Thought Training

I think that I want to go play power soccer again. The only dilemma with that is that it means that I need to wait until Saturday. The only problem with that is that there are four days of classes between then and now. Don't get me wrong, I totally enjoy college and seeing friends and all that, but I will say that vacation will be missed. It isn't like I do a lot of life-changing activity during break, but I will say that I pay a lot more attention to power soccer during it. I also can't say that I have had any brilliant revelations recently, but I can say that it does you good to just think over situations that might happen on the court and figure out how to react to the situation. Let me say that many of these situations might never happen because imagine all of the variables that would need to align perfectly to re-create one given scenario. Nevertheless, I think that you can program your mind to think a certain way. Just like you to learn to think about numbers in school, I think that you can learn to think about and process situations in power soccer. You learn the rules that govern the sport just like you can learn the rules that govern mathematics. All it takes is hard work, and I think that you can learn a lot about power soccer.

Photo by @boetter on Flickr

'Twas the Night before Final Exams

Here is what I am thinking about doing. How about rewriting 'Twas the Night before Christmas into 'Twas the Night before Final Exams"?

'Twas the night before my final exams and all through the room
I had no idea what was going on since not focusing would be my doom.
My accounting notes were set upon the table in a pile
And I leafed through it for a lot more than a while.

I turned on my computer and opened Microsoft Word
To reread the notes I had previously heard.
At one point I knew the material but now I feel
I need to study it again, and pay attention for real.

The material started sinking in, I began to remember it
Everything began to come together and like a puzzle fit
Every time I read I remembered a little more in stages.
So I figured I would finish up with one last look over the pages.

The one last read through always helped me secure
The important information and eliminate the impure.
It is good to reach closure when studying accounting material
Because there is always more to learn, especially in managerial.

Then finishing up the material, I had an epiphany
I had forgotten to write my blog so I did so swiftly
So I hope you enjoyed my abridged Christmas poem
And remember in one day we can all stay home.

Photo by xb3 on Flickr

Game Two

Well, today certainly put our soccer team in perspective. To put it mildly, let's just say that our power soccer team is not undefeated anymore. However, I must say that today was an amazing learning opportunity for all of us. CNY United of Syracuse, New York came up to meet us at the University of Vermont which we were thrilled about in and of itself. You know, for about 5 seconds we actually controlled the flow of the game. Then, I turned it over and it was all downhill from there. The final score was 9-1, but I think that they were being nice because they were much more experienced and particularly played with much better teamwork. It might have been a long afternoon for our goalkeepers, but luckily Jerome "Pika" Durand of the Atlanta Synergy came along with Jerry Frick to teach us. However, he did more than just teach us something, he got out there and joined our team. With Pika anchoring our defense, we only lost 2-0. However, the best game was the last one. We divided the teams in half and blended together. That game ended with a score of 1-0. I must say, it was a bit intimidating playing a Division I opponent led by US national team member Peyton Sefick, but at least I learned so much about how I need to improve both in both equipment and ability. But at least now I know where I could be going with hard work and practice. I want to thank everyone who came out to support us today! It makes it a lot more fun when you have friends behind you.

YouTube Studying

Some things aren't meant to be. One of them is snow at the end of April. Okay, there is my daily complaint just like yesterday. Now, on with the real discussion. There is a certain value that can be gained by being "a student of the game." What I mean is, if you put in a similar effort to study a sport, you can learn all about it just like you would learn calculus. That's why I have become a YouTube fanatic. There aren't very many outlets for power soccer, but YouTube is fortunately one of them. With so many videos online of national and international competition, it is obvious that I'm learning from the best. I think that by learning what other people are doing well, you can improve and learn more than you would have before. Just this morning, I was watching a video about passing. That seems pretty basic I know, but I was having trouble figuring out how to get more power on my passes. The guys in the video use the same guard I do, and it looked like I spin just as fast, but I'm not sure how they hit harder. However, when they hit the ball, the guard did not shake; as you might expect, mine does. So, I need to make sure that I follow through on my spins to regain the momentum that I've lost when the guard shifts. Without putting in the study time, I would not have learned this, and my game would have most likely suffered as a result.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bofh/ / CC BY 2.0