I (Jono) finally found a pick-up soccer group to play with!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, that merited 18 exclamation points. I've been missing it! There is an informal group around here called Reston Pick-up Soccer (RPS for short), and they play Saturday mornings. Today was when they started playing again after the snowy month. There were about 15-20 men, and we played for 2 hours. It was wonderful! The jogging is starting to pay off, as I didn't get too wiped out while playing. Although I still need to get my body used to this exertion: after I opened the score, I had to take it easy for a few minutes while I caught my breath. And yes, I actually scored the first goal! I wasn't expecting that since I haven't maintained my soccer reflexes, but I managed to get myself open in front of the goal, and a team mate gave me a beautiful pass perfectly placed for me to shoot it in. Awesome! This group has the right amount of skill (none of the players seemed to be beginners and no one stood out as a star player who would always do things right) and the right amount of competitiveness (everyone's trying to win, but there's nothing derogatory expressed when someone messes up). Fun group all around!
Today was unusually windy, which brought an added element of interestingness to the game. But the windiest bursts occurred after we had switched sides and my team was progressing in the same direction as the wind, so I didn't mind too much, :-) although long passes became less effective.
After playing 2 hours I felt happy all day and my body a little too tired to be productive. I need to get this to be a habit again!
On a related note, Marseille is playing against Manchester United on Wednesday for a place in the Champions League 1/4-finals. Allez l'OM !
Go, Jon!!!
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