clare's game was cancelled due to the heavy rainfall we'd received the few days prior, so we didn't get a chance to watch her flash her awesome futebol skills. in order to compensate, kieran's intermediate steelers went out and kicked some butt! (you can see hevvy-k's blond mop just off the left shoulder pad of lucas, #4.)
That's right, the intermediates totally dominated in a 13 - 0 victory over the Bad Guys, featuring a 15-yard run by heavy k that resembled a rodeo bull gone berzerk. he received an inside handoff from the quarterback and, with the help of some outstanding blocking, found the edge on the left side of the line. after speeding past the first few defenders, kieran cut back and watched a couple more would-be tacklers catch on too late and slide past him toward the sideline. he then lowered his pads, hit and spun off of a blue jersey before plowing into a pile and gaining a few more yards, nearly finding the end zone. his run set up the team's first touchdown of the day! BOOYAH!
the celebration on the field spilled over onto the sidelines, or maybe it was the other way around...probably both. in the stands, we cheered our butts off. on the field, the steelers drew two 15-yard penalties for taunting. hey, when you got it flaunt it baby!
after the game, the normally intense, down-to-business coach randy lit his victory hat. a blinking red, yellow and blue cincinnati bengals logo above his visor signaled to all of dogwood park that the team had finally tasted gridiron victory!
liam's pee wee steelers were also victorious, 7 - 0, over blessed sacrement. this was supposed to be a huge victory for the pee wees, playing one of the lesser-experienced teams. instead they found a way to win on a day when they didn't have their best stuff.
liam didn't factor hugely into this game, but he did have a few solid tackles and a broke away for two, impressive runs. one was nice sprint for about 20 yards, with his pants sliding down his backside. in fact, he probably would have been good for another ten or more yards if he hadn't been pulling up his drawers with his free hand when he was brought down. he also chased down a running back from behind for a solo, bear hug tackle.
as the season winds down, all the dufflings' various teams are looking at playing their last few games. the boys will be playing basketball over the winter and clare may get involved in a soccer-related activity. if not, we'll be spending a lot of time kicking, juggling and shooting.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Sunday, October 21, 2007
impact weekend!
a few words about the disproportionate number of pictures clare gets on this post: she's just prettier than her brothers. but seriously...first, i'm no photographer. this is especially true with my digital camera that captures the image about two seconds after i press the "shoot" button, and even more so when trying to photograph a fast-paced football game. liam is fortunate enough to have parent with a nice camera who posts photos on the web after each football game and clare's soccer games are much easier to photograph. unfortunately, kieran gets hosed. i'll try to compensate somehow in upcoming weeks.
If this keeps up i'll have to buy a video camera. the dufflings helped their teams go 2-1 this week, with clare scoring, not one, not two...oh wait, it was two goals and an assist! liam played another strong game, with a touchdown and the usual, smashmouth D and kieran made several tackles, including a TD-saving stop on chris cooley, or possibly his younger brother. this guy, number 34 on da bears, puts the OOOH! in HUUUGE, but kieran put him on his backside. kieran also had a strong run without the benefit of much blocking.
this week's nugget of wisdom to clare was to get in front of the goal when the ball is inside the penalty box. too often at this age the tendency is to advance the ball, pass it, and then stand around and watch. clare has always been good about staying involved without the ball, but i told her she could have had a couple goals this season if she were more aggressive on offense.
i love it when i'm right.
the white lightning tigers (or whatever, i've forgotten their name again) played excellent soccer saturday. the passes were crisp, the crossing passes were paced neatly in front of the forwards and the midfield got back on defense and served the ball up on a plate to the front line.
ok, enough about the rest of the team. this is the duffling blog, not the white tiger lighting kicking blog! clare's first goal was on a breakaway down the center of the field. she got the ball about 10 yards from the penalty box, dribbled past one defender and faked out the goalie to find the back of the net! it was So Exciting, one of those slow-motion moments that seemed to take about half-an-hour to unfold. and it really may have, because i had enough time to take a picture. normally i get the celebration after the goal because i'm busy yelling/jumping/biting my fingernails or doing a voodoo dance. but i was not to be denied a picture of my daughter's first goal.
the second goal came on another ball played from the middle of the field to clare on the right wing. after some fancy footwork, she angled the ball into the left corner of the net. great game clare!!!
liam. ok, it's a good thing this guy is a little small for his age because i don't think they'd let him in the league if he were any bigger. he played on both sides of the ball in his rookie season last year, but he didn't figure into the offense much until the last few games. this season he's gone from being the pee wee steelers' Secret Offensive Weapon to a regular contributor. liam's scoring in '06 was limited to an extra point conversion, and over the offseson he made it his goal to score a touchdown this year. he scored his fourth on saturday on a counter from roughly 35 yards out.
as proud as i am to watch him excel in the steeler offense, i get most geeked watching him deliver the goods from the middle linebacker position. accordingly, i was quite geeked this weekend, like three-ring-circus sideshow geeked.
with time running out, the opponents down plenty and just trying to erase the goose egg on the scoreboard, liam was apparently as psyched as i was to see one more solid stick. the bulldogs ran a sweep left and as the players spread out across the field, i noticed liam had a bead on the ball carrier. this promised to be good!
as the running back turned the corner, with the pack trailing him by a few steps, liam extended him an invitation to this week's edition of "JACKED UP!" as with many of his victims, liam gave up several inches on this guy, and that's before he slammed into his thigh pads and elevated him about 8 inches backwards off the ground. i swear, it was like the guy was standing the wrong way on an elevator before disappearing in a swarm of tackle-hungry steelers.
kieran's team faced the bears this week and it may as well have been the chicago bears. the smallest guy on their squad, save one, was at least as big as the biggest intermediate steeler. the bears also have a reputation for sending opponents to the injured reserve and playing dirty. they lived up to the latter, with plenty of stepping on hands and such, but as coach kit told his steelers, "that," pointing to the opposite bench, "is life. that's life in football, that's life at work, that's life when you're trying to get a girl. there's always going to be someone better-looking, taller or richer out there." but, as he reminded them, your character is revealed in how you deal with adversity, and they just played the toughest team in the rfl better than anyone expected.
the bears had one play they ran three times for three TD's which involved handing the ball to priest holmes and letting him outrun everyone to the end zone. he got there FAST, too! but on the fourth attempt, kieran, who was more than a little nervous about facing "da bears," dove at his knees and took him down.
at the pee wee level (9 - 11 year olds), the parents sometimes joke about how we'd be scared ourselves to face thus-and-such a player. at the intermediate level, this begins to be not so much of a joke. it would certainly be a little scary for any 13 year-old to face the entire rfl bears' defense with a football in his hands and no blockers in sight. that's exactly what kieran did, and for a moment it looked like he was going to break a long one for the first points scored against the bears all season. that dream ended abruptly as the secondary appeared from nowhere closed in around him, but not before kieran logged the longest play from scrimmage for his team. way to fight, kieran duffy!!!
next week kieran's team faces a team a little more their speed. after getting a large dose of harsh reality against the bears, i'm thinking they'll be ready to eat these guys up! stay tuned...
If this keeps up i'll have to buy a video camera. the dufflings helped their teams go 2-1 this week, with clare scoring, not one, not two...oh wait, it was two goals and an assist! liam played another strong game, with a touchdown and the usual, smashmouth D and kieran made several tackles, including a TD-saving stop on chris cooley, or possibly his younger brother. this guy, number 34 on da bears, puts the OOOH! in HUUUGE, but kieran put him on his backside. kieran also had a strong run without the benefit of much blocking.
this week's nugget of wisdom to clare was to get in front of the goal when the ball is inside the penalty box. too often at this age the tendency is to advance the ball, pass it, and then stand around and watch. clare has always been good about staying involved without the ball, but i told her she could have had a couple goals this season if she were more aggressive on offense.
i love it when i'm right.
the white lightning tigers (or whatever, i've forgotten their name again) played excellent soccer saturday. the passes were crisp, the crossing passes were paced neatly in front of the forwards and the midfield got back on defense and served the ball up on a plate to the front line.
ok, enough about the rest of the team. this is the duffling blog, not the white tiger lighting kicking blog! clare's first goal was on a breakaway down the center of the field. she got the ball about 10 yards from the penalty box, dribbled past one defender and faked out the goalie to find the back of the net! it was So Exciting, one of those slow-motion moments that seemed to take about half-an-hour to unfold. and it really may have, because i had enough time to take a picture. normally i get the celebration after the goal because i'm busy yelling/jumping/biting my fingernails or doing a voodoo dance. but i was not to be denied a picture of my daughter's first goal.
the second goal came on another ball played from the middle of the field to clare on the right wing. after some fancy footwork, she angled the ball into the left corner of the net. great game clare!!!
liam. ok, it's a good thing this guy is a little small for his age because i don't think they'd let him in the league if he were any bigger. he played on both sides of the ball in his rookie season last year, but he didn't figure into the offense much until the last few games. this season he's gone from being the pee wee steelers' Secret Offensive Weapon to a regular contributor. liam's scoring in '06 was limited to an extra point conversion, and over the offseson he made it his goal to score a touchdown this year. he scored his fourth on saturday on a counter from roughly 35 yards out.
as proud as i am to watch him excel in the steeler offense, i get most geeked watching him deliver the goods from the middle linebacker position. accordingly, i was quite geeked this weekend, like three-ring-circus sideshow geeked.
with time running out, the opponents down plenty and just trying to erase the goose egg on the scoreboard, liam was apparently as psyched as i was to see one more solid stick. the bulldogs ran a sweep left and as the players spread out across the field, i noticed liam had a bead on the ball carrier. this promised to be good!
as the running back turned the corner, with the pack trailing him by a few steps, liam extended him an invitation to this week's edition of "JACKED UP!" as with many of his victims, liam gave up several inches on this guy, and that's before he slammed into his thigh pads and elevated him about 8 inches backwards off the ground. i swear, it was like the guy was standing the wrong way on an elevator before disappearing in a swarm of tackle-hungry steelers.
kieran's team faced the bears this week and it may as well have been the chicago bears. the smallest guy on their squad, save one, was at least as big as the biggest intermediate steeler. the bears also have a reputation for sending opponents to the injured reserve and playing dirty. they lived up to the latter, with plenty of stepping on hands and such, but as coach kit told his steelers, "that," pointing to the opposite bench, "is life. that's life in football, that's life at work, that's life when you're trying to get a girl. there's always going to be someone better-looking, taller or richer out there." but, as he reminded them, your character is revealed in how you deal with adversity, and they just played the toughest team in the rfl better than anyone expected.
the bears had one play they ran three times for three TD's which involved handing the ball to priest holmes and letting him outrun everyone to the end zone. he got there FAST, too! but on the fourth attempt, kieran, who was more than a little nervous about facing "da bears," dove at his knees and took him down.
at the pee wee level (9 - 11 year olds), the parents sometimes joke about how we'd be scared ourselves to face thus-and-such a player. at the intermediate level, this begins to be not so much of a joke. it would certainly be a little scary for any 13 year-old to face the entire rfl bears' defense with a football in his hands and no blockers in sight. that's exactly what kieran did, and for a moment it looked like he was going to break a long one for the first points scored against the bears all season. that dream ended abruptly as the secondary appeared from nowhere closed in around him, but not before kieran logged the longest play from scrimmage for his team. way to fight, kieran duffy!!!
next week kieran's team faces a team a little more their speed. after getting a large dose of harsh reality against the bears, i'm thinking they'll be ready to eat these guys up! stay tuned...
Monday, October 15, 2007
rocktober 13th weekend
just a quick, belated note this week, with pictures. i'm still struggling with formatting this thing, hopefully they will get prettier as we go. liam's team had picture day recently, and we have a photographer parent, so he's over-represented this week in particular.
As the temps climbed to near-summer levels, the Dufflings elevated their game to mid-season form. each of the young warriors showed something new on the field this week. for clare, it was two shots-very-near-goal, liam returned a mid-field interception to the 1 yard line and kieran caught a Bomb for roughly a 30 yard gain.
each week i try to impart a parent-who-doesn't-know-all-that-much-about-soccer nugget to clare for her to practice in the upcoming game. week one was, "don't chase the ball." week two, "don't pass right away every time." this week was, "follow the ball to the goal." i think we're at week four or five now, so i've probably missed a couple, but you get the idea. anyway, clare drilled two shots just wide of the goal and proved herself a threat at forward.
clare also played goalie for about half of the second half without letting a ball in, but her team lost 1 - 0 in a well-played match.
the rfl steelers went 1 - 1 for the weekend, with liam's pee wee team winning 20-something to zero and kieran's intermediate squad losing by about the same score. both boys continue to impress, playing hard on both sides of the ball and special teams. it's a rarity for one of them to come out for even a single play.
As the temps climbed to near-summer levels, the Dufflings elevated their game to mid-season form. each of the young warriors showed something new on the field this week. for clare, it was two shots-very-near-goal, liam returned a mid-field interception to the 1 yard line and kieran caught a Bomb for roughly a 30 yard gain.
each week i try to impart a parent-who-doesn't-know-all-that-much-about-soccer nugget to clare for her to practice in the upcoming game. week one was, "don't chase the ball." week two, "don't pass right away every time." this week was, "follow the ball to the goal." i think we're at week four or five now, so i've probably missed a couple, but you get the idea. anyway, clare drilled two shots just wide of the goal and proved herself a threat at forward.
clare also played goalie for about half of the second half without letting a ball in, but her team lost 1 - 0 in a well-played match.
the rfl steelers went 1 - 1 for the weekend, with liam's pee wee team winning 20-something to zero and kieran's intermediate squad losing by about the same score. both boys continue to impress, playing hard on both sides of the ball and special teams. it's a rarity for one of them to come out for even a single play.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
october 6th weekend--you won't need a microscope to read this one
i swear to god, i'm almost in tears every weekend watching from the sidelines as my little warriors do battle. here's the latest...on the occassion of my older brother's 147th birthday, and yet another Terps victory, the Dufflings once again dusted off their A games and put them on display. i was in such awe of their masterful performances that i forgot to take pictures this week, but i will soon post some football video from games played earlier this season. in the meantime, here is an artist's rendition of a goal from clare's soccer game.
the Orange Lightning Tigers (i have confirmation of the team mascot now--anyone have an orange lightning tiger doll for game day?) came out on the losing end of a 3-1 score. one goal against was scored after Goalie Sarah was kicked in the face by one of the Agents Of Evil. another was leveled against them after a rather arbitrarily-awarded direct kick. so if one were to be petty about it, which one is not inclined to do, one could say we really should have tied 1-1. one is just throwing that out there.
once again, clare played an inspired game, at least for the first half i was there to witness before jetting off to catch the second half of liam's football game. she played in position enough to be open to her teammates to pass to, yet not so much so that she never touched the ball.
i used to ask clare before every game, "what don't we do?" the correct answer being, "chase the ball!" now that she's beyond that the answer has become, "pass without dribbling first!" it took an entire season to not chase the ball, she's dribbling more after just one week. i definitely see some goals in this young lady's future, possibly in the World Cup.
i left the soccer pitch and arrived at the grid iron to find the Pee Wee Steelers up 6-0 near the end of the second quarter. i missed liam's injury time out when he got tackled on the sidelines and took a beach-worth of sand in the eyes. i was told the coaches had bandaged up a huge gash on his nose, and was dissapointed when that turned out to not be the case. john madden would have been so proud, "there's this big pile of sweaty guys down there in the dust and they get all cut up, and there's a bunch of blood and stuff in there and the coach, he comes over and glues some rags on this guy's nose so the guy can go back and score a touchdown. and that's called football."
thankfully i didn't miss liam's touchdown, his third of the season. the call was a weak right, fake 88, counter left. i mean, DUH! what else would you call in that situation???
liam cut upfield from the 15, to avoid a defense that had sniffed out the play from an earlier call, and picked his way into the end zone. the Pee Wee Steelers left the field with a 20-0 victory over the Iggles (aka "Eagles").perhaps the most exciting sports-related event of the weekend--and i'm writing this in advance of the Redskins victory over the (3-1!?) Detroit Pussy Cats--is the Intermediate Steelers' non-loss to the Intermediate Iggles (aka, the Bad Guys). yes, the Ints kissed their proverbial sister by snatching a tie from the jaws of both defeat and victory.
kieran claims to have "played like crap," but i didn't see it. i did see him appear from out of nowhere to Lay OUT a ball carrier who mistakenly decided to cut into the middle of the field. when will they learn you just don't do that with one of my boys at middle linebacker? i mean, i'm happy for the highlight footage, but don't you want to live to play another day, son? hevvy k tee-ing off on this guy was like an irresistable force meeting an immovable object, except kieran was both. i strongly suspect the ball carrier broke the laws of physics he was turned aroun
d so fast (dan'l, if you're reading we'll need confirmation on this. i'll show you the replay).another great sports weekend for the Dufflings. now if only the Redskins can play with the same focus and determination.
as always--many, many, many, thanks to the coaches and parents, and yes, even the Other Teams, who make these games what they are. if there were only a beer man.
YAY DUFFLINGS!
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
sports weekend, 9/29
All three dufflings had games this weekend and all three played valiantly. clare played midfield for the Orange Lightning (have to get verification on the team name) and did a great job stopping several long runs, as usual. her team won, 2 - 0.
here is a picture of clare showing excellent self-restraint by not adding to the pile of players standing in a circle, kicking each other and, occasionally, the soccer ball.
i've learned that coaching soccer is best done at practice, before the game and at half time. giving direction during the game is seen as disruptive to the players' real-time, improvisational skills, which are key to learning and loving the game.
it's tough to develop any sort of confidence or play with fluidity with adults yelling from the sideline. imagine a micromanaging boss standing over your shoulder, "MAKE THAT PHONE CALL AFTER LUNCH!! DON'T CC HER ON THAT EMAIL, BLIND COPY HER BOSS!! NEVER, NEVER CLICK 'OK' ON THAT WINDOW!!" sounds like fun, huh?
most parents and coaches yell at their kids about positioning, which is learned as a result of tiring from chasing the ball around and can be focused on after developing basic touch skills such as dribbling, passing and trapping. learning "touch" can only happen by, well, touching the ball...which is hard to do if you play in position on a u10 girls' league because you'll never see the ball.
so in a sense, youth soccer games, up to a certain age, are supposed to look like that: a big tangle of kids kicking the ball off of one another. play ball!
football, on the other hand, looks an awful lot like this. trust me, if you play for an RFL team you do NOT want to tangle with this young man with a football in your hand.
i almost don't want to come across him playing in the back yard! lookit the expression on his face. that half smile. he's looking at you like you're a happy meal
liam's pee wee Steeler team fought hard against the perennially super bowl bound Rears...excuse me, "Bears", and wound up on the losing end of a 6-0 score. on the bright side, holding the Bears to six points is a feat unmatched by any other RFL team this season.
another bright spot was liam's outstanding defensive play. his job this game was summed up in one number: 39. the Bears number 39 looks like a 4 1/2 foot version of mike allstot, but with more tape and gear. the dude had a hand towel, elbow pads, knee pads and about 3 miles of tape. but oh boy can he run! he's fast, he's quick, he can juke, he can run over you or around you. i'm not saying liam did it all by himself, it takes a village to stop 39, but he didn't break a single big run. liam had a few of his signature back cracking tackles that we've come to expect, but hadn't seen a lot of this season. with the competition getting a little more manageable, we expect to see more.
liam's team won their soccer match with liam contributing an assist and a scoreless second half in goal. the last time he played in goal for the second half he scored four goals in the first, so he's clearly slipping. my sports taxi sponsibilities prevented me from photographing that particular match.
kieran. my god! what has gotten into this dude? having been been moved from corner back to line backer after delivering a couple big hits (one on his teammate, but sam was hanging onto the ball carrier at the time), kieran continues to produce. he was three yards away from a
touchdown on a 10-yard run from scrimmage this weekend and had several big league sticks. of course it took me leaving to pick up liam from his soccer game for kieran to get that near-score, but i'm willing to help the team however i can.
he and his intermediate Steelers team are improving every week and have never looked more like a real football team than when the went down with a great fight to the Mustangs, an undefeated team. as with the pee wee team, the intermediates walked off the field to huge applause from the sidelines. they may have been on the losing end on the scoreboard, but the fight they showed was truly inspirational.
i'm not sure if this is the exact photo where kieran made a textbook tackle from behind, saving a touchdown, but let's just say it is. the kid who would have tried grabbing the runner from behind by the shoulder pads in week one, dove at his feet and wrapped him up like a christmas presenton the 15, while the ball carrier was contemplating his victory dance.
all in all, it was an amazing sports weekend for the dufflings. we went 2-for-4 but all four teams gave great effort and had the sidelines whipped into a major frenzy. i'll post a link to more pictures soon.
i almost don't want to come across him playing in the back yard! lookit the expression on his face. that half smile. he's looking at you like you're a happy mealliam's pee wee Steeler team fought hard against the perennially super bowl bound Rears...excuse me, "Bears", and wound up on the losing end of a 6-0 score. on the bright side, holding the Bears to six points is a feat unmatched by any other RFL team this season.
another bright spot was liam's outstanding defensive play. his job this game was summed up in one number: 39. the Bears number 39 looks like a 4 1/2 foot version of mike allstot, but with more tape and gear. the dude had a hand towel, elbow pads, knee pads and about 3 miles of tape. but oh boy can he run! he's fast, he's quick, he can juke, he can run over you or around you. i'm not saying liam did it all by himself, it takes a village to stop 39, but he didn't break a single big run. liam had a few of his signature back cracking tackles that we've come to expect, but hadn't seen a lot of this season. with the competition getting a little more manageable, we expect to see more.
liam's team won their soccer match with liam contributing an assist and a scoreless second half in goal. the last time he played in goal for the second half he scored four goals in the first, so he's clearly slipping. my sports taxi sponsibilities prevented me from photographing that particular match.
kieran. my god! what has gotten into this dude? having been been moved from corner back to line backer after delivering a couple big hits (one on his teammate, but sam was hanging onto the ball carrier at the time), kieran continues to produce. he was three yards away from a
touchdown on a 10-yard run from scrimmage this weekend and had several big league sticks. of course it took me leaving to pick up liam from his soccer game for kieran to get that near-score, but i'm willing to help the team however i can.he and his intermediate Steelers team are improving every week and have never looked more like a real football team than when the went down with a great fight to the Mustangs, an undefeated team. as with the pee wee team, the intermediates walked off the field to huge applause from the sidelines. they may have been on the losing end on the scoreboard, but the fight they showed was truly inspirational.
i'm not sure if this is the exact photo where kieran made a textbook tackle from behind, saving a touchdown, but let's just say it is. the kid who would have tried grabbing the runner from behind by the shoulder pads in week one, dove at his feet and wrapped him up like a christmas presenton the 15, while the ball carrier was contemplating his victory dance.
all in all, it was an amazing sports weekend for the dufflings. we went 2-for-4 but all four teams gave great effort and had the sidelines whipped into a major frenzy. i'll post a link to more pictures soon.
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