Walmart Woes

Before floor hockey at McIvor Church this last Monday I needed to go out and buy a decent hockey stick for the upcoming season. I mainly needed to buy one because I had forgotten my beloved junior JOFA at home, but I think it is time to move on (it is literally half my size and I need to upgrade to a more suitable sized one {that's what she said...}). Anyways, my bud Andrew and I went to the closest store to buy the hockey stick and we ended up at Walmart. As we walked to the front doors an hilarious event happened to occur at that very moment. Two little pudgy kids (a sister and brother) were racing to their van. The sister won the race so she straight up said to her brother "HA, I win fatty!". A short burst of laughter came out of me. It was unreal, like it was in a movie.

We got to the sporting goods section and the hockey stick prices ranged from $6.00 to frickin' $48.73 (estimate). Of course I went for one of the cheapest sticks. I picked out the Orange Joe Sakic Easton Magnum. Right on! I nicknamed it the Dutch Magnum because of its colour... and my heritage. We got to the check-out 5 mins before our hockey started and we ended up waiting 10 mins because the stick didn't have a price tag! Oh Walmart. Whatever, I finally paid the $20.01 and then we were off to McIvor to play.

As I was waiting on the side to sub-in I looked down at my hands and noticed that they were stained orange. Weird. I then looked at my shirt and it had streaks of orange on it too. NO! My hockey stick was shedding its colour off! I couldn't believe it, I was disappointed with my Dutch Magnum. I didn't even play well with it. As Andrew and I exited the gym after the game, I looked down at the gym floor and there again were the dreaded streaks of orange! Wow, my stick definitely left its mark in that gym. Oops, I guess I got what I paid cheaply for. Next time I'll bring both my JOFA and Dutch Magnum and compare the two during game play. Sounds like a plan.

Manhattan Upset

We came back from our Kansas road trip with grins of glory on our faces! We went down knowing that our first game against Manhattan Christian College (Ranked #1 in the league) was going to be one tough match. Especially since there was history between our two teams; we lost in the National Final last year to them (though I wasn't there for that). I had no clue as to what this team was like so I went in to play with no expectations of an outcome. I think that helped me play hard and strong against this praised Manhattan team. We dominated the first half by getting to every single ball first and winning the one on one battles on the flanks. Our hard work finally paid off and we scored midway through the second half. Here's how it happened: I pinched in to retrieve a clearance from their defence; their defender came out to challenge and anticipated a pass to the outside... nope (I actually heard him say "Oh no..." as I passed him), I cut into the middle and opened up for a shot. Their sweeper stood in my way so I decided to hit it to the centre of the 18 yard box. That's where Mario was patiently waiting (They appealed for offside but there was no way, their far defender kept him on by a mile). He took a touch and fired but it was stopped by the keeper. He bobbled and lost it though! Their right-back attempted to clear the ball but he fanned on the kick and it rolled back into their own net! That's right, the scoring drive began with me (I'm not cocky about it, I just love to make that known). Though I don't believe I get an assist because they considered it an own goal.

Anyways, here are some horrible video highlights from our game (at least there are highlights)! There's a perfect angle of me getting tripped up after I side step a guy with the ball. He probably couldn't bear being beaten by a lanky defender (I'm #14 by the way). Also, it's too bad that they didn't catch the goal on tape! I hope my description displayed a beautiful substitute video replay in your minds. Manhattan is in the white kits and we're in the blues. Enjoy!

18-2

Have you ever seen the score 18-2 in a soccer game before? Well it happened on Saturday. We (Providence College) beat a team by that score. Unreal! It felt really bad to beat a team by that much. I know what you're thinking, why would you run up the score? Well first of all, goal differential is key for our leagues (NCCAA & MCAC) and second, we are not going to purposely miss an open chance for a goal. It would look worse for someone to pass up shooting at the open net than finishing the opportunity (at least I think it would be). I can't believe the other team's great attitudes during and after the game too! They didn't play dirty and weren't complaining at all. Now that's amazing sportsmanship and is very classy. Each time we scored I hung my head and jogged back to our half. I mean, I scored without trying to score or even shoot for that matter. I'll explain the situation: The ball was near the corner flag and since I play defence I ran up to support our midfielder. He rolled the ball back towards me and I one time lobbed it into the box for one of our strikers to head the ball. Well, the striker missed and my cross bounced a couple of times then trickled into the net. Don't worry, I didn't celebrate the goal. Of course it felt good because a goal's a goal, but you just don't celebrate those kinds of goals! However, I am one goal up on Tory (my defensive colleague) for our scoring contest. We alternate going in for free kicks and corners and see who can get the most goals till after the game on our shared birthday (Oct. 3rd). The loser buys the winner a pint of beer or some jr. chickens from McDons. I'm probs gonna win...

We leave for KANSAS tomorrow! Shall be a grand road trip.

Reminiscence

Life Lesson: Reminisce about your fun times more. Even though it may seem like you're just thinking or talking about the better times from your past it still feels awesome to share them and reflect on them. I have the best laughing sessions when I reminisce with friends, it's awesome.

I was lookin' back at my videos on my computer and came across one that I had made with my good friend Thomas. We made this vid about a year and a bit ago for Laura, who is now Thomas' wife (hooray/who would have thought it at the time)! Bear with the video because it is decently long, 9 mins in fact. So I really don't expect you to watch the full clip, but you can if you want to! I can't believe how long Thomas' hair is too. Wait... I just watched the video and it appears it may have been for our friends down in California. Whatevs, it's a shout out to all the people who wish to see a part of my neighbourhood and also both Thomas and I! Enjoy.

Wha?? Plus Phoenix

There needs to be an explanation. Why does my hit counter say 11,905!? Either someone is awesome and looked at my blog 10,000 times or something is wrong with the free counter gadget. Please let it be the first reason. Whatevs, it makes me look like I'm popular... YES (If you're wondering, I had no hand in this, I am truly shocked)! So come forward if you're the culprit... or even the hero.

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By the way, PHOENIX is sweeping the nation with their melodious tunes and desirable dancing beats. Check 'em out 'cause they're definitely one of my new favourite bands! I just wanna dance when I hear their French addictive vibe.

Phoenix's Main Page
Phoenix's Myspace

Phoenix - 1901 live from wearephoenix on Vimeo.

Training Camp Closure

I'm relieved to say that I made the Prov Men's Soccer team! I mean, I told mostly everybody that I was going there to play soccer and it would really be embarrassing if I didn't even make the team. But I did, and really only one out of all the guys that tried out was let go (he actually wasn't cut but realized that the level of play wasn't for him). Training camp finished on labour day and I was very sore from the whole weekend. During the camp, we were expected to run 5km in under 22 mins, and we did on Monday afternoon. I don't know if you remember, but It was ridiculously hot that day and I literally almost collapsed. I figured that since I had run a 10km in 51 mins before without training (I ran in indoor soccer shoes too) that this 5km would be easy... nope. It's brutal when you reach the weary stage and you want to stop but you shouldn't, and you push through it to the end. Plus you hear your constant heavy breathing which mentally tires you as well. Yes, it sounds like I hate running and you're right, I do. Soccer is my running. I cannot bring myself to go running just for the heck of it. Meh, oh well, I finished the run in 21 minutes and 08 seconds... YES! Completed and finished with. On another note, I'm also pumped to get a new bag and a track suit. We got fitted today; I'm very excited for this fast approaching season!
Our first game is Sunday at 3pm at Providence, so be there or be square or maybe just uncool. We're playing CMU and apparently they're our rival school so you know it's gonna be a good game. My family is actually family friends with the President of CMU and when I said I didn't mind them, I got an earful from the team. I guess this rivalry is very much alive and is to be taken seriously. We'll see how the first game goes!

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I just bought Jars Of Clay's recently new album: The Long Fall Back To Earth. Just lettin' you know that it's awesome. Man, they're one of those bands that just keep making solid music. Good on ya Jars Of Clay!

Fall Term Decision

This fall term I will be attend Providence College to play the beautiful game of football [soccer]. During my time at Prov Sports Camps this summer the staff would constantly rag on me (mostly Jesse) to come to the school. I wanted to play some college ball, so I caved in and am now at the training camp this weekend! I'm pretty excited for what this term will bring. Since Prov doesn't offer any sciences I will have to take 4 electives which I have not fully decided on. Meh, I'll figure it out. I applied pretty late, (like I always do, but I guess it was a last minute decision; unlike last year where I registered for my courses in Ontario during orientation at the UofM!) so the on-line registration has already closed. So Tuesday will be the day to register for courses, in person mind you, which sucks.
We've done a few training sessions already and wow, the mosquitoes and the heat are at their worst. That is the most brutal combination of conditions to play soccer in. Unreal. Although today was somewhat windy. We'll see how the rest of this training camp goes!

p.s. My dream of becoming a College Athlete is coming true! NBD.