The Joy of Drugs

You never really appreciate the little things in life, like narcotics, until you really need them. I drove down to the football field on Monday to thank Jason for the opportunity to try out for the National Team, and to let him know that I was bowing out due to the injury, and the family needs. Mara bought ice cream in celebration of my "return."

By 9 PM I could not move my leg, and I stood with my head against a wall, tears streaming down my face from the pain. I'm reading a book right now by a Buddhist monk, and he says that even suffering has value if we use it to be more compassionate to others who are also suffering. It didn't take the edge off, but it was an interesting thought at the moment. I took some Tylenol with codeine and fell into a drug induced sleep.

I woke up yesterday morning, still with searing pain and drove to the ER to make sure nothing was broken. Nothing was broken. The doc told me to take anti-inflammatory pills every six hours no matter what, to try to quiet things down -- 800 mg of ibuprofen, for a total of 3200 mg a day. If this didn't work, the plan was to take oral steroids. I also got a prescription for some more Tylenol with codeine.

After 24 hours of the anti-inflammatory meds, I can walk with only a slight limp. It's really amazing, the power of modern pharmaceuticals. Someone who had sustained this injury 100 years ago would have been in pain for weeks. Heck, even now, someone who has no access to basic medicines suffer needlessly.

So it looks like this saga is coming to a close for me.

I ran into someone last night who said they heard about my injury and what a pity it was because the word was out that I had a good sense of the game and was a decent player. Now that was the most unexpected part of this whole thing for me, mostly because I disagree, but it was nice to receive the complement.

Sidelined

Well, it looks like my rise in National Football circles has come to a halt. Although my time on the field yesterday was rather tame, by the time I went to bed, I could barely move my right leg because of pain around my hip. I took Motrin through the night, and didn't sleep much, and hobbled around any time I got up. I was thinking of going to the ER, or at least finding a pair of crutches from somewhere.

After about an hour of limping around this morning, things seemed to feel a bit better, but I still had signifcant pain. I saw Michael Thomas this morning. He asked me where it hurt, I pointed, and he said, "Ah, yes. The psoas muscle." Apparently this is a common soccer injury since it's the muscle used for kicking and sprinting.

Now that I've been sitting again for a bit, I'm in excrutiating pain when I move. This feels like it's going to take a while to get better. I'm bummed.

Football Continues...

We had our third practice on Friday evening, which went well enough. There were no sprints.

Today we had our first game, playing against the Saipan Thai Team. We lost 1-2, but no goals were scored while I was on the field. We played three 30 minute periods and I was on for about 20 minutes. Nothing spectacular and nothing disastrous. I just wish I were quicker.

We have practice tomorrow evening and again on Thursday and at that time Jason will make the cuts to form the team. As much as I'd like to make the team, the reality is that it's hugely taxing on my family. Mara keeps encouraging me, saying that if I make the team, it's only a six week season. But I see the strain on her and the four kids, so I have a decision to make this week.

I will say that I think Jason is a great coach. He's firm and lays down the law when needed (like today), but he does it in a way that is respectful. He also encourages good play and brings out the best in everyone.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Football Tryouts Day 2

I made it throught the second practice, but it wasn't pretty.

The Good: I passed much better, with better form and technique. I scored a goal in our four member drills. I was able to execute the "thigh-thigh-foot-header" juggle drill twice. My stamina was decent.

The Bad: Dribbling. I still don't get those turns and fakes. I read something that if you didn't develop good dribbling skills by age 17, you're out of luck.

The Ugly: The sprints. Oh, it was ugly. I was a millimeter away from just sitting down and saying "thanks, but I'm done with this National Team thing." As I fell further behind, my stomach quesy and my heart pounding, there just wasn't enough air in the atmosphere to sustain me. I imagined laying face down on the ground sucking molecules of oxygen from the grass. One or two people were walking, and that inspired me to just keep going. I ran as fast as I could, which eventually slowed to just barely a jog, but I managed to keep going. I guess 3 mile runs in the morning now need to be supplemented with some sprints.

Tonight's another session, then exhibition game on Sunday at 4PM, and cuts after the game.

An Excellent Practice!

Tonight was the first practice/tryout for the NMIFA Men's National Football Team. After some mind bending warm ups, and dribbling drills, the visiting EAFF official from Japan put us through a couple of small team exercises (which probably saved us from sprints that Coach Higgins must have had planned). We finished up with the Tunnel of Love, which was rather enjoyable, and a nice alternative to the infamous Circle of Death. No one vomited. I like Coach Higgins. In addition to being a nice guy, he's a good teacher, and sane.

I had more stamina than I expected. Angelo and I have been running 3 miles every morning for the past week, so I chalk up my ability to make it through the practice to that little bit of training. We're off for our run again tomorrow morning at 6AM.

I'm a lousy dribbler, and the dribbling drills confused me. I need this stuff in slooooow motion.

Overall assessment: I made it through one practice! See you all on Thursday evening.

Editor's Note: I changed the title from the original one so as not to tempt the Fates. Happier now, Brad?

New Soccer Coach for the CNMI

This was one of those "Saipan" set of circumstances. I never check the messages on my cell phone, but I did yesterday and there was a call from someone in Texas from last Saturday who wanted to get more information on our house which he saw online. I called him up. "What will be bringing you to Saipan?" I asked. "I'm going to be the new football coach." "'Football' as in 'soccer.'" "That's right." I was pretty excited to hear this. I was one of the founding members of the NMIFA Board (was that only two years ago?!), and even back then we recognized the need to recruit a great coach to really move the program forward. This is huge!

Jason Higgins and his wife (who is from London) arrive on August 1. Jason is currently an Assistant Coach at SMU in Texas. Here is is bio from the SMU website. It sounds like this will be a leap forward for our football (and soccer) program in the Mariana Islands. Welcome, Jason!

***

Jason Higgins begins his third season on staff, having come to the Hilltop in the spring of 2005. At SMU, Jason is heavily involved in all aspects of the program. In particular, he is responsible for all team travel arrangements, scouting of opponents, game administration, and office administration. Jason also be assists with recruiting, video and match analysis, on-field coaching, off-season conditioning, and summer camps.

Prior to his involvement with SMU, Jason served as the head assistant men's soccer coach at the University of Dayton in 2004-2005. During that season, Dayton compiled a 11-7-1 record, making a trip to the Atlantic 10 conference semi-finals. His responsibilities included but were not limited to: recruiting coordinator, scouting of opponents, practice and game management and travel arrangements. During his tenure in Ohio, Jason also was involved with the Olympic Development Program for the `86' Boys team.

Prior to his Dayton experience, Jason served as the Director of Operations at Rutgers University in 2003-04 when the Scarlet Knights were consistently ranked in the Top 25 in the nation. He was involved with all aspects of the program and enjoyed a trip to the second round of the NCAA Soccer Tournament His major responsibilities included but were not limited to: travel coordinator, film editing, game and practice management, and day to day office administration.

Higgins has also held the position of Head Coach at Schreiner University in Kerrville, Texas, for two seasons. There, he recruited and coached the American Southwest Conference Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year. His initial season ended with a 4-15 record, but his squad rebounded to post an 11-5-2 mark in his second year, while consistently starting eight of his 17 recruited freshmen.

From 1999 to 2001, he was the assistant men's varsity soccer coach at his alma mater, Springfield College in Springfield, Mass. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from Springfield in May 1999, and obtained his Master's degree in Education from the same college in May 2001.

Higgins holds a USSF "B" license and the Advanced National Coaching License.

CNMI Men's National Football Team Enters the World Stage!

The CNMI Men's National Football Team won the admiration and respect of their nation and of the East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) this afternoon by playing competitively against Guam in the CNMI's first ever international match. Although Guam prevailed 3-2, the CNMI kept the match close, tying twice at 1-1 and then 2-2. Most remarkable is that the CNMI National Team has existed for only about six weeks, and the average age of the team is around 35, with the oldest player at 46. The oldest player on the Guam team is 25.

This was the first match in the East Asia Football Championships 2008. The team travels to Guam next week for the second qualifying match.

Congratulations to the CNMI Men's National Football Team, and to Coach Jeff "Ziggy" Korytoski! A national soccer team is born through Coach Ziggy's "Circle of Death". FIFA here we come.

(I took this photo from The Saipan Blogger . Visit his site to get a more personal view of the game. He's a starting member of the team.).