soccer report

On Monday night, Blasters lost 6-2 to Valley United in a game where i played as poorly as i can remember. We were actually up early, 2-1, but near the end of the first half, there was a penalty kick and i was caught flat-footed (more exactly, i came out to meet the ball, but too slowly, which gave the kicker all the time to figure out when i was hopping and put the shot away while i couldn't react). I spent the break in recrimination and second-guessing. Then the second half came and i was mentally out to lunch (probably due in part to the fact that this was a horrid 23:25 game); i was running out of my goal, doing my best René Higuita impression, and not getting back in time. That led to 2 more goals, and enough close calls. The ref even called me out for slide-tackling outside the box (the goalie is the only one allowed to slide-tackle, and only inside the box), and i couldn't remember doing it.

After the game i found myself consumed in analysis, not so much of my mental state, but what could have caused it. And i turned to that which athletes have turned to so often after every game: superstition. What did i do differently this time around? Well, i did arrive rather early, for once. Well, that can't be it. What else? Well, i ended up getting Gatorade instead of Powerade, but that's happened before, without such disastrous results... I know! I pulled my sleeves OVER my gloves this time. I'll definitely not do that again. It's times like this that i wish i had a coach; well, hell, i wish i had a coach anyway, so i could get a more definite sense of what i need to correct both mechanically and mentally.

soccer report

On Monday night, Blasters lost 6-2 to Valley United in a game where i played as poorly as i can remember. We were actually up early, 2-1, but near the end of the first half, there was a penalty kick and i was caught flat-footed (more exactly, i came out to meet the ball, but too slowly, which gave the kicker all the time to figure out when i was hopping and put the shot away while i couldn't react). I spent the break in recrimination and second-guessing. Then the second half came and i was mentally out to lunch (probably due in part to the fact that this was a horrid 23:25 game); i was running out of my goal, doing my best René Higuita impression, and not getting back in time. That led to 2 more goals, and enough close calls. The ref even called me out for slide-tackling outside the box (the goalie is the only one allowed to slide-tackle, and only inside the box), and i couldn't remember doing it.

After the game i found myself consumed in analysis, not so much of my mental state, but what could have caused it. And i turned to that which athletes have turned to so often after every game: superstition. What did i do differently this time around? Well, i did arrive rather early, for once. Well, that can't be it. What else? Well, i ended up getting Gatorade instead of Powerade, but that's happened before, without such disastrous results... I know! I pulled my sleeves OVER my gloves this time. I'll definitely not do that again. It's times like this that i wish i had a coach; well, hell, i wish i had a coach anyway, so i could get a more definite sense of what i need to correct both mechanically and mentally.

no comprende! sombrero!

So the evil that is ClearChannel has killed old KSJO and replaced it with a Spanish music station (PDF), and if there's something that San Jose really needed, it was another Spanish music station. This follows changes made three weeks ago, when they turned an AM big band station into liberal talk radio, moved the big band station to 92.1, which was the Walnut Creek KSJO frequency, which doesn't come in south of Hwy 92 or so. It was amusing last night to go to KSJO's Web site (don't bother now, it's dead) and see the butthead rocker style all over the place, but watch the playlist include stuff by Los Tigres del Norte and Camilo Sesto.

So, now there is no catch-all rock station to be found in the Bay Area. Sure, KSJO has been in a downward spiral of suck in the last few years, but then, so has rock. Still, if mainstreamed rock were to improve, where would we be able to hear it now? The alternative stations will rarely touch anything that's abrasive. CC's Radio page has a big graphic in the middle that reads, "LESS IS MORE". Less variety means more money for them, i guess.

And, yes, i know the lyrics are officially, "No comprende - it's a riddle", but fuck `em, that's stupid. My interpretation is much better.

no comprende! sombrero!

So the evil that is ClearChannel has killed old KSJO and replaced it with a Spanish music station (PDF), and if there's something that San Jose really needed, it was another Spanish music station. This follows changes made three weeks ago, when they turned an AM big band station into liberal talk radio, moved the big band station to 92.1, which was the Walnut Creek KSJO frequency, which doesn't come in south of Hwy 92 or so. It was amusing last night to go to KSJO's Web site (don't bother now, it's dead) and see the butthead rocker style all over the place, but watch the playlist include stuff by Los Tigres del Norte and Camilo Sesto.

So, now there is no catch-all rock station to be found in the Bay Area. Sure, KSJO has been in a downward spiral of suck in the last few years, but then, so has rock. Still, if mainstreamed rock were to improve, where would we be able to hear it now? The alternative stations will rarely touch anything that's abrasive. CC's Radio page has a big graphic in the middle that reads, "LESS IS MORE". Less variety means more money for them, i guess.

And, yes, i know the lyrics are officially, "No comprende - it's a riddle", but fuck `em, that's stupid. My interpretation is much better.