a DANCE-OFF!   Seriously.  People use their fists when they lose their temper.  They have ever since they could curl their hand into a ball and they will until Prozac is put into our tap water.  Is it right?  No.  Should there consequences?  Yes.  But don't think this is a new problem.

We start district today against SA Roosevelt and then play our big rival, Reagan, on Tuesday. We went to Klein last weekend.  We played like crap and beat Spring 1-0.  Played wonderfully but lost to Klein 1-0 after giving up a goal in the first minute of play.  And then laid an egg and lost to Katy Morton Ranch 4-1.  Then we beat O'Connor 2-1 Monday night. I like it a lot here.  New challenges and all.

I don't know how accurate this is, but according to another site West Brook lost to Round Rock West Wood 8-0 on Thursday at the Govenor's Cup.  Like I said, I don't know how accurate this is.  We (SA Churchill) scrimmaged West Wood with 20 minute halves and beat them 3-1.  Can anyone validate this?

[Hidden Content] What MLS team will have the best kit for the upcoming season? I'm a Dynamo fan, but I like the Seattle and Toronto look too.

San Antonio Churchill opens up with Spring on Thursday night, and then gets to play Klein High School on their home field on Friday night.  We finish up with Katy Morton Ranch on Saturday morning.

This list is courtesy of Tony Adams at ESPNsoccernet and I linked all of the youtube videos of the goals.  I hope everything linked up right.  Enjoy: Original article:  [Hidden Content] Paolo Di Canio, West Ham v Wimbledon, 2000 The decade was only three months old when the enigmatic Di Canio put his own indelible stamp on the Premier League. Sizing up a cross-field pass from Trevor Sinclair at Upton Park, the Italian eschewed any thoughts of taking a touch or controlling the aerial ball. Instead, he leapt into the air to execute a technically-perfect volley, sending the ball arching past Neil Sullivan and into the far corner of the net. Slow motion replays accentuate the sense of suspense and beauty that saw this effort named Goal of the Season in 1999-2000. [Hidden Content] Rivaldo, Barcelona v Valencia, 2001 What makes a great goal? Technique? Imagination? Audacity? Or perhaps it is all three, brewed together in the cauldron of a truly crucial encounter. The stakes were rarely as high as they were on the final day of the 2000-01 La Liga season, as Barcelona faced Valencia knowing that only a win would snatch the final Champions League place away from their opponents. Rivaldo had already scored twice, only to see Valencia equalise through two Ruben Baraja headers. With the game heading into the final minute, Barca were desperate and Frank de Boer lofted a ball forward to Rivaldo, who was lurking on the edge of the box with his back to goal. The Brazilian magician controlled expertly with his chest and then unleashed a stunning overhead kick that flew past Santiago Canizares. Quite the conclusion to a league season. [Hidden Content] Gianfranco Zola, Chelsea v Norwich, 2002 "Don't ask me how I did it," Zola said. "Because I don't know. It is one of those goals you could try 100 times and it will probably never come off again." The little Italian was right in that his wonderful backheeled volley in an FA Cup encounter in January 2002 was truly unique, but forget 100 attempts, 100,000 is more like it. Zola clearly had the idea in his head when suddenly darting to the near post to meet a Graeme Le Saux corner, but no one could have anticipated what would happen next. Leaping into the air, Zola met the ball with his right boot and delicately flicked it through his legs and squeezed it between goalkeeper and post. The perfect union of technique, genius and timing. [Hidden Content] Dennis Bergkamp, Arsenal v Newcastle, 2002 It is rare that, on first viewing, a goal is so supremely and unexpectedly executed that the crowd are left wondering exactly what just happened. It is rarer still that seven years on, the mind is still beguiled. Such was the brilliance of Bergkamp's goal at St James' Park on March 2, 2002. Receiving a pass from Robert Pires with his back to goal and with Nikos Dabizas in close attendance, Bergkamp stretched out his left boot and, in one fluid movement, flicked the ball one side of his marker while pirouetting the other, before casually brushing Dabizias aside and slipping the ball coolly past Shay Given. A classic work of art from the Dutch master. [Hidden Content] Zinedine Zidane, Real Madrid v Bayer Leverkusen, 2002 AP Zinedine Zidane strikes his famous goal in the 2002 final Sometimes, timing is everything. Not just the exquisite timing with which Zidane planted his right foot, cocked his left and then spun on a pivot, smashing a perfect volley past Hans-Jorg Butt. No. The timing was in the fact that this was the Champions League final. In Real Madrid's centenary year. Having seen Lucio respond to Raul's opener, Real approached half-time contemplating a 1-1 scoreline in Glasgow. But then, in the stadium where Alfredo di Stefano and Ferenc Puskas ran riot in the 1960 final, Zidane joined the ranks of Real greats. There looked to be little on when Roberto Carlos hopefully hooked the ball in Zidane's general direction but the great Frenchman was alert, monitoring the falling ball like a killer whale watches a stray seal. He pounced gracefully on the edge of the box, his swinging left foot cutting a perfect arc through the Glasgow air and propelling the ball into the top corner. £47 million well spent. [Hidden Content] Jared Borgetti, Mexico v Italy, 2002 Heading is a largely underrated art and nodding one in from close range certainly doesn't capture the imagination like a long-range missile or a thrilling dribble. But Jared Borgetti's goal against Italy at the 2002 World Cup demands a place on this list. It is not just the expert finish - or the context; against the Azzurri on the greatest stage of all - as this was the culmination of a flowing team move. Mexico won the ball in their own penalty area, kept it for over a minute and strung together 15 passes before Cuauhtemoc Blanco took possession some 25 yards from goal. He spotted Borgetti lurking just in front of Paolo Maldini and chipped a pass into his team-mate. Jogging to the left-hand side of the six-yard box, and with the ball fizzing in at a real height, Borgetti calculated his angles with all the expertise of a master architect, twisted his body and sent a perfect header over his left shoulder, back across goal, looping over the static Gianluigi Buffon and into the far opposite corner of the net. Sublime. [Hidden Content] Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Ajax v NAC Breda, 2004 Stunning volleys, outrageous pieces of skill and acrobatic efforts are all well and good, but there is something special, something otherworldly, about seeing a ridiculous individual effort. It's almost as if such a goal could only occur on a computer, with the difficulty set to easy, or on a school playground. Ibrahimovic scored such a goal in the Eredivisie in August 2004 when embarking on one of the most outrageous dribbles ever seen. With the ball not so much stuck as superglued to his boot, Ibra collected the ball 20 yards from goal, beat Mendes da Silva, Koning, Koning again, Stam and Mendes again, before showing the calm and dexterity to drag the ball back, committing the hapless goalkeeper, before rolling his shot home. It showcased the utter confidence and arrogance of a man destined to become one of the world's best strikers. [Hidden Content] Estebian Cambiasso, Argentina v Serbia, 2006 The finish itself was unremarkable - a prodded effort that didn't even find the top corner - but the sweeping, hypnotic, 25-pass move that preceded it ensured that Cambiasso's strike in the first round of the 2006 World Cup is now considered as one of the great all-time team goals. Right-back Nicolas Burdisso was the only outfield player not involved in the move as Argentina spread the ball around the Gelsenkirchen turf with confidence, but momentum was suddenly generated when Juan Roman Riquelme flicked the ball to Javier Saviola with the outside of his boot. Saviola rode a challenge and offloaded to Cambiasso, who slipped in Hernan Crespo. A clever backheel returned the ball to Cambiasso and the midfielder ensured immortality by finishing. The final denouement wasn't as classy as Carlos Alberto's belter in the 1970 final, but the move was every bit as perfectly constructed. [Hidden Content] Lionel Messi, Barcelona v Getafe, 2007 The tag of 'the new Maradona' has weighed heavily on a number of Argentinean players in recent times, but none have invited it as conspicuously and as sensationally as Messi. In a Copa del Rey match against Getafe in April 2007, the Barcelona star produced a near replica of Maradona's famous goal against England in the 1986 World Cup. Picking up the ball in his own half, Messi quickly darted away from one challenge before accelerating towards goal. Ghosting past another four players, the little magician then skirted around the keeper and finished from a tight angle. The similarities with Maradona's masterpiece were spooky. [Hidden Content] Grafite, Wolfsburg v Bayern Munich, 2009 A game that provided evidence of a real shift in the balance of power in German football, Wolfsburg's tremendous 5-1 win over Bayern in April 2009 also witnessed of the great Bundesliga goals. Grafite collected the ball from strike partner Edin Dzeko some 35 yards from goal and in the left channel. Darting forward and into the box, the Brazilian turned Andreas Ottl inside-out before nicking the ball away from Christian Lell and then grounded goalkeeper Michael Rensing. With his back to goal and Philipp Lahm and Breno in attendance, Grafite summoned up a nonchalant backheel that rolled lazily past Breno and the hapless Ottl for a finish that was clinical and cheeky in equal measure. Marrying expert dribbling and unadulterated arrogance, it was a unique goal. [Hidden Content]

#1 These polls are only voted on by the coaches who attended the General Meeting on Friday evening of the Coaches Clinic in San Antonio.  SE Texas has been NOTORIOUSLY under-represented at this meeting (for very good reasons such as time and money). #2  To add a team from SE Texas to this list, you'd have to eliminate a team who is already on it.  All of the ten on the guys side at least made it to the third round last year I believe.  No one from SE Texas did.  In fact, I think Lumberton in '08 and Nederland in '06 (?) have made it that far over the past few years. I watched Lumberton go toe-to-toe with the Brenham team that won the region last year, and I was a part of the Nederland team who beat Kingwood Park in a tune-up game the week before the play-offs that saw KP make it to the Regional Tourney.  But the bottom line is the bottom line.  A SE Texas team needs to make a deeper run in the play-offs to get some respect sent to the area. My thoughts: The 3A schools need their own district.  Nederland, PNG, and LCM don't get any better playing WOS, BC, and HF.  And Lumberton and Vidor don't get any better playing Silsbee, Jasper, or HJ.  The two teams that knocked Lumberton and Nederland out last year (Brenham and Waller) had a BATTLE every game in district except for the 2 games against Navasota.  Imagine this district: LCM, Vidor, PNG, Nederland, Lumberton, Ozen, Central, and Livingston.  Where's the easy game there? Also, I'm not really in the know here, but I wish that the club system could consolidate in Beaumont somehow.  I really belive that this would benefit the entire area.  If somehow there could be one club with one team who could consistently compete at the top level in the state, a couple at the next level under that, and a few more under that, it would help so much.  Instead we have a bunch of teams made up of players within a five to ten mile radius of their high school that get their backsides handed to them when they travel to Houston usually - OR>>>the two or three really, really good players from the area go to Houston to play with the Texans.  If somehow the top 40 players in SE Texas played at ONE CLUB, I believe that three extremely competetive teams could be formed. Just my two cents...

Thank you!  Good to be back. Funny article from Australia about the lead-up to the draw: [Hidden Content]

Finally! A fortunate draw! Group G looks to be the Group of Death with Brazil, Ivory Coast, and Portugal. This also means that the US could face Mexico or France from Group A in the first round of the knock out stage. Edit:  Misread the bracket.  It will probably be Germany or Serbia in the Knock-Outs.

These aren't soccer trick shots, but the blond in this video is a sophomore soccer player here at Churchill. Enjoy: [Hidden Content]

[quote name="hj_hawk_60" post="721567" timestamp="1259687545"] 2A soccer does not exist.. Only 4A and 5A.. 3A teams are allowed to play up in 4A districts, but you are not allowed to play 2 levels up (2A to 4A).. I believe Kountze used to have a soccer team, but was forced to drop it when they dropped from 3A to 2A... [/quote] Ozen's first ever victory was over Kountze in 2000.

I just wanted to tell all of you soccer fans in Southeast Texas thank you and goodbye. I have accepted the head soccer position at San Antonio Churchill High School. I don't know if all of you know about the tradition at Churchill, but they have three state titles in the past 11 years along with a few other Regional Titles. I really wish this opportunity would have come around a couple of years in the future as I believe the Nederland Soccer Program is LOADED for the next few years, but I couldn't take that chance. As many of you also know, I was extremely disappointed with the outcome of the bond election this past spring. North East ISD is already one of the top school districts in the entire state, but they are currently rebuilding several of the facilities within the district. "Good enough is good enough" is not their motto, so I am comforted for the future of my own kids. Once again, I appreciate all of the people and players who I've battled alongside or against. I'll always keep up with you guys. Go Dogs!!!

Maybe 15 years and 20 pounds ago... Here's a good write up on the Gold Cup [Hidden Content] I'll be in Austin this weekend watching Saturday's match at the Flying Saucer if anyone else is around there.

Also according to [Hidden Content] The US will be allowed seven extra spots on its roster since it just played in the Confed Cup. I don't know if The Bob will use the spots and it would suck for the Dynamo, but it'd be cool to see Brad Davis or Geoff Cameron get a shot now.

Check the link in the third post.

He's actually pretty dang good, but the Mexicans are solid at left back. He's also more of an attacking left back than anyone we have in our player pool, which would give us line-up options that we've never experienced. Past Bocanegra, our depth at left back is Bornstein, Heath Pearce, and Demarcus Beasley... I'd take a warm bucket of hamster vomit over those guys. And he was called up this past spring for a qualifier, but he 'misplaced' his passport and was unable to travel. Many people think that this 'misplacement' was a decision of his to prevent him from being cap-tied to Mexico. The new FIFA ruling hadn't been ratified, so he couldn't come out and say he wanted to play for the US in case the resolution didn't pass. US Soccer's discrimination toward American/Mexican kids has really almost been appalling. They'll dote on some 30 year old midget from Africa claiming to be 14, but they won't go after kids actually born in the USA?

Preview of the upcoming book by Grant Wahl. It looks like it's going to cause a bit of a stir and ruffle some feathers. [Hidden Content] The book is set to go on sale on July 14th. If anyone is looking to get me a gift... I'm not saying.... I'm just saying...