Championship.
At the risk of straining my shoulder, I am selfishly using this post to reward myself for a job well done as my men’s team won its league championship this past Sunday. We even received a trophy for our performance (on the right). And, with that I will have won more silverware than Arsenal and Liverpool together will this season (Gooners, don’t point to the Emirates Cup because that’s worthless).
You’ll notice two things about the trophy. First, I’m in the old and fat division now, otherwise known as the Over-30 Division. Second, the trophy is so important that it collected dust in somebody’s garage over the last year. Regardless, it’s the first silverware I have seen in a while on the soccer pitch, so it was nice to lift it up at the end.
The championship was somewhat unexpected because we started out the season with four consecutive draws and seven games in we were 1-1-5. But, on the strength of a defense that allowed only one goal a game, we managed to win the final three regular season games to make the playoffs and then get two more victories to grab the title.
The championship game was played this past Sunday in sub-freezing temperatures along with strong, cold East winds coming out of the Columbia Gorge. Needless to say, it was quite cold. At halftime, I could not feel the lower half of my face and I was talking like I just got done at the dentist’s office. We shortened the halftime just so we could start moving again and not get cold. After a nervy 1-1 first half, our team dominated our cold and tired opponents with two goals giving us a 3-1 victory. We celebrated only briefly because once you stopped moving it was really, really cold.
Well, I’m off to rehab to get this shoulder worked on, but thank you for the indulgence.
Congrats!
Were there hot soccer moms present for this glorious triumph?
There were not many fans braving the cold. I can only recall one female at the game. There was some crazy lady at the game before our game that had a baby with her. Presumably she was a soccer mom, but her hotness, if any, was obscured the layers of clothing. Although, I’m pretty sure she was crazy since she had her baby with her in those temperatures. I’m no expert, but it doesn’t seem like the best weather to have a baby exposed to.
Oh well. Congratulations all the same. :)
that’s a sweet trophy!
congrats sir!
defense wins championships.
Congrats! It’s been so long since I’ve won a trophy . . . I’m not sure I’ve ever won a trophy. So, I’m living vicariously through you, TFA.
Congrats!
Thanks everybody. It was pretty cool to win something. I think I have to go back to some high school tournaments where I received any trophy for winning something. Every men’s league championship I have won prior to this hasn’t had any trophy.
we always get t-shirts or bags or something when we win the league. trophies are way cooler.
But do you get a ribbon for being a participant?
Congrats TFA. Our league hands out beer glasses and a team plaque for winning the division.
How do you like playing on the field turf? I can’t walk for 2-3 days after playing on it.
Offense gets the glory, defense wins the game.
Congratulations on the silverware. I hope you guys get to savor it for a while, at least. When I played in an Over 30 roller hockey league, it was such a drag to endure a “4 games in one week” playoff grind and have our captain remind us to get our checks in because the next season started in a week. “Here’s your trophy, that’ll be $120, please”.
TFA’s dirty little secret is that he plays in a girl league.
@Clamboat: The turf is ok if you have the right shoes. I blew out my turf shoes earlier this season and didn’t replace them for a few weeks. I used some Total 90s with the blade cleats and it was just too much for my feet. They were on fire afterwards. I got new turf shoes and things were better. Feet only have a slight burning from the stopping and cutting for an evening. In general, we play a lot of games on turf because there are so many teams and games in this area that grass fields just get torn asunder. I’m used to it by now, but would like some more natural field games. Tired of the strawberries/carpet burns from the stupid rubber pellets.
@Hockalees: thanks. just two games in a week so not too bad. the good thing is that we have a sponsor so team fees and jerseys are covered. I just have to keep an updated player card and show up for the games.
@MCR: no ribbon. i was hoping for a medal or t-shirt, but we get to hold the trophy aloft so that was cool.
@NYK: how did you know?
this is my first season with this team and it has been great. it’s a real high level of play with lots of former D1 players, some former lowlevel pros, and a few scrubs like me who didn’t play in college (although, i held down a starting left back position most of this season).
Attic, I’ve found that Copas are quite nice on turf.
And congrats!
TFA, you play with Mason’s team? Too funny.
Congrats on the win. The wind that day (lowly GPSD had our finals Sunday as well) was so brutal–it murdered our “lump it and pray” tactics(or as I like to call it “the American Way”) and we got our clocks cleaned. I couldn’t feel my face for about an hour afterward.
Oh well…the beer afterward was better than the t-shirts that we always get.
@Fred: Yes…send me an email thefansattic[at]gmail[dot]com. We may know each other. I saw some of those GPSD games on Sunday on the field next to us while warming up and playing.