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