soccer report

[rone]

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.