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Pacific SportsBlogOkinawa-based sports reporter Dave Ornauer on military-related sports in the Far East. |
What we've learned so far, Rivalry Wednesday edition
Posted April 3rd, 2008 by Dave OrnauerMusings and mutterings just hours before the first gun sounds in the 6th Mike Petty Memorial Track and Field Meet:
-- Striking the right note Wednesday was the new rule mandating penalty-kick shootouts in case of a tie during Okinawa Activities Council regular-season play. Kadena's and Kubasaki's boys played to four draws in five matches last season. Why is the rule so good? 1) You know what they say about ties and sisters, and 2) It prepares teams for Far East Tournament matches, where shootouts are mandated as well. Kadena's boys didn't play a single shootout last season until the championship, which the Panthers lost to Christian Academy In Japan in PKs 5-3.
-- No Courtney Richards? No problem for the Yokota Panthers girls, who took one on the road at Zama American 3-1. Suzie Sundberg, Lauryn Thomas and Julia Martel answered the call, responding well to Richards' injury and Yokota's 6-2 home loss to Zama on March 12. As Redcard said, it does take 11, not one, to make a team.
-- Quietly, senior Jason Stroup has emerged as a cornerstone on the Yokota boys team. His three goals paced the Panthers past Nile C. Kinnick 6-0. Whatever is needed, Stroup does it, from filling the net down to organising workouts with fellow senior Jon Bernardo when coach Tim Pujol became father to his second daughter.
-- Scouting report from coach Robert Victoria after his Seoul American Falcons boys lost 9-0 on March 19 at Seoul Foreign: "They move the ball very well. It's really hard to get your offense going. They get back quickly, they use the lines very well when clearing. Don't put anything in the middle. They're tall. They'll win the 50-50 balls with headers." In Wednesday's 5-1 win by the Crusaders at Seoul Foreign, the Falcons kept the ball on the ground most of the first half, but "got away from that," Victoria said, in the second, "We put too many balls in the air and they controlled the air because they're so tall."
-- Crusaders senior Remco Rademaker, with 31 goals and 153 for his career, stands a good shot at breaking the Pacific standard for one season, 48 set in 2001 by Jimmy Flatley of Zama American. Rademaker's career best is 43 in 2007.
-- The Crusaders' girls finally put a blemish on the Falcons' perfect season, a 0-0 tie which makes Seoul American 10-0-1. "It just wasn't our day today," coach Lori Rogers said, adding that the Crusaders' field, narrower by 15 yards than others, prevented the Falcons from running their offense "the way we normally do it."
-- Junior striker Leo Kobayashi of defending Boys Class AA Tournament champion Christian Academy In Japan showed no sign of slowing down in the Knights' 4-1 season-opening win over Zama American. He scored three times, giving him 68 for his career.
-- Go, Okinawa Shogaku!
PK Rule....
Soccer is the one sport where a tie is OK. PK's during the regular season...WOW!!! Who needs a winner during the regular season? Is it that big of a deal. This is what happens when non-soccer people get involved with rule making. Soccer is full of tradition and history. More than any other sport I can think of. If the reason it was implemented was because someone lost in PK's, well that's sad. To change a rule because it wasn't practiced during the season is ridiculous. The argument of "It prepares teams for Far East matches." holds no water. Are we preparing our kids for Far East, or life? When these kids go on to play at college, or intramurals or anywhere else, a tie is a tie unless it is an elimination game. If they want practice, I'm sure there are plenty of fields around: You don't even need a keeper...here's a drill for you. Place the shoes you wear to the field 1 1/2 feet from the inside of each post. Kick the ball with the shoes you play in between the shoe and the goal post on the ground. If you can make this shot, no goalkeeper is going to get it....unless Ted Awana is in high school again. Before I get attacked...I'm not from Kadena or Kubasaki.
Against Regular Season PKs
I've got to agree with Redcard on this one. Soccer is a team game that should be settled on the field of play, and PK shootouts pervert that whole concept, as well as scarring some young athletes mentally for life. The PK shootout should be kept as a last resort for games that mean something, that have already gone through double overtime, and still can't produce a winner on the field. If two teams play for 80 entire minutes in the regular season and the score is tied at the end of regulation - guess what? They're probably actually evenly matched at the actual game of soccer and a tie score nicely reflects that fact. Declaring one the winner over the other after a PK shootout, which rewards the opposite qualities required to win the actual game, perverts the outcome in the standings.
PK's..
I can actually see where the OAC is coming from. Last year Kadena and Kubasaki tied 4 out of the 5 matches, and Kadena won one. I was on that Kadena team and it was frustrating to play Kubasaki four times and know that it was the same outcome every time. I guess the reason for this change is to also let the teams understand and practice PK's. I was one of the players who missed his PK in the Championship game against CAJ. That was all my fault. I let the pressure get to me and i missed hitting the crossbar. Players on Varsity should have been playing soccer for years and should know what they have to do in those type of situations. Practice makes perfect, do what Redcard has already said. You dont need a keeper. Set your mind right put yourself in the the most pressure that you can think of, and hit that side net!! Its tough but when it all comes down to it you will be ready for when that moment comes. The only PK i wish Ted Awana would have stopped was in 2005 against CAJ in the championship. I know why they changed the rules but i dont think that the changes should have been made.
Well stated!!!
Tonight before the CAJ Yokota match Riki Byrnes was out 45 minutes before the game practicing PK's. Guess what, he took the PK scoring the first goal of the match for Yokota. Great call on an obvious handling of the ball. Plastered the back of the net to the right and above the keeper...no chance! That is the dedication it takes to be a successful finisher on PK's. Over and over and over....
BE THE REF, DON'T BEAT THE REF!!!
Re: Well stated!!!
Footnote: Yokota beat CAJ 3-0, first victory for Panthers over Knights since 2003.
Class...
What a game...I would also like to add, no one got kicked out after the game, no players spit on each other and it was well played by both sides. They MUST have had different refs out there....hahahahahahaha...nope!
BE THE REF!!! DON'T BEAT THE REF!!!!
Kudos to both the CAJ and Yokota players.
class..
Actually the head official with the glasses was a line ref in this game.
BE THE REF!!! DON'T BEAT THE REF!!!
I think it's time to move on to bloging about soccer not the officials, this got blown way out of proprtion.
REFEREES ARE A TEAM
Good referees work together as a team and constantly communicate with each other through a variety of different means. This is not always obvious to the casual fan. That is precisely why the Zama player who was almost incorrectly sent off during the Yokota game was not in fact sent off - and why the ball that hit the goal post during that game did result in a stoppage of play and a correct restart of a goal kick, contrary to some of the commentary that has appeared in this forum. And the "head official with the glasses" was working with a whistle in the first Yokota-CAJ game, which was also a great, hard fought game that ended without any unsportsmanlike behavior or whining by either of the teams involved.