The socks look like Dusty Whiteside's, but the rest of the uniform I can't place. Saline County maybe? 

A Comparison

For comparison purposes, I checked how we did in last spring's Marion Tournament. UCSL went 20-18-3 with 10 teams, as opposed to our record at Carbondale of 24-5-5.

Carbondale Final Results

Here are the results from the Carbondale Tournament. Overall, our 8 teams compiled a record of 24 wins, 5 losses, and 5 ties. Unbelievable! Thanks to all the coaches and parents who made it happen...

First and Second Grade:

There are no championships awarded in this category when the tournament takes place in Illinois. The boys' team (playing in the A bracket) went undefeated with a 4-0 mark. The girls' team won 3 games and lost only 1, and played well enough that the Sikeston Tournament director asked them to move up from the B to the A bracket.

Third Grade Boys:

Won the championship. Not only did they win it all, they played 5 games AND DID NOT ALLOW A GOAL. Eight of their players scored goals; they scored a total of 21! If there was an A+ bracket, they'd be in it.

Fourth Grade Boys:

Won 4 games before losing to Cape Girardeau in the Finals.

Third and Fourth Grade Girls:

Won 4 games, and took third place. They, too, were asked to move up to the A bracket in Sikeston.

Fifth and Sixth Grade Boys:

Went 1-1-1 and finished second.

Fifth and Sixth Grade Girls:

Went undefeated, winnning one and tieing three. They finished third in the division.

Junior High Co-ed:

Lost in OVERTIME to Cobden in the finals.

So there you have it. Six teams (not including the 1st and 2nd graders) and a first place finish, three seconds, and two third place finishes. Did I mention...UNBELIEVABLE.

Dan Pineau steals the ball from a Saline County player....

She doesn't appreciate it. 

We need more women referees

Women know more than men, at least when it comes to soccer.

Carbondale Results, Saturday October 29

Did you ever have someone come to your party who eats all your chips, drinks all your beer, and leaves? And you find out later he took all your silverware?

That's kinda what Union County Soccer did in the first day of the Carbondale Fall Tournament. To the best of my knowledge, we WON 16 GAMES, lost ONE, and tied THREE.

Special congratulations to our "A" teams, the 1st and 2nd grade co-ed team and the 3rd grade co-ed team. The 1st and 2nd grade boys (translate "co-ed") beat Sikeston 5-4, Jackson County 5-1, and Cape Girardeau 5-1. The older fellas beat Perryville 4-0, Cape Crush 5-0, and Sikeston 6-0. Not only that, EIGHT different 3rd grade players scored goals.

The 1st and 2nd grade girls beat Sikeston 6-5 and Perryville 5-0. The 3rd and 4th girls won 6-0 over Sikeston, 6-1 vs. Saline County, and 4-1 over Carbondale. The 4th grade boys beat Marion 3-0 amd Sileston 2-1. The 5th and 6th grade boys lost to Perryville 0-3, but came back for a tie in their next game. The girls tied Marion at 1, and routed Saline County 11-1.

The 7th and 8th co-ed team deserves special notice, since they are a true co-ed team playing against all-boy teams. They beat Perryville (I think) 2-0 and tied Marion 1-1.

This is as accurate as I could get from walking around and asking and occasionally checking the scoreboard. I'll verify and repost tomorrow, with the final results.

Real Jihadists Don't Play Soccer

It turns out that soccer (football) may not be all bad. I hope this doesn't affect our rosters too much. From the Pakistan Daily Times Monitor:

Saudi clerics declare football un-Islamic

Daily Times Monitor

LAHORE: Ulema in Saudia Arabia have issued a fatwa (religious decree) declaring football an un-Islamic sport, and have urged the youth to quit it immediately, BBC radio reported on Saturday.

According to the report, the clerics urged the youth to indulge in jihad and other constructive activities that could help the Muslim ummah, the radio reported. The ulema argued that football wastes a lot of time and the participants wear shorts, which they said was an un-Islamic dress, the radio reported.

Following the decree, some players of the famous Taif Football Club have quit the game, the report added.

Can't argue with that, can ya?

I WAS WRONG

For years, I have been arguing soccer is a socialist sport. I was wrong. It turns out that it's a COMMUNIST sport. From www.opinionjournal.com:

Our item yesterday on metric football prompted this reply from reader Eddie Staples:

While I certainly sympathize with your attitude toward this "sport" implicit in the name you give it, I think the appropriate disdain can only be shown by calling it what it really is: communist football. Consider:

• No one understands the rules.
  
  
• Workers are prohibited from using the tools that would let them be more productive (hands).
  
  
• From time to time petty bureaucrats (officials) interfere with play in such a way as to limit production.
  
  
• Players, coaches, officials and fans are all fully involved (employed) and yet output is miniscule.
  
  
• Any production is met by celebration all out of proportion to its objective value.
  
  
• Followers are slavishly (religiously?) devoted to the system and their own brand of it and resort to violence at any criticism of either.

Good points all, but "communist" and "metric" turn out to be inextricably linked. The Soviet Union used the metric system, and Cuba, North Korea, Red China and Vietnam still do.

I HOPE WE PLAY THESE GUYS IN SIKESTON

We need a first round match-up.

Fall Schedules

The pre-k/k schedule and the 1st and 2nd schedule are linked on the right. The 3rd and 4th schedule will be posted tomorrow.

Stan Fuller did not have as much luck as last year selecting his Harvel team..... 

Registration update

As of today (July 27) we have a total of 223 players registered for the Fall 2005 season. Registration forms continue to trickle in and as of now we will continue to accept them.

We are lacking coaches. In particular we need four Pre-K/K coaches , possible one more 1st /2nd coach, two more 3rd/4th, and two Junior high coaches. We will decide tonight whether to create an all-girl 6-7-8 grade team.

If you would like to help us by coaching a team, let me know - my phone number is 833-4160.

Time for a fund raiser....

We need one of these for the top of the concession stand to protect the kids from evil pixie...sticks.

Lousy field, but pretty spacious concession stand, don't you think? 

It takes speed and agility to play soccer. Yeah....right.

FALL 2005 SEASON INFO

I know, I know, summer hasn't even started yet, but here's the schedule of upcoming events:

July 1 - registration forms mailed.

July 23 - Registration deadline; registration at Anna Junior High (?)

August 1 - Coaches meeting; drawing of teams; election of executive board

First game - September 6

More information to follow...please spread the word!

INCOMING!

Who is a better soccer player? The kid who grew up playing the game...or the guy with the gun?

New Yorkers are Smarter Than the Rest of the World

Mike Vaccaro, Sportswriter, New York Post:

" But I am also certain that, relatively speaking, we are as sane, as sensible, as reasonable, and as rational, as any sports fan in the world. And that is because, as a people, we in New York look at a soccer ball and see a sleeping pill. We see a soccer game invade our television screen and will pull a hamstring lunging for the remote to change the channel. "

SOMEONE disagrees with Mike Vaccaro. 

If looks could kill, SOMEBODY would be dead.

I asked Samantha what the difference was playing versus boys (compared to the all-girl all star games). She thought about it....looked at the field for a while....and said, "They're shorter."

CHAMPIONS

Congratualtions to the 1st and 2nd grade co-ed all-stars for taking FIRST PLACE in the Cape Girardeau Tournament. They beat the home team 1-0 in the last game. The goal was scored by Garrett Nadeau. Jacob Brush was awarded the Spirit Award by coach Jennifer Nadeau for soccer above and beyond the call of duty.

If you have a picture of the team, send it to me at jope@cba.siu.edu!

Cape results so far

This is Edward Morrow reporting from a rooftop in Cape:

High School :
2-3 vs Perryville
1-1 vs Cape Girardeau

5th and 6th Co-ed:
1-1 vs Cape Stars (goal - Christopher Windings)
1-6 vs Perryville Storm (goal - Cody Garver)

1st and 2nd Girls:
0-2 vs Cape Stars
1-1 vs Perryville Hot Shots (goal-Natilyn Hepburn)

1st and 2nd Boys:
5-1 vs Jackson Red (goals - Zach Zach Zach Paar, Noah Noah Fuller)
1-1 vs Perryville Thunder

Today's Quiz

Can you find the athlete who has not been accused of taking steroids? Is it Barry Bonds?

Is it Jason Giambi?

Or is it Hayden Newberry? 

Steven Wells..often imitated.... 

Never duplicated! 

The truth about Stonehenge.

Travis Smith

Travis Smith (5th and 6th Coed). Maybe next year we can buy everyone matching headbands.

Twins in action!

The Pineau sisters in action!

OK, they aren't really twins. That's Bayli Denny on the right. But these two remind me of the of two running backs SIUC had a couple of years ago who were nicknamed "Thunder and Lightning".

Junion High Team

The Marion Whirlwind Champion 7th and 8th Grade team:

Top row from left to right.

Dylan Noble, Kieler Dillman, Dane Mull, Shawn Stone, Mike Manus, Juan Areola, Nate Rowland, Alan Whitehead, Abbey Cohen, Zac Boomer , and the Coach Mark Boomer

bottom row.

Joey Flamm, Dusty Whiteside, Jake Basler, Seth Echols, Jocob Brimm, Steven Cohen, and Lance Dixon

I believe they finished the season undefeated (only because their game with Harvel Disposal was rained out).

More Twins!

Oh, right! TWINS!

Twins?

What the???

1st and 2nd Grade All-Stars

After a tough head-to-head competition, a bench clearing brawl between the 1st and 2nd grade Orange and Blue teams broke out.Luckily, they paused long enough to pose for a photo before continuing.

The brawl spilled over into the playground ... 

Did you ever see the classic 1948 movie, "The Boy With Green Hair"? It starred Patrick O'Brien. No? This is close enough. Jenna Collier and Suzannah Cohen, 3rd and 4th grade all-stars. 

Photos

I'll post pictures tomorrow. If you have a good photo, please send it to me at jope@cba.siu.edu. Not ALL your pictures, and let me know who is in the picture!

The Final Results of the Marion Tournament

I'm not going to give you the details, but here's an almost accurate wrap up:

Our 1st and 2nd grade boys orange team took third place in the tournament.
Our 1st and 2nd grade girls took fourth place.
I THINK our 3rd grade boys took third place.
Our Junion High co-ed team took 1st.
Our High School co-ed took 2nd.

Overall our Union County teams won 20, lost 18, and tied 2. We sent 10 teams. If have the 3rd grade placing right, half of our teams finished in the top 4 in their division. Half!

I have to add that the game between our two boys' 1st and 2nd grade teams was about the coolest things I've seen. Both teams played hard - orange won 3-1 - but the best part was the team pictures we took after the game with BOTH our teams. That's over 20 kids who had a chance to experience a tournament; playing the best of the best from the area rec leagues. Hats off to the kids, coaches and parents!

Photos tomorrow.

Junior High and High School

The Junior High remains undefeated. I don't have the details, but they beat Centralia and Saline County in close games (2-1 and 2-1), and tied rats to the tongues of Saline County 7-0. The High School team lost 0-1 today after a fantastic game last night. I'll have to get back to you on the details.....

5th and 6th Results

I caught a little of the girls' game Friday night. They were losing 0-3 to Marion, and things were not looking good. Imagine my suprise to check the board this morning and find out they came back and lost 2-3 (goals by Mackenzie Houseman and Katelyn Brush). They then lost to Carbondale 2-3, but came back to BEAT Saline County 2-0. Another Union County team that plays hard and is a LOT of fun to watch!

The boys team (who lost to Marion Friday night 0-4) put up a heck of fight before succumbing 1-2 to ...I forget. Colten Collier scored the only goal. I saw some of this game and I can tell you that Nathan Twente made the most remarkable save I have ever seen a goalie make. The ball was high; he leaped and punched it, but it went straight up. As he fell backwards he punched it two more times, landed on his back, and came up with the ball. How it didn't go in, I have no idea! They came back and tied Perryville 2-2 on two goals by Logan Miller.

3rd and 4th Results

I don't have the results of later games, but I do know that the 3rd grade coed team sandpapered the gums of Saline County, 10-1. early Saturday. The 4th graders were losing, then winning, then losing...and finally beat Jackson 5-4. Goal scores - Logan Tweedy, Eli Scherer, and Enrique Arreola. Hence forth to be called ENRIQUE. One name is enough. They later lost a heartbreaker to Carbondale 1-0.

The girls' lost to a good Perryville team 1-6, but came back to beat Saline County 2-0. I don't know who scored for us, but I bet one is named Katie.

1st and 2nd Results

We have three teams playing at the 1st and 2nd grade level.

Orange (coed, which means boys) - I saw most of their first game, where the beat...somebody. I forget who. But Zac Paar scored twice, Derrick Harvel, Noah Fuller, and Aaron Arreola added goals and the good guys won 5-2. Steven Wells took a ball the in mug...hope you're OK, Steven! After 8 hours at the tournament I decided not to stay for their 6:15 PM game, but I am sure they won. Watch these kids and see the undefeated A-J High School soccer team of 2015.

Blue - These guys are a fun team to watch! Our guys took it on the chin from the semi-professionals from Farmington 1-4. I mean, come on...matching jackets for the PARENTS? They came back to tie Saline County, 1-1. I'll get back to you on the goal scorers.

Girls - Played great and beat Jackson in the first game, 4-2. Samantha Schott scored twice; so did Madison Calhoun. In the second game, CAYSA beat our girls 1-4; Ms. Schott scored again.
If another girls team beats CAYSA I will push a peanut with my nose from Marion to Anna.

Friday Results

The High School team won tonight 2-1 against Albion. Daniel Cohen scored both goals - a man among boys. The Junior High team under Mark Boomer won 2-1, goals by Shawn Stone and Lance Dixon. The 5/6 coed team lost to a really good Marion team, 4-0, but I want to single out Travis Smith and Colten Collier for playing good enough to keep us in the game. I wandered over to see the 5/6 girls play for a while...at the time they were losing 3-0. The final score was 3-2!

If I could editorialize for a second...

If you have not been to an All-Star Tournament, you should come to Marion. You won't believe the level of intensity and skill our kids display. I have been involved with Union County Soccer for 8 years (!) now. When I think back to the beginning and consider how far we have come, I am absolutely amazed! Thank you to all the coaches who volunteer their time, the parents who allow their kids to participate (and skip dinner to get them to games and practice), and the kids themselves who work so hard to get better at the most popular game in the world. Bring the little ones...our kids are an inspiration!

Marion Tournament Schedule

The schedule for this weekend's Whirlwind Tournament in Marion is here.

It's going to be a rainy week leading up to the Marion Tournament. Here's what it looked like after ONE NIGHT of rain two years ago. That's Zeb Goessman in the white.... 

AN IDEA FOR OUR EARLY SPRING GAMES

While normally I wouldn't condone this kind of behavior, it may solve our early spring problem of games ending after dark.