the 4th star

After ignoring a 25 year layoff, with three of those spent begging to play, I have decided to make a triumphant return to the beautiful game. In a stunning act of charity, the Crescentwood Saturday Soccer Club has done the unthinkable and allowed me to play with them in the Winnipeg Soccer Division this summer. If I can score one goal this year, I’d be pretty happy. Judging from my inconsistent play, my teammates would be equally ecstatic, too. Here’s the weekly update:

When we last visited the CSSC, things were looking up. Sure, we struggled with a 2-2 tie against a under-manned South End squad, but that was followed up with an impressive 3-1 win over the Red Devils in Presidents Cup play. A tie and a loss later, the Big Red Machine based out of Crescentwood heads into tonight’s action in Transcona with a 4-3-4 record and a sixth-place standing in the division.

Unfortunately, the injury bug has hit CSSC hard.

From all accounts, eight players are down with various ailments. Two players went down in Sunday’s PC match with the Wolves, and with no spares at the ready we were forced to play two down for most of the game. A 3-2 loss was the CSSC’s fate, but no mind. It was a heroic effort from those who gutted it out against the fresher legs of the team in gold. The squad deserved better.

Along those lines, a big ‘FUCK YOU’ to that big defender who stuck his knee out on me in the first half. Knowing he was beat clean on a quick give and go out on the left side, he gave me the Bryan Marchment/Ulf Samuelsson treatment as I was headed up to open field to receive an expecting ball. Pure gutless, shown guilty by his lack of apology or acknowledgment of wrongdoing. That’s how it’s going to be, eh? See you next Tuesday, buddy. Now I’m hobbled something terrible — right when I was just starting to feel good about my play and my chances to actually score a goal before the snow flies.

Perhaps the light is fading on my soccer career…

Back to the ice pack.