I actually showed up a half-hour early for the first game, and found our field immediately. Several of my teammates were already there, and were patiently waiting for things to get going. I joined them, and we started throwing around and chatting like we always do. We were waiting for the team from Beaumont to arrive.
We waited...and waited...and...waited. They never showed. Steve (referee and head of the league) called several times, to no avail. They had left on time, but it was surmised that they had probably gotten lost during the trip. They were a no show.
We won that game.
Upon discussing the situation, we found that if we beat our arch-rivals(Northwest) in the afternoon, then on Sunday, we would be playing for the championship against one of two teams that we already KNEW we could beat! Not only that, but we were fresh and ready for the afternoon game!!! So we went to Hooters to have some lunch and further discuss the situation. I didn't know that there's a channel called ESPNU which is devoted to college sports, but apparently there is...and Hooters has it. So we talked about playing lacrosse while we watched the Loyola vs Johns Hopkins lacrosse game, and prepared to play a lacrosse game in a couple of hours...we were in lacrosse heaven.
We came back to the fields after lunch and watched the end of the Space City/Southside game. The thought of beating Northwest and moving on to the finals excited all of us, and I know that I was amped up and ready to rock and roll. I couldn't sit still, so I ended up hanging around the endline and retrieving errant shots and out of bounds passes for the game in progress.
Finally, it was time for our game, and we were ready for action. The game started with a bang...NW won the faceoff, sprinted downfield and promptly scored the first goal.
Fine.
On the next play, our faceoff man, Peter K., flipped the ball to me, I hauled my big butt upfield and...I scored!! I was so excited that I did a tornado kick afterwards. Sorry. Couldn't be helped.
After that, it kind of went downhill. All of us did the best we could, but there were lots of little things that did us in. A missed scoop here, a dropped pass there, that sort of thing. The score slowly started to slide in the wrong direction, and we just couldn't...get it...back.
There were a couple of notable moments...one of our guys (who shall remain nameless) ended up with a totally split pair of shorts. He managed to get the ball after scuffling with one of their guys, and as he looked upfield to pass it, his shorts dropped around his ankles. Apparently, one of the opposing players had hooked his fingers in there somehow and ripped them quite effectively down the back. Fortunately for us all, he had athletic tights on underneath, and we let him borrow another pair of shorts.
Tom, the fantastic Green Goalie, stopped an awful lot of shots today...my hat's off to him, as always. And Peter K was a faceoff machine!! I swear, I don't know how he doesn't break his darned stick every time. All the guys busted their butts out there, though...everyone gave it everything they had.
I had a couple of...well, interesting moments. Once, I managed to get the ball, under pressure, and sprinted towards the offensive side of the field while the opposing team decided to use me as a pinata. For a nearly-40-year-old guy, I can actually run pretty fast. Especially when guys are trying to beat the crap out of me with sticks. I managed to evade most of them, but finally had one spin move too many, and my pass to a teammate went awry. Fortunately, one of the guys had apparently slashed (used an illegal check) on me during my run, so we got the ball back anyway.
No one that I hit today actually fell down. That was truly disappointing and a bit unusual. Wait, one guy stumbled and went to a knee, so maybe that counts. I did do some good here and there on defense...I'm usually fast enough to get into position to play solid defense, and sometimes just being in the way of the guy with the ball is enough. Other times, I just beat on the guy until he drops the ball. I really love doing that.
By the time the game ended, we were down 17-7. I hated hearing that last whistle blow. It meant that we won't take the field again for about 9 months. 9 looooong months. I am far from the best player on the team...oh, waaaaay far from it. But the fact is that I love to play. I just really love to be a part of my team, to get out there and play a rough, fast-paced game, to feel like I've given everything my body has in it so that I don't let my teammates down.
Guys, next year's coming...and we're going to kick some major butt. Go Green!
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