I Have Returned

Those of you who know me well know that I love to play soccer. However, some time ago I concluded that it was not good for my sanctification to play in the local city leagues. I found myself too often in angry exchanges with other players and found it more and more difficult to enjoy the game. I quit playing in any context except in friendly games with people I know. I made my decision after one particularly ugly exchange during which an opposing player and I, while walking to our respective penalty boxes after a foul, were nose-to-nose with one another, each telling the other exactly what he thought of him in no uncertain terms. As I said, not good for sanctification.

Well, this past week Tiddo asked me if I would be willing to play goalie for his team as they needed players (I should say, desperately needed players, which is why I was called). So for the first time in years, I played in a competitive league game. I enjoyed myself and managed not to have one of the angry exchanges that had become so commonplace when I was a field player. Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I did have a collision with an opposing player that I felt he was milking and I did say, "Come on, get up!" But I still consider it a moral personal victory that it was the extent of my comments.

We lost to the other team 4-2, which included a penalty for them, so I wish I could have played a bit better, but I didn't think I was too bad for my first time out in a couple years. (You can ask Tiddo if this is an accurate assessment of my performance.) After allowing 3 goals in the first half, we buckled down and made a game of it until they scored a late penalty.

All in all, it was a good time and I hope I can do it again.