Technically...

I was so glad that practice went so well last night. I definitely feel like we're coming together much more effectively. Even though we scrimmaged for less time than we have been previously, I feel like it was a higher quality of play. I know that there were a lot of times when we probably could have been whistled for a two on one. However, in reality I don't think they would have been called. The key to the two on one is two players playing the ball at one time. If one player happens to be 9 feet away he or she is technically violating the two on one rule. However, if he or she is not involved in the play, there's no way that would be called because, at least in the videos I watched online, the referees try to preserve the flow of the game as much as possible. So, we definitely had some violations that would have been called, but I do feel like we preserved the one-on-one style of the game which is why that rule was created anyway. Otherwise, I saw some nice passing, improved ball control definitely doing our dribbling drills, and better defense all the way around as there was only one goal scored throughout our entire scrimmage which is much lower than normal. Anyway, I think that we are definitely becoming a better team. We are beginning to learn how to utilize each other better and anticipate what each of us is going to do. We have just under three weeks until we play, so I'm glad we are coming together.

Great Numbers!

What do you think about UVM men's hockey? Yeah, I don't really know either. Tough year so far. Well, I know they lost a lot from last season, so maybe it is a rebuilding year. Anyway, so as I wrote yesterday, I have power soccer tonight. I already talked about myself, but let me know mention that if our Facebook event is any indication, this might be our biggest practice ever! Normally we have seven or eight players, but tonight we are shooting for 10 people which is awesome! This means that we have two teams with a substitute for each team. We have had remarkable growth from having only three or four players at points last spring. Pretty much every week we can now have a scrimmage which is obviously the most fun part of practice. Drills are definitely necessary, so I don't want to come across like they are not important at all, but we all know scrimmaging is the best. Just a side note on that, remember in Hoosiers when they always run just drills and the players complain, he quickly explains that "My practices are not designed for your enjoyment." Maybe we shouldn't go that far, but drills are important just like scrimmaging, so all you need to balance them properly.

Space is My Friend

Even though my Fiction Friday concept didn't last long, I like the idea of a routine. So at least for now, Sunday will become the day I think about what I need to do better at power soccer practice this week.

• First, I think that I need to develop my sense of space. I'm not sure if the court we play on is actually regulation size although I think it is. Therefore, I need to discover how to use space efficiently. While watching the Atlanta Synergy one day, the announcer emphasized how they do not necessarily look to pass to a teammate as much as they try to pass to an open space on the floor. I need to think about how I can use space to help my teammates.

• Once I learn how to pass to the open space, I need to be able to use open space better when I do not have the ball to be in position to receive passes and make plays. Namely, this involves anticipating a pass back when the ball is tied up between two opposing players. I try to do this, but I definitely can still continue improving my senses.

Black and White

You know, this is definitely stating the obvious, but the more you learn about anything, the more you realize you really know very little. See, I told you it was obvious. I think that the reason this comes about is because questions can be answered in multiple ways. Then, each of those answers is a different possibility that can then lead to more questions. That's what I am beginning to think about power soccer. Some things that seemed so obvious are definitely not obvious. For example, if you think about the problem of the 2 on 1. The official rule is honestly different than what gets called. If two players are not actively playing the ball, if there are slightly too close together, it is not definitely enforced. At the same time, some referees call them all the time. Therefore, we have introduced a variation. Each variation has its own solution. However, there could be more than one solution. For example, if the ref is calling the 2 on 1 all the time, possible solutions could be either to keep your game plan the way it is or to adapt to an unfamiliar style that would also limit violations. Black-and-white issues aren't so black and white.

Hot Stove Season

Okay, if any of you remember my wheelchair ski jumping post, going down the ramp this morning was as close as I have ever gotten to experiencing this sport. However, we made it down and all was well. Now, you all may know that Christmas was one month from yesterday. Therefore, we are into the final month. How many of you have not started shopping yet? Anyway, while we are all shopping, so it's Major League Baseball. Unfortunately, the Phillies really haven't made much of a move yet as far as acquiring new talent. We have re-signed José Contreras, but the biggest question mark right now is Jayson Werth. The rumors have been flying that they might be finding a new team because the Phillies can't afford to keep him and his agent, Scott Boras. Also, with Dominic Brown waiting in the wings, there is a very capable replacement. Personally, I think that the most interesting story in regards to this free-agent season is Derek Jeter. Could it be that the man who has represented the Yankees for over a decade might be leaving the pinstripes? Personally, I hope he doesn't. The Yankees spend so much money anyhow, what does it matter if they overpay Jeter? Again personally, I don't think that $15,000,000 is too much for a player that has not much of an influence on a franchise. $15,000,000 is too much for anyone, but relative to the market, Jeter provides a lot more than just his talent. He is a leader that the Yankees would regret losing.
Photo by Keith Allison on Flickr

Power Soccer Styles Part Two

As promised yesterday, today we'll talk about a few other power soccer styles namely the San Jose Steamrollers and the RHI Sudden Impact. To start with the contrasts, I need to establish I'm talking about the Sudden Impact of 2009 which is after JC and Natalie Russo went to Ball State but before Katie Dickey went to Arizona State. Basically, San Jose has two complete lines. Both of them are insanely talented, but there are two distinct styles. One is more of a finesse team while the other has much more power. The point is that they use a lot of players. The contrast is that the Sudden Impact of the era that I have indicated essentially played a two-person game. A majority of the time Katie or Jordan Dickey was handling the ball or playing defense. The third player on the floor, usually Andrew Seever, played forward but was mainly used as the weak side sniper. As the ball rolled across the floor, he was normally wide open to finish off the goal. Basically, the point I am trying to make is that one team rotates so many players whereas another team basically played three players with a definite focus on two. Again, just like I said yesterday, you have to play with what you have, and both of these teams used definitely different strategies and both experienced tremendous success.
Photo by Power Soccer Shop

Power Soccer Styles Part One

It is surprising how many variations can be made from four players playing on a power soccer team. Note that all of the styles I will mention are drawn from video that I have watched on Xable.com from a few years ago. Therefore, while they might not be representative of the teams I mention anymore, they are still definitely relevant styles. One style is that of the Atlanta Synergy. Essentially, everybody is a forward. Even the goaltender plays an extremely aggressive style that often involves coming out almost to half court much of the time. On the other hand, the Circle City Rollers are much more conservative and star driven. As a contrast, it is extraordinarily rare to see their goaltender leave the box or even the goal line. However, they don't really need to do that because Michael Archer is essentially everywhere. He is definitely the general out there. The Synergy plays much more of a team oriented game. I feel like it is much more of an opportunistic style. The player who has control of the ball tends to attack whereas it seems like Circle City always tends to run back to Archer in some way because he is always right where the ball is. Both teams are highly successful, and both do it in separate ways. Tomorrow, I have a few more teams to talk about namely the San Jose Steamrollers and the RHI Sudden Impact.

Practice Recap

Well, practice went pretty well last night. Actually, it went very well except for the fact that we had a tip over. Fortunately, it wasn't me, but that always shakes people up a little bit. You know, it does happen, and basically all you can do is minimize your risk. It happens to the best of them. Other than that, it was relatively uneventful. We ran some drills that went relatively well. The scrimmage was particularly interesting if not exciting. There weren't really a ton of goals, but it was interesting to see how our team is coming together. We definitely seem to be getting more chemistry. I had not played on the same team as Nate for about three or four months. Typically we end up on separate teams because we are good match for each other. However, we figured that we should play together at least once before going to New Hampshire just so we had some chemistry and had some idea of how each other played. Let me just say that it was interesting at first. We had a few lapses at the beginning, but we began to get it together by the end. I now think everyone has played together which is going to be good for New Hampshire. It is good to know how each other plays and how best to enhance their strengths.

Vermont Power Soccer

So, I think that it would be pretty awesome to get another power soccer team going in Vermont. The more I watch our friends at UNH play, the more I want to play. Unfortunately, they are our closest opponent, so that is a bit of a trip. However, if the new team could continue to get started in Franconia, and if we could get another team going somewhere in Vermont, that would be pretty great for us. I'm not sure where we're going to find these athletes, but I know they're out there. It seems as if many people who use wheelchairs are not always very public simply because going out too much could be difficult without help. However, I have heard stories while watching games on the Internet about players who never really did anything outside the house until they started playing soccer. Once people get hooked, they figure out a way to play. I think that this could happen in southern Vermont. For example, Rutland has quite a few people, so maybe they could find four power wheelchair users. Brattleboro and Bennington might be able to get it together as well. Again, I am just hypothesizing, but I would bet there are enough players in southern Vermont to somehow put together a team.

Practice Plans

Alright, so I'm on vacation and I have power soccer tomorrow. Pretty awesome combination. Let me do my traditional "what I need to work on tomorrow" post.
• I have realized something very important about myself. Basically, in order to drive backwards quickly I need to hold my control differently than going forward quickly. So, I need to remember that and make a conscious effort to move my hands as quickly as possible.
• I need to remember that there is a time to pass, but there is also time to push the ball as an individual. Sometimes, if I drive the ball forward there might be a better opportunity to pass later. There is an important distinction between when to pass and when to dribble on. I tend to pass even if I have room in front of me to keep on pushing the ball which is a mistake.
• I need to get better at my one-on-one skills. I can play defense pretty well and I am pretty solid in the box, but I need to learn how to get around people on offense. I do have one nice move that tends to work very well, but as I've learned from basketball, post players need one solid post move, and then they need a move that will enable the player to not become too predictable. In theory, the second move would appear like the first one except have a different result so that if the defender anticipates the first move, it would appear different.
I hope you all enjoy this because I know that it is good for me to actually set goals.

The Great Wheelchair Debate

The other day I wrote about all of the different types of power soccer guards on the market. Today, let's talk about the soccer chairs. Basically, the models are different but the two predominant brands are Quickie or Invacare. I have heard varying reports. I used to drive Quickie wheelchairs when I was younger, and I even had a P200 which by many reports is the ultimate power soccer chair. However, now that I need tilt and space, that chair would not be an option anymore. Therefore, I have become an Invacare user. As to where I lie on the debate, obviously for me Invacare is the best choice because I could not play in the alternative. I have also seen some highly successful players use both types of chairs. For example, Michael Archer who many people regard as one of the best players in the world uses a P200. However, it is not just the chair that makes him great; he has amazing court sense to go along with a very long guard to help him make plays that most players could not. On the other side, Jerome "Pika" Durand uses an Invacare and that has not stopped him from garnering consideration as one of the best in the world. He is incredibly smart and uses his teammates better than anyone else I have ever watched. So the verdict comes down to individual skills. Obviously you want your chair to be able to spin kick well as well as go the maximum 6.2 mph forward, but it seems to me that both companies build a few models of wheelchairs that put you on a level field for playing soccer. The difference comes from the individual player if the only thing different between the chairs is brand.

A Little Warmth

All I can say is that I am happy it is Friday. I never thought I'd be so excited for a vacation, but being in college brings a new perspective to vacation. I didn't notice it so much last year, but I think that was because my course load was not half as intense as it is right now. Therefore, it will definitely be nice to have the time off. Anyway, a little bit of a power soccer question. When I play, my driving hand gets very cold. It might be because of the gym we play in because it is cooler, but it happens to my hand everywhere, so I don't think that is necessarily the case. Therefore, I need to buy a glove of some sort to keep my hand warm. However, it needs to be lightweight and flexible enough to not constrict my hand while warm enough to obviously be of some benefit. I have used a rubber glove for the past few weeks and it works alright, but I still could use a better solution. That will be my mission this weekend. I need to develop a way to continue play at the top of my ability all the way through.

New Rule for USPSA

Here's what I think. I think that it should be Friday first of all. I guess I can't change that though, so I really am thinking that the new minimum games requirement instituted by the USPSA worked incredibly well. Although it prevented us from registering because we were not sure if we could have referees and therefore would not have been able to play official games, I think that that requirement is good for the game. We all talk about how you need to play other games to gain experience and improve. However, some teams didn't do this at all because traveling to a comparable opponent would have been difficult. While I am sure that this travel is still difficult, teams are doing it now because they have to. Also, I think that this will also help spur on expansion. I know that none of us wants to travel hours and hours and hours several times a year to meet the requirement. Therefore, I think that we are more encouraged to try to develop new teams in our area so that we will have more immediate competition. I know that a lot of teams do one or two big trips every year, but these trips do add up, so it is beneficial to have teams near you to play the remainder of your games. Anyway, most people don't like rules and regulations, but in this particular case I think that the rule will definitely benefit the game of power soccer and raise the level of competition.

Which Shape Guard Gives the Most Power?

I love my new power soccer chair although I guess it really isn't new anymore. Anyway, another thing I love about it is that it came with a metal guard. However, I'm starting to think about metal guards and what shape produces the best power from a physics perspective or if it really matters. Let me give a rundown of the different types.

The type of guard that I use is produced by the Power Soccer Shop and is sold for $399.99. As you can tell, it has a flat front with rounded corners and flat sides. Personally, I do enjoy using the guard as it is easy to control the ball while going forward.

This next type of guard is produced by the Kick It Shop and is sold for $399.98. It looks very similar to the one I use except for it has sharper corners. I think that it would work very well because personally when I used to play with a plastic guard, I liked having square corners because I felt like they hit harder.

The third type of guard is also produced by the Kick It Shop and is also sold for $399.98. Personally, I think that this guard looks great for an experienced player. I feel like it might be hard to control the ball at first because the rounded design might make it easier for the ball to slip off while dribbling forward. However, the rounded front also allows for several shots at angles that a square guard could not make which is definitely valuable and unexpected.

So, I have no idea if the design matters at all in the power. It may be as simple as the different types of metal used. Can anyone float some physics knowledge out to inform us all about what shape, if any, would allow for the most power with a similar shot or spin?

Watching the Two-on-One

I felt that practice went pretty well last night. There was a lot more contact than normal, but a lot of it was in the flow of the game and probably would not have been penalties in most of the films I've seen. Anything that is guard to guard is generally legal except for when people are not playing the ball of course. As far as I did, it was alright. It was definitely not my best day, but it was definitely fun. As far as I want to improve, I want to avoid the 2 on 1 by communicating better with my teammates so that they know when I am going to leave the defense to them. Also, my one-on-one game needs some more work. I was able to get by the first defender, but I had problems with the second. It really didn't matter who was the first defender or the second; I guess had a lot more trouble with the second. A lot of this might have come from the fact that I didn't want to back up because I thought that defender that I had just gotten by was still right behind me. Of course, I'm sure they were not that behind me because if they had been that close behind me, it would be called as a two on one. Maybe I need to be more aggressive in this respect because if that happened, the defense would be at fault. Again, I think that might have been all in my head because I doubt that there were that many two on one penalties against me. Therefore I need to get over this.

Winter Break

Okay, I am very disappointed right now. If you're from Vermont, you probably heard the story about the man who was stabbed on Halloween by a man dressed up in a gorilla suit. Apparently, according to WCAX, that never really happened. Apparently, he stabbed himself multiple times. That's crazy, but we also lost one of our most bizarre crimes ever. Anyway, I'm sure that's not why you're here to listen to me. You'd much rather hear about power soccer or some other sport. Every winter vacation, I tend to get bored. For example, last year I developed this blog much more seriously during winter vacation. This year, I have a new idea. I'm thinking that I might become power soccer's first sabermetrician. For those of you who don't know what that is, it is basically analyzing the game of power soccer numerically and statistically in order to evaluate a wider and more in-depth range of statistics than just goals, assists, and saves. Of course, the most famous sabermetrician is probably Bill James was really one of the pioneers of the movement for baseball. I don't think anybody has done that for power soccer, so maybe I can be the first.
Photo by PuttyApp.com on Flickr

Tomorrow's Goals

Okay, I know that I am late, but I hope that I didn't ruin your whole day because of it. Anyway, as most of you know who follow my schedule, tomorrow night means power soccer practice. Therefore, let me throw out what I want to do better than I have been doing. I seem to be doing this every week, but it is a good thing to evaluate where I need to improve. Self-evaluation never hurt anybody.
• I need to see the floor better in order to better use my teammates who might be cutting down the floor.
• As I somewhat learned yesterday, I need to anticipate where the ball is going so that I am able to meet it with a solid spin kick. However, I am going to get my turn speed potentially turned up tomorrow by my mechanic so that I will be able to get a more solid spin kick without getting a reverse start.
• I need to improve my one-on-one game that I am able to slip by defenders more efficiently. If my turn speed can go up, this might help me improve that.
So, these are my three main points for tomorrow night that I want to work on. Hopefully, I will be able to develop myself.

Practicing My Weakness

So, realizing that not everyone has followed my power soccer progression, let me review. Basically, one of the biggest things that I wanted to work on was this somewhat infamous spin kick. It is important to work on because if you are restricted to only being able to use the front of your guard there'll obviously be some downfalls when a ball rolls just out of reach. Therefore, that was what I worked on today. With my mom on one end of the gym and my dad on the other, they rolled the ball back and forth across the goal box for me to attack in reverse and finish with the 90° kick. I got this idea from a letter that was written to people who wanted to try out for team USA. Although I wasn't even playing when the team was chosen, that letter was posted on the Internet, and I noticed that this was one of the drills that they needed to be filmed and submitted while trying out. Also, it was reminiscent of a drill that I had run with Jerry Frick in New Hampshire last weekend where we would drive in to score goals with the front of our guard. I just decided that I would turn it up a little bit to develop the skills I need more work with. It was pretty excellent, and I hope to maybe introduce this variation to a few of my teammates who have more experience with the spin kick.

Take to the Air

Let me just say how awesome this is! I was bored at UVM today, so I was looking through the pages of Xable.com. It is a great resource for all people with disabilities. Anyway, they had an article on the website talking about different airlines and how accommodating they are for people in wheelchairs. Anyway, everything in the article was stuff that I had heard before except for one airline that isn't even in existence yet. ChairFlights is a nonprofit that is forming to allow people who must remain in their wheelchairs such as myself to fly. I can't even begin to tell you the impact this could have on the sport of power soccer. Can you imagine what the ability to travel easily could do for all of us athletes? Right now, many teams are separated by hours of driving from their nearest competition. However, if we could fly to another location to play in a matter of hours, imagine how much more teams will be traveling. Not only that, but imagine how much more easily we all could travel anywhere we want to. This is such a great idea, so I really hope that they get off the ground soon!

Down Time

Now is that interesting time of year high school sports are all but on hold. Well actually, here in Vermont there are the championship football games on Saturday, but I don't really care that much about any of the teams that are in them. So, that leaves me in a bit of a predicament with what to do right now. Therefore, what should we do with all of this extra time? It cannot be anything too involved because in a month sports will take back over. It can't be anything too difficult because we do not have enough time to master a new skill. This definitely limits what to do with my free time. So, I still haven't solved my dilemma. I don't want to do something that I can sink a lot of money into. Again, why waste money on something that will only be a temporary hobby. Also, I would like to do something that isn't just a waste of time. Of course, it is much better do something productive with my time. Oh well, who knows what we all will do until high school sports begin again. We all might go insane before we get a chance to find that time.
Photo by joiseyshowaa on Flickr

Sports Addiction

I think that it is interesting how addictive power soccer is. For example, after we got owned by Syracuse, I knew that I had to upgrade my equipment. Similarly, many of my teammates continue to upgrade what they are playing with. More and more metal guards are coming in, and we have had a few new rear-wheel chairs for various people. The amazing part is that mostly people pay for this stuff either out of pocket or with a grant. It is amazing the amount of effort that people are willing to put in to elevate their game. It really is not that much different than any other sport though. If you're a young soccer player here in central Vermont and you want to elevate your game, you play during the regular season but you also sign up for some club team that does cost money. Once you are there, you need to make sure that you have the right equipment such as proper fitting spikes every year. The costs are not all that much different except for the fact that power soccer requires an initial investment but then is essentially over and done with until the wheelchair dies. However, it is awesome that people are willing to invest to improve at a sport that really is awesome.

USPSA Conferences Released

Finally the power soccer conferences have been released. Honestly, I'm not overly surprised by any of the placements. Of course, there are a few teams I have never watched, so I cannot be a total authority on this. I know most of the teams in the Premier division except for the Earthquakes and the Heat; for some reason I have never found a game film of either of these teams. Of these teams that I have watched this year or in years past, I think that this is going to be a very competitive conference. Unfortunately, I don't know much about the lower conferences. I have watched various teams because of Xable.com, but I have not seen enough of him to speak to how competitive the conferences will be. It’s too bad that the lowest conference only has three teams in it, but I know that for many teams such as ourselves getting the 12 game requirement is difficult, and we would be the teams to fill the lowest division. It will become much less difficult when we have our referee clinic on December 18 at UNH. Because of this, any game we play will be official and then they will count towards our 12 game requirement. Either way, it is going to be a fun year for power soccer in America.

In National and Local News

Okay, so Vermont is pretty ridiculous. We should not be having freezing rain already. Anyway, I hope that it doesn't disrupt my day too much or anybody else's. So who is impressed by Brett Farve? Well for one, I am, and for two, I bet John Madden is. Who would've thought that at this point of his career he could have his career-high in yards passed in one game? Also, let’s go Patriots! Notice the sarcasm. Cleveland came to play I guess. Now, we proceed to local sports. My team has power soccer tonight assuming that the weather does not get horrendous. For some reason, I'm even more excited than normal to go play. We haven't played as a team in two weeks, so maybe that is why. Also, I think my trip to New Hampshire reminded me that there are more teams out there and that they are constantly working to get better. Therefore, I need that same desire. Rather, I have the desire, but I need to act on that desire. It's kind of like that old saying that I can tell you how to dunk a basketball, but I can't do it myself. Similarly, I can tell you I'm excited about power soccer, but I need to do it and prove it.

Challenging Myself

I have been challenged to elevate my game. I have challenged myself (although I am sure that my teammates would appreciate it if I became better as well). Therefore, here is my plan for improvement.
• Spin kicking is incredibly important. I always knew that, but I am realizing that I really need to become better at it to reach another level.
• Of course, I need to improve at playing in reverse. Since I have a limited range of motion, this is a slight problem, but many other players have overcome it so I will just need to work harder than most.
• One of my new pet projects that is sort of related to number one is a 180° spin kick. A little bit different than the average 90° spin kick and a little more difficult, but I think I can develop it.
• Ball control is an important part of the game. I have decent ball control, but I do fall into the trap of having the ball go too fast and letting it get away from me.
Now y'all know some of my main weaknesses (a Texan accent doesn't do much for me I guess). As you can tell, these skills encompass most of power soccer. Go ahead and exploit them tomorrow night. It will force me to develop them.

Fun at the Clinic!

I know I normally write in the morning. However, I wanted to write tonight because I figured I could write a little bit about what I did this afternoon. I made the trek down to Bethlehem, New Hampshire with my family to attend a power soccer clinic with Adaptive Sports Partners of the North Country. Jerry Frick of the United States Power Soccer Association came up to introduce the game to the new team in New Hampshire, but I figured that I would go down to brush up on my fundamentals. I have heard Jerry referred to as "the Godfather of power soccer," so any time that I can go and learn more about the game from him, I am more than ready to go. It was a really fun time though! It is so great to be seeing another team coming together, and it brought me back to the excitement of when I first started playing power soccer. I didn't have any experience, but it was great to be able to finally compete in a sport. Similarly, I could tell that these players were excited to finally have this opportunity, so I hope that they're able to continue working and enjoying themselves. There is definitely potential there, and I look forward to playing with them more in the future!

A Death of a Legend

Finally it is Friday! I don't know about you guys, but it has been a good week, but I thought it went by very slowly. Anyway, most of you should be aware that Sparky Anderson passed away. The Hall Of Fame manager was 76 years old. To say that he was just another good manager is definitely selling him short. He was the first manager to win a World Series in both leagues and as I found out recently, he is the only manager to lead two different franchises in career wins. Apparently, I should have had a tighter bond with him. Again as I recently found out, he only played one season in the Major Leagues, but that one year he played in Philadelphia in 1959. Of course, his claim to fame was managing The Big Red Machine in the mid-70s with the likes of Johnny Bench and Joe Morgan patrolling in the field. Some people would say that it would be impossible to lose with that team, but managing a team of superstars has its own dilemmas, and he obviously handed them very well. Although he resigned in the mid-90s, Anderson is still remembered today as one of the greatest managers of all time.
Photo from http://detectovision.com/pics/sparky.JPG

Key to Growth

So if I think about the state of power soccer, I am very encouraged by what I see. New teams are growing around the country and if you watch the level of play from five years as compared to games from last year, there is such a difference. Sometimes we can fall into popular myth that games do not evolve and mature. However, the game is growing. It is not like a team will end up on top and then decide to stop working. They continue to elevate their game as well so there is a perpetual improvement that just comes naturally as the game grows. On a similar way, every team wants to challenge the champion. Therefore, they will continue to develop and hopefully become more and more competitive. This cycle is definitely not unique to power soccer. I think about baseball had a similar process. As pitchers became bigger and stronger with modern workout techniques and better nutrition, they threw harder. Because of this, the batters had to catch up and therefore raised the level of the game to level that it had not been not before. So that is my challenge for today, think about how you can elevate their game.

A Bit Random

Well, I think it is time to concede defeat in the Vermont gubernatorial race. After spending no money and creating one amazing slogan, I guess it wasn't enough. I'm not really sure who I am conceding to yet, but I didn't want all of my supporters to be in suspense much longer.

In other news, it looks like Randy Moss has gotten himself kicked off another team as he was waived by the Vikings. Not a great year in Minnesota in terms of football. Brett Favre has been definitely less than stellar. Well, they had a good baseball team for the year. Also, speaking of waived players, former UVM standout Marqus Blakely is now playing for the Bakersfield Jam in the NBA Developmental League. Not quite the NBA, but since he was drafted 12th overall in the league, he should be one of the first players to get a call from the NBA at some point in the season. How awesome would it be to have a UVM athlete in the NBA? It has never happened before, but I think that this is the time. UVM has been improving every year, and Blakely was in the middle of it all.
Photo by Hotash on Flickr

Baseball Crowns Giants

Well, today is election day. By the end of today we will have all of our traditional advertisements back wanting us to buy products and services that we don't really need. Don't you miss those commercials? Anyway, everyone should write me in as the gubernatorial candidate. That would be pretty awesome. So remember, Get Sch-mart with Schmoll!

It is an important day in sports. A new champion has been crowned in Major League Baseball. The Giants have not won the World Series since 1954, so I guess they were due. However, I wish they wouldn't have had to go through the Phillies to get there. It seems like everybody folded as they played the Giants. The Rangers are a lot better than they played just like the Phillies are a lot better than they played. Oh well, now we just have to wait until next year to regain the crown of Major League Baseball. You know it will happen. The Phillies know that they're good enough to win it all again, so all they need now is to do it. That might be slightly more difficult without Jayson Werth, as I assume he'll sign somewhere else, but it definitely can be done!

Power Soccer Coming Up in New Hampshire

So, I think that everyone will know that tomorrow is Election Day. It is a pretty exciting day I will admit, but because of that, we can't have power soccer practice tonight. Seriously, what is more important, power soccer or politics? I think the answer is obvious, but most people in the government would disagree with this. Anyway, that is regrettable, but it's not too bad for me because my chair still needs a little bit of tweaking. Nothing too major, I just need the seat adjusted a little bit. It's too bad though that we can't practice because we are slowly becoming a team. I've noticed that people are beginning to understand how each individual player plays and how to best use each others' talent. However, we will pick up right where we left off I am sure. Also, I am not really sure where my readership is from, but our friends in New Hampshire are having a scrimmage next weekend at the Hamel Center at UNH. I'm sure they would appreciate the support. They're playing a game against a team from Canton, Massachusetts, and I have never seen them play, but I bet that it will be a very competitive game!