I Must-ache You a Question...

What is that cool feeling in the air...

"Wind in the east, mist comin' in...
Like something is brewin' about to begin
Can't put me finger on what lies in store
But I feel what's to happen, all happened before..."

No it is not the early signs of winter creeping in... Nor is Mary Poppins about to swoop into West Philly to get the children in order (yes that is a line from Mary Poppins above - just saw Saving Mr. Banks, great flick...and how can you not like Poppins? Go on, click the link on Poppins...ya know ya want to!)... Folks it is that cool and refreshing feeling of yet another soccer season...and with that, you get me!

Not just me though, but me and my upper lipholstery... me and my nose neighbor... me and my dirt squirrel... me and my soup strainer... me and Mr. Tickler... yes, that's me and my 'tache (that's right, that is a 100% bonafide m-u-s-t-a-c-h-e'!!! Taking things back a bit...back to when men were men and had names like Jim and Frank and Bob...and um, Doug!).

Tell me, why is it that the mustache gets such a bad rap? I mean, I had a beard for over a year. That form of facial hair - warm, inviting, distinguished... (umm, three words that I am well aware never described me despite wearing a beard...). But the moment you switch from beard to stache, something is wrong with that same guy!?! What gives? So suddenly, he transforms from happy-go-lucky and professorial to creepy, seedy, a bit off... A bit unfair I shall say to our crumb-catching, cookie duster friend! (Oh cookie, that reminds me of one of our young rookies - Joey Rodriguez a.k.a. "Cookie" Rodriguez - best nickname going of the freshmen if I may say so myself, kid can't resist a Tollhouse... he stalks the Insomnia Cookie Truck next to the library, kind of like a guy with a mustache would...)

So I am trying to keep the mustache, but don't think it will make it to the fabled month of Mo-vember... (wife teeters between being "ok" with it and hating it - kind of like she does with me in general...hmmm) but I doubt it will last.

Off and running we are people, three games already under the belt...blink again and this thing is over! So many new faces in our team and staff, it is almost like starting over again (ummm not, I've done this a time or two before). Been a challenge though to get so many new guys into the swing of things and get them up to speed with "how we do that thing we do" here at Drexel, but one that we accept and push through with each day. I seriously have to remind myself daily that it is a new process with lots of new people on board.

The group as a whole has been impressive though. Not playing our best stuff quite yet, still tinkering we are and fine tuning; but finding ways to win... at Temple in over-time to open the season and home against Nova under difficult conditions (playing with the lead for 89 minutes and down a man for 49 of them is no easy task). As for last Friday at our across-the-street-rivals....eh, a bitter taste in our mouths to say the least! Credit certainly to our opponent and taking their chances well, but we know we let one get away from us.

Which leads us to this week... big week... at home and also in our city! First, Wednesday at Vidas 7 pm (43rd and Powelton our favorite venue) against Loyola... then a short ride up to St. Joe's on Saturday for our second City 6 match. Hope you can make it out to both to cheer on your 2014 Drexel Dragons!

Until next time... "Keep it classy West Philly",
Doug

P.S. Get it on your calendar Alums: Saturday, October 11 is Alumni Day more details to follow!

The City of Brotherly Love? Really???

Well, well, well...a big week behind and a bigger week ahead! Two massive wins at Vidas last week in the RPI if you didn't hear folks, first on Tuesday night against a strong Rutgers side (the Dragons and Knights, how cool a medieval match-up is that for all you Dungeons and Dragons nerds that are still lurking out there...) and then on Saturday against William & Mary to take a win off of what might have been the hottest team in the land (W&M had won 3 games in a row against nationally ranked opponents - #1 Creighton, #24 Elon, and #1 UNC Chapel Hill).

Oh and guess what, Dougie was on his best behavior...no cards for me. When I set foot on the turf on Tuesday night to do my pre-game ritual turn in the team sheets to our trusty sports info director, Sam Angell, I paused to take in the atmosphere and survey the grounds. I was given fair-warning by the Boss, "no more cards." We all make promises to our significant others and sometimes just to get through that "moment" so that life can continue, but this one I knew I needed to uphold. So much so that I made an even bigger deal in order to make sure I kept my word to my better half.

Pagey showed up to training the day after my second yellow asking, "Boss how many more before you get a touch-line ban?" Not liking that line of questioning I quickly made a deal. You know the saying, your mouth is writing checks your butt can't cash? Well, that's the way it went down. Page now has the dutiful task that if I get another yellow card this year, he gets "to have a go" as the English like to say, at me. Meaning, butts up for Doug on the goal line. For those in the soccer world, they know full-well what I mean...and know full-well that with a marksman like Page, I am in for it if I indulge my engagement with my fine, whistle-ladened friends a bit too much. A yellow and I am on the goal line next training session, offering up my dairy-aire for Page to strike a soccer ball at me from the top of the 18 yard box - no flinching or moving allowed.

When I set foot on the turf Tuesday evening, I knew full well there was no way I was getting a card that night! "Doug, can you see into the future? Have you been reading L Ron Hubbard's Dianetics? Tell us Doug, how did you know?" Funny how things work, I needed that little friendly reminder from my wife to not push the buttons of the center official and it worked out that on this night, we had a female center official. So I smiled when I saw her and handed my team sheet in, knowing that this would be like my wife's voice in the center. She called a tight match, which I am fine with, and was consistent through the game on both sides of the ball. Excellent job.

Two big results. We have not beaten Rutgers in a long time, but history showed us that we have beaten them before so we were confident in our team. Two timely goals in the second half and one heinous crime! Just seven minutes into the half we caused enough problems to have their back line scrambling to make plays, as Page continues his run forward to clean up the pieces. Just 16 minutes later we would see the crime of the ages... a young, bustling midfielder from the West Coast coming to the City of Brotherly Love (so he thought) to further his academic and athletic prowess. A young man eager to make his mark in this world and pursue his dreams. It's a story the warms the cockles of your heart, right to the core.

The young man is California native and Drexel Dragons Freshman midfielder, Adam Arana. Poor kid didn't even see it coming...the culprit? Meanest, baddest, kid in the world - our #16, Ken Tribbett (for those that know Ken, you know this couldn't be further from the truth in terms of being a correct description!!! Isn't that always the case, Kenny apparently will slit your throat with a smile...). Adam plays and runs forward, well done, a staple of what we do. He gets the return pass from Page and strikes a ball that beats Rutgers' keeper and is about to get his first collegiate goal when out of the blue, it happens. "Mr. Nice Guy" Ken Tribbett slides in and steals Adam's thunder. Check out the picture and you tell me?!?

So both Adam and I ask you, where is the LOVE???

William and Mary ended up being another statistic breaker...love it! Down 1-0, 17 minutes in and the looming statistic of the team that scores first wins in the air. Just twelve minutes later, the Dragons are on top of the game through goals from Maty Brennan and the Thief, aka the Dancing Machine, aka Kenny Tribbett (did you see his celebration, a romantic spotlight dance between KT, not JT...that's Justin Timberlake for you older blog readers... and Colin "I Got Moves Like Jagger" McGlynn). Click the Link - THE DANCE Well done boys!

So a return to the City of Brotherly Love this week...@ Penn tonight for a Battle of 33rd Street (join us for the walk over, we are literally walking over from the DAC) and home to Temple on Saturday for Alumni Day...hoping for some more love and to see you all out in support of your Drexel Dragons!

Regards,
Doug

Yellow

Look at the stars,
Look how they shine for you,
And everything you do,
Yeah, they were all yellow.

I came along,
I wrote a song for you,
And all the things you do,
And it was called "Yellow".

So then I took my turn,
Oh what the things have done,
And it was all yellow.


Hmmm, perhaps I should go with another favorite song from Coldplay on my game day iTunes playlist... Two home games, and two yellow cards!!! Honestly, they are the first two I have ever received in 12 years of being a college head coach! Chris Martin is in my ear I think when things start getting, lets say..."unsettled"...during the game... I start humming his tune and next thing you know, I see yellow!

I jest, but do need to settle a bit I guess. I walked in the house after our most recent victory over fellow Philly rival, LaSalle, only to receive the inquisition from the Boss... I walk in, feeling good... chest out... cracker of a goal from Dono (what a header it was! have a look, possible early Goal of the Year candidate??? For sure!)... above .500 for first time this season... and the questions begin:

"So, how did it go" in that tone that my fellow married guys are all too familiar with; it's not really "hey, how did it go because I don't know what the score is", it's "how did it go because I know what you did."

I answer with a the classic dumb guy approach, "Good, we won 1-0. Didn't you see?" (knowing full well that she saw, and SAW everything...)

"Oh, anything else?" which is quite coy of her...she knows full well I got a yellow and just wants me to sweat some more before the real grilling starts! Oh you women and your games...

I try to trump her and just spill it because it is 10:30 pm, we have practice the next morning and now I am not up for the game at all...

"Yeah, I got another yellow."

Calmly (which I think disturbs me more) she says, "So what happened?" Which isn't like, how did these mean officials wrong my wonderful, loving and so charming husband, more like, What did you do stupid face? Which to be fair is probably more accurate.

So I start my defense... "Kris, it's unbelievable what they let go. These guys and they are not like the officials we used to have down south. They aren't as sharp with off the ball stuff. I can't NOT protect my guys. Someone needs to speak up on their behalf!" (Yeah that's the ticket, she needs to see her knight in shining armor protect his team... oh yeah, she will totally be on board for that).

Not buying one little cent of it! The response...

"So you did nothing wrong and got a yellow for that." Oh she is good...too good... she has inside info... this isn't going to end well for me!

I lose any coolness I had, blast some incoherent fragmented sentences ("Well they didn't... And it was wrong... And my shoes were on wrong...Ahhh,is that the phone?), storm out, trying to pull the strong-arm tough guy move, but surely it ends in a meek concession of defeat!

That was theraputic for me, thanks! I have made the promise though, no more yellows...(not good that I came up with the bright idea to make yellow our home kit this year as well...like all yellow... top to bottom... hmm, maybe it is the uniform's fault! Yeah, stupid uniform made me do it.. Or perhaps it is the obscenely, aggressive photo of me up above on the blog page that is making me do it...I think I need to get that changed out, put a milder, calmer Doug on the blog page...yes, that is it...that pic is amping me up too much, that's what's wrong with me).

Anyhow, two solid wins since we last chatted. A come from behind victory on the road at Lehigh (smashing the stats as my sister quickly pointed out to me post-game via text - she's a math geek and thought she could get one up on me after I released the stat that 85.7% of all the games I have coached at Drexel, the team that scores first ends up winning). We needed that win and needed that win in that fashion. A grind it out, dig in, come-from-behind victory! It wasn't pretty, but it was gritty and you need both those elements in college athletics. Dono gives us the spark we need off the bench, despite feeling under the weather, cracking home the first and Pagey seals the deal after collecting a Connor Goldsmith pass at the top of the box. Wow, awesome!

Onto cross-town foe, LaSalle. I always contend it is much harder to dictate than it is to question, harder to solve problems than identify them, harder to build than it is to destroy. This is what I ask of our team. To control tempo, to do all we can to dominate the minutes of soccer, to be creative not destructive. Defending is a part of soccer no doubt, you must defend in order to win, but you also must score in order to win as well. It is a balance, but one that we want to teeter far more towards building, towards dominating possession, towards being creative.

The real test is, how patient can you be when you are not getting the goal that you need to win. Apparently, we needed to be 89 minutes and 53 seconds patient.... What a goal Dono, what a goal!

So hope you can make this evenings installment of the Magical Mystery Tour (aka The Drexel Dragons Men's Soccer Team's Season)... Some great promo's on tap as the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers University find their way to Vidas for a 7 pm kick-off; Dollar Dogs (can't use dinner as an excuse, we have it for ya, and cheap too!) and $250 in Dragon Dollars for a half-time contest on the line! Welcome back week is here...come out and support your Dragons tonight, who knows you too might see yellow!

Stay in touch,
Doug

Where Does All the Time Go?!?

So much to do and so little time!!!! Wow, it crept up on us didn't it people? One minute your enjoying the sweet, worry-less life of summer and the next, well your heart gets ripped out in an agonizing loss...not real pleasant.

It is indeed here, the Roller Coaster Ride a.k.a. "College Soccer Season!" And already, we've been up and down the first few twists and turns (I think I got sick a time or two already from the the twists and turns, I have motion sickness I must admit...no fun it was as a youth, nor as an adult... matter of fact, first time my lovely wife flew on a plane with me she witnessed it first hand... first the sweats start, then he goes quiet - that's when you know it's all over, Doug goes quiet...).

Valuable lessons learned already in the first couple of weeks. College athletics are funny this way, and more so, this game (soccer) can be so frustrating. Play good enough and lose, play well and tie, play really well and still lose. It is a game so much about opportunity and what you do with it in those moments - just like life! Soccer mimics the rhythms of life, sometimes you are up even though you shouldn't be and sometimes you are down, even though you shouldn't be...

I have been impressed through the first month with our ability to keep possession of the ball. The simplicity of passes we choose and the orchestration of movement off the ball at times are simply put, lovely...ballet like if I might add. But as I told our guys, the game is still about scoring - always will be. So 278 successful passes in the first half against Sacred Heart, 150+ of them in their half and down 1-0 at the half!!! Umm, now you know why I have a receding hair line...(used to be a forehead, now it is looking more like a five!!!).

Forward play and possession are fantastic, but you must get shots on frame to score (I have seen some poor officiating in my life, but I am yet to see an official call a goal on a ball that went wide of frame...that being said, I wouldn't be surprised it one did call it - I'm still bitter about the yellow card I drew on Sunday against Stonybrook...my first yellow card as a college coach! Hard to believe I am sure for most, seeing as how I drew a few of those in my day as a player...but honestly, first card as a coach...not saying I haven't deserved one or two to this point, but nonetheless I've been card-less, until Sunday that is...as long as we throw out the one red card I received as a youth coach in North Carolina while I was coaching none other than Junior centerback for the Dragons, Robert Liberatore, on his U-15 club team - I got sent off while we were up 4-0 late in the second half because I told the ref he was a clown, I mean come on the big red shoes and nose were a dead give-a-way...Rob will at least attest to that - upon which he showed me red because "he took offense to that comment.")

Early on I enlightened the guys to an unfamiliar stat - most games that are won (not tied), are won by teams that score first. Funny thing is that most think it is roughly 70%. Well in my time at Drexel, 85.7% is the number....staggering! Currently this year, the stat is ringing true (FDU wins on 1st goal scored, Seton Hall scores first gets draw - that's a half when figuring, Sacred Heard, and win v. Stony Brook all true!)...the team that scores first this season has won 87.5% of the time!

You either embrace the stats or you attempt to smash them. That's where we are at...an earlier kick-off this evening is planned up in the Lehigh Valley as there is some weather to tend to. Looks like a 6 pm start at Lehigh...as it is an early start, we too hope for an early goal for the Dragons and the stats hold true (if not, somethings getting smashed!!!)!

Hope to see you at the game, if not you can watch it on their website tonight for free Lehigh vs. Drexel

Have a great day!

Regards,
Doug

Let's Go Banqueting...

Spring is in the air (finally) and that means it is Banquet Season once again! Just a week away and we will be putting on our besties (that's French for really nice clothes) to celebrate a season of accomplishments: an out-right CAA Championship, a national ranking, an at-large berth to the Dance for the first time in 40 years, as well as the many individual accomplishments.

Can't make it you say, hmmm, well then we will bring a snippet of the banquet to you! That's the kind of guy I am (no, not the creepy guy with the sweet track-suit and serious handle-bar 'tache, but the kind that is going to allow you to participate in the festivities even though you can't get here). No closed circuit web-cams (that goes in the tracksuit/creepy 'tache category), just some online voting folks - Goal and Save of the Year voting is back!

New for this year (because we actually scored some goals), we added a third category - Assist & Goal of the Year! I am biased of course, but we play the ultimate team sport and therefore we must have a category that reflects the beauty of the orchestrated pass as much as the end product...don't you agree? So here they are folks, have a look at the links on our Youtube page and then click the link below to vote on our Survey Monkey:

1. Save of the Year
2. Assist & Goal of the Year
3. Goal of the Year


VOTE NOW - CLICK HERE!


Not only does spring mean banqueting, it also means a return to the field for our non-traditional season. The guys have been training hard for the last several months and we will be taking the field again today, Sunday, at the Jersey Shore against Monmouth University (I believe Pauly D. is going to be on the 1's & 2's for pre-game tunes - it's bound to be a blow-out...cricket, cricket...) for a 12 pm kick-off.


Harrisburg City Islanders 1 - Drexel University 1

A cool, crisp evening....perfect weather for a soccer game! So for our first time out, it was not a bad showing. There were definitely some cobwebs in terms of sharpness and quality, particularly in the final third of the field, but this is to be expected when you have a three month competitive lay-off.

Our opponents featured a couple of their signed players, along with many aspiring trialists...including one of our very own, Malcolm LeBourne. The game was a bit of the perfect storm - a college teams first game back paired with a group of starving-artists trying to get their first break in the form of a USL contract! Needless to say, the first 15-20 minutes were a frantic pace before the game actually settled.

The City Islanders struck first with an early goal inside the first 10 minutes of play. A turn-over on our part as we built out of the back and through the middle third, led to a quick counter by our opponent. Teachable moment though for us, as we preach against soft square balls in the middle third and unnecessary one touch turn-overs.

Again, while we were not at our sharpest it was clear that the competitive juices were flowing through our guys and they wanted to turn the game our way. As a coach you always want to see your team compete and play with intent to win, regardless of your opponent or circumstances. Our guys did just that and in my opinion, created the larger part of the chances through the game. In the 76th minute, their commitment to setting the game right paid off on a clever little back heel from Matt Didomenico.

It was our fourth corner of the half and we were really showing signs of pushing the game forward. A Michele Pataia corner found the head of Jarrod Neser at the back post. Nees headed for goal, it was blocked and Dido was there to pounce on the pieces with a nifty back-heel that froze the City Islanders' keeper.

A night of firsts - Dido's first collegiate goal and young Jameson Detweiler's first go at left back. Jame-o put a solid 65 minutes in patrolling the left flank and showed well; and Dido, well you can only score your first goal once...well done Deeds!

Hope to see you out on the fields through April!

All the best,
Doug

The 40 Year Wait...

Wow Folks! If that is not the understatement of the year... Did you tune-in and watch the NCAA Selection Show? Did you doubt? Did you waiver in your belief? Did you let the slightest little bit of negativity creep between your toes as they went from bracket to bracket... to bracket... and to bracket... the last bracket... the last chance... before your Drexel Dragons were finally announced?!? Wow, what an absolute delight to hear those words... "And our final first round match-up is here, welcome to the tournament Brown and DREXEL!"

I would be remiss if I did not say this folks... "Let's Dance!"

Go on Donna, sing it for us:
(If you're new to Donna Summer, stay with...after a minute and a half it catches on and you will start tapping your toes and before you know it - BAM, Flash Mob Dance Scene...we just had one in the office with Academics...)

Yea, will you be my Mr. Right?
Can you fill my appetite?
I can be sure that you're the one for me
But all that I ask is that you dance with me
Dance with me, dance with me, yeah yeah

So let's dance, the last dance
Let's dance, the last dance
Let's dance, the last dance tonight


Gotta love that tune, no? As our sports information assistant, Sam Angell, said, "We waited 40 years, what's another few minutes at that point?" Wow Sam! The eruption of emotion was nothing shy of volcanic...the mood, electric....the faces, ecstatic... 40 years in the making and literally the last name called, simply awesome my friends!

(Watch it for yourself, Asst. Coach Cory Roberston caught all of it... Drexel Men's Soccer NCAA Selection Show)

Tournament play is fickle, isn't it? For those that were there, they know how much we did through the Hofstra game to win it. However, when your thoughts are dominated by the premise "survive and advance," you tend to get tight in the wrong moments. Soccer is a silly game. It is played for 90 minutes, the ball is out of play for nearly a third of that time, and then the game can get dumbed down to whether you are good or poor in 6 or 8 moments; albeit in front of the goal you are attacking or the one you are defending.

As our hearts were torn out while the penalties played out, I kept coming back to the fact that there were enough moments prior to then - in the 90 minutes of regulation and the 20 of over-time. Post-game, I told our team this. We did enough through run of play that you can never point to one moment, it is the collection of moments/opportunities that we created and we just were not good enough in those moments. "Good Season"..."Good try Coach"..."Next year"... Some of what I heard post-game Friday night...really? You think this over already? I don't...

Move ahead 3 days...after the longest 63 hours and 44 minutes of our lives, into the best moment yet as a Dragon! I couldn't be more pleased as the coach of this group. I played it out all weekend long with Associate AD, Nick Gannon (did I say Associate...my bad, I meant Deputy Director), my wife, my parents, my assistants...and anyone that would listen! We talked and talked it through... "They can't leave us out, can they? This team has too much, right?" With the help of trusty stat-man, Sam Angell, Nick put the case together for our body of work:

12-3-3 overall, 8-1-1 in the CAA...
Regular Season Championship...
6-0-2 in our last eight games...
Road Warriors: 7-2-1 on the road (5-0 in the CAA)...
Wins over tournament teams...
Top 30 RPI...

"How can they leave us out?" I went to bed Sunday night optimistic and fought my negative-self all day long on Monday. I just kept saying, they have to give this team an opportunity, they can't deny our body of work... Awesome to watch the players responses, to see the nerves build and then to let all that tension go!

So it is time to open a new page in Drexel Men's Soccer History...first time playing Brown University...first time hosting an NCAA Tournament game in any sport at Drexel ...first time in 40 years participating in the College Cup...

I hope you can make it out to Vidas and be a part of this season with us...we want a 1,000 people in those stands, NCAA College Cup Soccer is in Philly folks! If you cannot get out, watch it live web-stream on our website www.drexeldragons.com Game time is 4 pm at Vidas Athletic Complex (43rd & Powelton Avenue), but the memory will last forever!

I could not be prouder to say, I AM A DRAGON!

Regards,
Doug

Trick-or-Treat....nah nah nah Folks, It's Trick-AND-TREAT!

Well well well, look at me I'm Sandra Dee... the year is 1978 and although only four years old at the time, I knew that Grease was indeed the word (click on that link and go back, and if the song is before your time...click it anyway and get swept away in a time/space continuum...the timeless sound of the Jersey Boy, Frankie Valli!). Sandy, all fine with her bad-self...

Sandra Dee: "Danny?"

Danny Zuko: "That's my name, don't wear it out!"

Sandra Dee: "What's the matter with you?"

Danny Zuko: "What's the matter with me, baby, what's the matter with you?"

(love it Danny, great comeback...a question with a question...when I do that, I usually get the old, "Really Doug..." - remember that's my wife's name for me...)

Sandra Dee: "What happened to the Danny Zuko I met at the beach?"

Danny Zuko: "Well I don't know, maybe there's two of us. Why don't you take out a missing person's ad or try the yellow pages? I don't know."

Sandra Dee: "You're a fake and a phony and I wish I never laid eyes on you!"


WOW! Powerful words...fast-forward... the year is 2012... and Sandy has apparently returned! The greatest storm of all-time, Franken-storm, all the weather nerds in the forecast booths said...


So Sandy got her revenge on Mr. Zuko and pushed all this week's CAA Men's Soccer competition back to Friday (that was a long way to go just for that, a bit of a metaphorical stretch wasn't it...)...what does that mean for us? Well, a little bit of a Trick - we're not gonna play Wednesday - paired with a very large TREAT my friends! That means all those that wanted to use the mid-week/workday excuse not to attend our clash with the JMU Dukes, now have no excuse!!! The potential CAA Championship game (if we win, we win the League folks) is now the start to a potentially delicious fall weekend to kick-off November...(a.k.a. "No-Shave-November" ..."Mo-vember" if you wish - mustaches are an acceptable facial hair choice during play-off runs... this was preceded by "Unkempt" October...a.k.a. my excuse to stop shaving... also known as Red October - only the Phil's didn't make the play-offs - so it's the Hunt for Red October... oh, guess what? You found him, Red October is here! With my red beard and all!).


But before we talk anymore about Friday, let's get a quick re-cap (and by quick, I mean drawn out with senseless analogies) of our Wednesday business trip back to the Island of Strong...a bountiful land mass beneath the afternoon shadows of Gotham City with fertile lands producing two of your present-day Dragons...birth place of one Douglas Frederick Von Hess III (slightly embellished, it's just Douglas Frederick Hess...I was almost Dieter and not Doug, thanks for that last minute switch Mom and Dad...might have been rough growing up on the Island as a Dieter...) and one Matthew Ernesto Massimo DiDomenico (bigger embellishment...actually, it's just Matthew Eric DiDomenico, I think the Italian theme on bus trips - Godfather Trilogoy, Rocky Anthology - is slowly eating away at the slight sense of reality that I behold). So Long Island, the land of the strip mall! A strip mall every other block; a strip mall that always has a bagel shop, a pizzeria, a deli, a cleaners and some sort of 5 & Dime Shop...

Expert travelers at this point in the season (with the exception of my "shoe" incident, but clearly that wasn't my fault...totally a TSA Conspiracy against me...), we left Philly at 12:15 pm for a 7 pm kick-off in Hempstead (a bit early you say? ah, of course...a little thing called traffic - we beat it of course - our driver, Alex, was magic! Oh, and we did take in the next two Rocky films... Rocky III on the way and IV on the way home...double magic! We love to get to our opponent's field 2 hours prior to kick-off on away games...gets us on sight and able to go through our normal routine like we were playing at home...plus an earlier departure would afford Dido and I some of the nostalgic tastes of our youth...the strip mall!). We chose Carlino's Pizzeria & Ristorante...a classic Italian joint on the Island, with a full wall-mural and all! (I think I saw our only real Italian - Michele Pataia - shed the smallest of tears, which is pretty small considering he is just a little guy, as he stared at the mural in bewilderment, taking himself back to the coastal village he was born in, beneath the shade of Mt. Vesuvius...(ummm, now a major embellishment...he was born in Rome, a.k.a. Roma to real Italians).

I digress (is that even possible at this point? Can you say babel???), a good meal and then off to the Pride's Den. The game got off to a great start - 1-0 us early on from yet another Nathan Page strike (for those wondering, yes, we keep feeding him the same thing...hence the scoring streak). He is having a run of it and we are excited that he is scoring goals, six games in a row...eight of the last nine for those counting. The last two games have been interesting...perhaps a little too interesting for my liking, but as I sit and think on it...it's probably my own doing!


How you ask? Well, we have been watching dramatic endings to dramatic movies every bus trip we have been on and I think the guys are starting to play act...hear me out on this one... Rocky I on the way down to the Towson trip...I use Rocky as my pre-game talk...we watch Rocky II on the way home...home game after that trip with Delaware, but Rocky is on the brain... a late goal against Delaware is needed to tie the game and it goes the full distance, 110 minutes (um, Rocky I - he doesn't beat Apollo, but Rocky goes the distance...hmm, coincidence?)... On the road again to Georgia, but no movie so Rocky stays on the brain...what happens? 90th minute PK save by Tim Washam to deliver a win (ok, Rocky II - both Apollo & Rocky hit the canvas in the 15th round, the last round of the fight...hmm similar to the 90th minute of our game???...Rocky saves the win by getting to his feet while Apollo fails to get up...Tim saves the game with a huge stop and GSU fail to get up... alright, getting a bit erie now...).


Onto Hofstra...we take in Rocky III and IV... as I said we score early in the game, but then we concede a late goal, only to have some late heroics on a Robert "Yes I am Italian and Inspired By Your Movie Choices Coach Hess" Liberatore (strange middle name his parents' gave him...) "strike" a.k.a. a driven service that missed everyone crashing the goal bounced on the overly firm turf and managed to hit the top corner in an un-savable fashion but I will play it off like that is what I meant to do... (Rob is now an "attacking" center back in his mind...notice I said in "his" mind...I kid you Rob, I love that you scored!)... Now the analogy - Rocky has his way with all those chumps and bums / cupcakes that he fights (aka...we score an early goal) then takes the beating of his life by Clubber Lang ("No I don't hate Balboa, but I pity the fool"...what a great character!!!), we get hit on the chin and concede a late goal to Hofstra... Rocky questions himself (he question whether he can h-a-n-g... with Clubber L-a-n-g...you like that little rhyme sauce) reinvigorates, and rematches... similarly, we question ourselves for a brief moment in that second half, can we really dig this out? We start to find our rhythm again... Rocky starts to find his (although his rhythm somehow involves getting smashed in the head with haymakers from Mr. T, I mean Clubber Lang , go on click that one, I dare ya)... he starts to enjoy the beating, "Come on Champ, ain't so bad...ain't so bad..." Rocky comes back - The Dragons come back... ok now this is getting downright theatrical!!!

Folks, all the more reason to join us 7:00 pm this Friday night at Vidas Athletic Complex...it's Senior Night...it's the last regular season game...it's a Title Bout...and I'm wondering if Sly Stalone himself is going to show up!

Get Yo' Facial Hair going and get out to 43rd & Powelton this Friday for Tricks AND Treats!

Happy Halloween,
Doug