First Ten ... Concerts

First in the long series never to have another installment, First Ten …

Hi, Gheorghies. I am still alive, just been laying low and finally returning back to some resemblance of normalcy. Anyway, someone asked me a little while ago what was the first concert I ever attended. This got me thinking, could I list out my first ten shows? My first thought went right to The Cars show I saw in NH, but I was quickly reminded by my mom about my real first show. Now for your enjoyment, not really, it’s just filler. Prepare yourself for some poor grammar.

#1 - Shaun Cassidy - Some point 1977

Mom’s favorite artist at the time. Took me and my bothers to the show. Somewhere in VA/DC area – might have been wolf trap. Vaguely remember being at this show but remember that damn album cover with him wearing the cheesy ass sweater next to a piano.

 

 

#2 - The  Cars - 1980 Summer NH – Hampton Beach SeaShell Amphitheater. 

 

We would make the journey up from VA to Hampton Beach NH almost every summer with the family. I remember this show. The amphitheater was right on the boardwalk (I think it’s gone now). My older cousins greatly influenced my musical tastes and really started me down my rabbit hole of off-center listening habits. Every summer they would supply me and my older bother with mix tapes. Two songs by each artist. Heavily influenced by new wave as the next few shows play out.

#3 - O.M.D. - Warner Theater DC 1984 (Set list)

First true concert where it was only my older brother and myself. He was a new driver and our parents let us drive into DC for the show. He’d never driven in DC before and proceed to blow through stop light after stop light until he realized the lights were on the sides of the streets. I do remember the opening band had major equipment problems. They had to restart/reboot their sequencers multiple times. This cut into the OMD set.

 #4 - New Order /A Certain Ratio- DAR Constitution Hall DC 1985 (Set List)

Another journey into the district with my older brother. I was disappointed with the show. This was in the early days where they played everything in time with a computer for some of the sound effects and Bernard Sumner was drunk and sounded awful. It was a mess of a show.

#5 - Howard Jones Merriweather Post MD 1985 (Set List) 

I actually did not like Howard Jones at the time, and still don’t. But my older brother and I began hanging out with some local kids who were also into new wave/punk music around this time. And one of the kids loved HJ’s music. So we got roped into this show. I’ll never forget getting a ride home in George’s Audi GT Coupe hauling ass back to Middleburg on all the back roads. I always wanted to own one after that ride.

 

#6 - Echo & the Bunnymen - DAR Constitution Hall DC 1988 (set list from a few nights before)

 

I’ve seen them now at least six times now. Great show they really delivered. Although Ian McCulloch was/is still a bitter man always rambling on in between songs. Lots of classic songs played during this show. But this was the second best Echo show I’ve seen by them. (Best show was at Great Scott in Boston October 2009 – capacity was 275). Great show.

 

#7 - Kix - Patriot Center VA Dec 1988 (Set List)

I know, wtf. Background, I worked construction in the summers with my older brother. He was invited to go to this show by some of guys we worked construction with. He bailed and I went in his place. These guys were in their late twenties. So not the best role models. Had my first pre concert beer. I later found out they were doing a ton of blow but thankfully they didn’t offer that to me. Memory of the actual show – probably typical heavy metal/hard rock show, i.e. girls wearing barely nothing, even in December.  

#8 - Red Hot Chili Peppers Vanderbilt University April 14th 1989 (No set list)

      I applied to a bunch of schools and got into a fair number, humblebrag. Little known fact, I was recruited to play soccer at Vandy after getting into their engineering school. My very trusting parents let me go on a tour of colleges with two other HS classmates that included a stop at Vandy. All three of us got, they went, I didn’t. One of the other guys’ older brother was attending Vandy and we strategically planed our arrive on campus for a Friday to enjoy the weekend. We ended up crashing at his apartment for the weekend.

The show: Vandy had a spring concert that happens every year called the Rites or Spring. At this time the bands played on the President’s lawn, basically an area like the sunken gardens or quad. Each of the guys from RHCP came out wearing only a sock covering their genitals. Mother’s Milk hadn’t come out yet, so all the music was the older punker stuff and they were just an amazing fury of sound. At one point Chad, the drummer, shoved a drumstick up his ass and then threw it into the crowd. First time moshing. We bought beer, served in half gallon milk jugs, from the bar near the football stadium as we enjoyed the show.

#9 - New Order/PiL/Sugarcubes - MerriweatherPost, MD July 1989 (Set List)

Amazing summer day. Forgot that PiL and Sugarcubes were the supporting act until I found the ticket stub. Drinking beers didn’t help my memory on this one. One of the last two shows before heading off to college.

#10 - The Cure - Capital Centre MD Aug1989 (Set List)

I have the ticket stub but not many memories good or bad. But this place was always loud, even for Caps games. Last show before hitting the Burg.

Honorable mentions: My memory seems to age like a fine Bartles & Jaymes wine cooler, poorly, but I know there were trips to the original 9:30 Club and The Bayou in there somewhere before heading to WM in the fall of ‘89. I can’t find any ticket stubs and I can’t jog my memory by chatting with my brother. He’s on another not speaking to the family walkabout. Got to love family.

But I can clearly remember him cursing up a storm as we circled 930 F Street NW trying to find the 9:30 Club for the very first time. Only to finally figure out it was a complete hole in the wall and we’d driven by it 10 times. After struggling to find parking for another 30 minutes we showed up 45 minutes missing the first act completely. The actual band and show we went to see are in a fog in my memory probably never to be retrieved. Must have been a crapy show.

Spotify playlist with a song from each head liner can be found here:

Not To Squash the Vibe From the Previous Post ...

Dead Horse Flogging Alert, from the site’s media grump: Alden Global Capital, the vampire hedge fund that strip-mines newspapers large and small, took control of (Chicago) Tribune Publishing this week, which includes my old shop in Newport News, Va., and the Virginian-Pilot in Whitneyville. 

I’ve kvetched plenty about Alden in this space, so I’ll keep it brief. The $633 million sale includes loans totaling $278 million, including a $60 million loan from one of Alden’s other media companies to be repaid at 13 percent interest, according to multiple reports. Alden reserved the right to have Trib Publishing take on $375 million in debt for the purchase. 

The Trib was debt-free, turning a profit, and had more than $250 million in cash available, according to its first quarter financial report. I’m certain that the terms of Alden’s purchase are legal, but I defer to those in the audience more knowledgeable about corporate finance to tell me if the moves are dickish and oily – particularly borrowing from one’s own company and being forced to repay a high interest rate. 

Alden also waited all of two days to offer voluntary buyouts to current employees across the chain, and gave them until June 9 to respond. At their other newspapers, layoffs came if target numbers of buyouts weren’t met. No reason not to expect the same in this instance. The hell of it is that these newspapers already have experienced rounds and rounds of cuts in previous administrations. There’s little fat left.

There are fewer than 1,000 newsroom employees across 10 markets that include Chicago, the Baltimore Sun, Hartford Courant, Orlando Sentinel, South Florida and NY Daily News. I have no insight into what will happen at the two southeastern Virginia papers, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Alden misreads the room, or reads the room correctly and does whatever the hell it wants. 

The Newport News and Norfolk papers have shared resources and stories, to a degree, since Tribune acquired the Norfolk paper a few years ago. I can see further cuts to both staffs and then simply combining the two papers to create a Hampton Roads Tattler, with an attempt to sell it as a one-stop shop for all Tidewater news. Never mind that Hampton Roads is absurdly balkanized and its municipalities are all but incentivized to remain as such. There’s zero outcry for a regional paper. 

Folks in Hampton and Newport News aren’t much interested in what the other is doing. Norfolk doesn’t give a fig about Virginia Beach, and Chesapeake wouldn’t piss on Portsmouth if it were on fire. Williamsburg might as well be Mars to folks on the Southside (Whitney excepted). The result is almost certain to be downgraded local journalism, dedicated newspaper people left to scramble for the next opportunity, and a less informed population. Discouraging days for an old keyboard jockey.

The Northernmost City in the Caribbean...

 ...is New Orleans, of course. Get there when you can, good people. It's back.

I was there a couple of weeks ago, and it's only gotten freer and more back to normal since. The 1:00 AM curfew for bars was lifted this week, returning it to that special status of The City That Really, Truly, Never Sleeps. 

My lovely gf took me first-class to the Big Easy for a long weekend. We stayed the night at the estate (not really exaggerating) of one of my best friends from coming up. He owns his own veterinary practice/hospital down there. If you take an animal there and it gets bitten sick or bitten by a gator, check Ned out.

Here's what we hit whilst in the Crescent City:

• Saba - upscale, veg-friendly spot (the woman doesn't dig on swine... or sea life). Great food, outdoor dining, nice touch. 
• Juan's Flying Burrito - searching for a place on Magazine that opened early for lunch and had no
  
  long line, we found it. As we walked in, I read the review at right on my phone. Yipes. Luckily, it was way better than that. Creole steak tacos and a few micheladas (Modelo). Not bad, Juan. Way better than a dumpster.
• Le Bon Temps Roule. One of my all-time favorite bars in NOLA. Highlighted in this video for the Mardi Gras song Ned and I did, if you recall. We hunkered down at the bar (hallelujah), shot some stick, and drank an array of American lagers and ales (from Dale's to Anchor Steam to Dixie Light). Brilliant. Life felt back in order.
• The French Quarter. Like a bunch of nameless spots. The Monteleone was jammed and my other go-to's were either closed or full, so we ambled around and stopped in the walk-ups. God bless that town. Though I was overserved by some reckless bartender.
• Mahony's - po' boys done brilliantly. We went in for brunch Sunday and had the bottomless Bloody / mimosa combo. (You can mix and match endlessly for $15.) I ate the Peacemaker.  Or gave it my best shot. It's got hearty fried shrimp and oysters plus bacon and cheddar plus the usual fully dressed (LTMP and I added lots and lots of Crystal) on a damn fine French bread. Holy wow.

Friday night we hit Rebirth Brass Band at the Howlin' Wolf. So good. They were still doing pods, and we had a 4-person one at the front.

I can't get the video we took to work, so take the show below, and reduce the number of people by 80%. Same vibe, though.

So much fun. So we are going back.

Jazz Fest is a go in October, and we are hitting the 2nd weekend. More to come later, but I couldn't be more exicted. 

The Very Sad Caterpillar

If you've raised kids, or were a kid yourself any time in the past 45 years, you might've felt a disturbance in the force yesterday. Eric Carle, author of the beautifully poignant The Very Hungry Caterpillar, passed away yesterday at the age of 91.

Two years ago, Carle talked about the book on the 50th anniversary of its release.

"I think it is a book of hope," Carle says in the video above. "Children need hope."

He would know. He was not quite a teenager when his family moved back to his parents' native Germany from his birthplace of Syracuse, NY, just in time for World War II. His father was imprisoned in Russian POW camp after being drafted to fight for the Nazis, leading to a time of deprivation for his family. You can hear the traces of his lineage in his accent. 

Carle returned to America after the war and served in the U.S. military during Korea, interrupting a career as an illustrator. He didn't publish his first book until he was nearly 40, but eventually illustrated more than 70 bright, whimsical, hopeful kids' books. Of the books I read my kids when they were young, Carle's were my favorite. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, 1, 2, 3 to the Zoo, The Very Quiet Cricket, The Mixed-Up Chameleon, Mister Seahorse, brilliant all. Even today, his work is my go-to gift for new parents.

RIP to a real one. May heaven be a collage of joyous color.

My Son is a Dickhead, and I Love Him for That

(Consider this a parallel theme to Rob Lasso. A much cruder and less insightful parallel) 

It has been an eventful youth baseball week in my house, so I want to share some highlights. Most folks here know that I coach my younger son's 11U travel baseball team. I love it for many reasons. I love baseball. I enjoy working with good kids. I enjoy the time with my kid. And I enjoy the competition. We have a very strong squad this year, so it's been a blast. We are 10-3 in all competitions. I have been setting things up to give them more competition, and they've risen to the challenge. All good stuff, and will be a genuine bummer to leave this squad when we move. 

My younger guy is a complicated kid. He has some natural gifts (coordination, quickness, intensity), but some deficits (size, strength, empathy). We had a couple games this weekend that tested his ability to deal with his strengths and weaknesses. He dealt with the issues in his own way. I'm not sure I love how my kid reacted to the pressure, but I'm not sure I hate it.  

He had a rec game on Saturday against a team that was short two players. That team "borrowed" two of our players each inning to have 9 in the field. It's a common league move. My kid played CF against his own team one inning. One of his good friends smoked a liner in the gap. My kid slowly made his way to the ball and then made a feeble throw back in. His friend got a triple. It's what a poor rec player would have done. The other team's coach had a breakdown as a result. He started screaming and yelling about my kid's slow response. He stopped the game and demanded that the guest fielders leave. He said "I don't want them. I'll play with seven." 

He ordered the guest fielders off the field, an unprecedented move in rec baseball. As this happened, he started yelling at the ump to disallow a run b/c the guest fielder (my son) didn't give 100%. The ump disagreed and an argument ensued, exactly as my kid started running in from CF. While that lunatic coach was yelling, my kid jogged by him and gave him a thumbs-up from a few feet away, in a sarcastic "you're really cool, asshole" kinda way. 

The coach did not like that. I was not there for the game, and I am not sure if I like that move or not. But I am not sure I hate it. I teach my kids to respect authority figures, but asshole rec coaches for other teams are not authority figures. My kid's move apparently irked other kids on that team, who told my kid they would peg him the next time they played. So my kid asked me about charging the mound. I told him not to, b/c I would handle it if he got plunked. Is my kid a dickhead for doing this stuff? Possibly, but we have no fucks to give b/c we are leaving town in two months. Rec baseball!!!

Second story is different, but the same. My travel team played on Sunday. The opposition was generally a nice group, but they had one bad habit that their coaches did not address. Whenever we threw a ball to a base, their whole dugout would yell "BALL BALL BALL BALL BALL" over and over to let their baserunner know our fielder still had the ball, to avoid the hidden ball trick. They did it excessively every time and it was a uniquely annoying experience to hear it. 

We only had 9 kids for this game, so my kid played 3B the whole game. The other team was trying to steal a lot, so my kid fielded many throws on steal attempts and also got many pick-off throws his way.  

Every time he got a throw and held the ball, the other dugout would start yelling. His response was to drop his mitt and do a second swipe tag on the kid's helmet. Not in a "I'm gonna concuss you" kinda way, but in a "just as a reminder, I'm giving you this shot to the head b/c your dugout is annoying" kinda way. He perfectly rode the line of not tagging too hard to warrant a warning from the ump, but annoying the fuck out of the other team. It was great. 

My kid confirmed after the game that the other dugout was annoying, so he consistently gave a mild/medium plunk to the baserunner's head as a way to deal with it. I was fine with it. Annoying opponents suck. Do what you can do. 

 

So maybe my kid is an 11 y/o version of AJ Pierzynski. Or Claude Lemieux. Or Bruce Bowen. Either way, I love him playing with an edge. I wouldn't love anything more, but he hasn't pushed it that far. Yet.

Palate Cleanser: No Disdain, No Gain

Brooks Koepka notoriously gives very few fucks. And if this clip filmed after Friday's second round of the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island is any indication, he has very little love for Bryson DeChambeau. Enjoy a rare bit of unfiltered disdain from one professional to another. The Ryder Cup team room should be fun.

Rob Lasso: Episode 5

“I promise you, there is something worse out there than being sad. And that is being alone and being sad. Ain’t no one in this room alone.” -- Ted Lasso

Ted Lasso is really just a device in this serial, but there was a video making the rounds this week that was so good that I have to include it as the amuse bouche for this week's episode.

ITV News reporter Chris Skudder was doing man on the street interviews after Leicester City's 1-0 FA Cup Final victory over Chelsea when he came across several cast members from the show. Unaware of who they were, he proceeded to ask them their views on the match. And they played a wee prank, which was glorious.  

When we left our heroes, they'd earned a 2-1 win that should've been more comfortable, and Ab was sad to have not played a single minute. There are a lot of kids who would've pouted about it, and blamed the coach. Ab? Well, she set out to change the coach's mind.

During practice this week, she was the hardest worker on the field. She scored a pair of excellent goals in a scrimmage at the end of practice on Wednesday, the day before this week's game. Coach said to me on the way off the field, "I've got to find a way to get Ab in the game tomorrow."

Our opponent has had a rough season. The school was founded in 1976, and athletic luminaries like Billy King, Allen Pinkett, and Jeff Lageman graduated during its athletic heyday. But two new schools opened nearby in the late 90s and early 2000s, which meant that the school's enrollment was concentrated in mostly economically disadvantaged neighborhoods. The school's athletic department isn't well-funded or well-supported. They've lost three games this season by double-digits, which is...not great.

So we were a bit frustrated to be in a scoreless tie with them mid-way through the first half, despite dominating the action, when Coach told Ab to warm up. Before she could get into the game, Kenny scored on a volley from a corner kick taken by freshman Lexi, who made her first-ever high school start to give us a lead.

Ab entered the game, closely followed by Dutch, who missed the first part of the game because she was taking an AP Exam. (Fucking Jurgen Klopp doesn't have to deal with that kind of shit, I'm sure.)

Dutch took possession of the ball near midfield, and slotted a perfect diagonal ball into Ab's run, slipping her behind the defense. Ab took three touches, and calmly flicked the ball with the outside of her right foot past the onrushing keeper and into the bottom right corner of the net. It was an immensely popular goal on our sideline.

That was our only other goal of the first half, and Coach wasn't happy. He does a good job of expressing his frustration in colorful terms to the rest of the coaching staff before calmly addressing the team. He's a pretty serious dude, but he's not a yeller, and he's good at diagnosing issues. In this case, we were stubbornly trying to play direct balls into straight runs, a recipe for lots of running with little to show for it. And we were extremely right-handed, as if we'd forgotten that the field also has a left side. Jennie was alone in acres of space, and we never really even looked for her. Despite scoring, Kenny was pissed at herself for playing down to the opponents' level. So it wasn't the happiest team talk.

As for me, in my increasingly solidified role as the supplier of positive energy, I told them to "play free, express yourselves", as I saw them thinking way too much when they had the talent to break the game open.

And 90 seconds into the second half, Kenny opened her body, switched the ball from the right to the left, and found Jennie streaking down the wing. Jennie got behind her defender and blasted one into the goal. Five minutes later, she did the same thing. 

Before the game, I'd told Jennie that her word for the game was "attack", because she has speed and skill, but sometimes plays a bit passively. So I patted myself on the back a bit mentally after those two tallies.

At 4-0, we began to clear the bench, but Kenny took advantage of the limited minutes she had left to score on a brilliant header off another corner, rising above her defender to find the net. Two minutes later, she stepped into one from 25 yards out and ripped it far post into the side of the net to complete her hat trick. Of note, her final goal was assisted by Aliana, a kid who's new to our school this year, and if we're being honest, is probably our most limited player in terms of experience. She tries hard, and she's learning, so it was very cool to see her contribute.

Our opponent got one back on a ferocious left-footed drive by their best player. Ollie had entered the game a few minutes earlier in relief of Ellie, but no keeper was stopping that one.

We rounded out our scoring with two feel-good moments, one of which hits close to home (home being the Gheorghieverse, in this case). Freshman midfielder Niecy (so named because she's the niece of FOGTB Cliffy) made a terrific first touch to get past a defender, then drove a low ball under the keeper and into the net for her first high school tally. She's a well-liked kid, and Ab picked her up off the ground as the team celebrated her.

Then, Little Ab held off a defender and slotted home to cap the scoring. I was happy to sit it, because she's a junior who transferred to our school this year, and she hasn't gotten a ton of game time. 

Careful readers will notice that Sid didn't get on the scoresheet, and it ate at her. She had several chances, and the agony on her face after each close call was evident. She was the only player other than Jennie that I gave a word before the game. Her's was "free". As in, let it go, man - just play. And she played really well, but I don't think she believes that. I had an exchange with her on the bench late in the game that might (maybe? hopefully?) be a crack that's letting the light in:

She said, "Niecy scored, Little Ab scored, but I can't score!"

To which I responded: "You know why that's a good thing?"

Her awareness dawning, she replied: "Because we're winning?"

Me, knowingly, "Because we're winning."

At this point Ellie jumped in to say: "You're such a dad."

And I said: "Guilty as charged."

But the important coda was Sid's, as she said: "But he's right."

Attagirl, Sid.

We're now 3-3, 2-1 in our district with a shot at the second seed in the district tournament. To get that shot, we'll have to beat the undefeated first-place team, then avenge our second loss, so there's a hill to climb. But we're a lot more confident team today than we were two weeks ago, and that's fun to see.

Commodore Knighthawk and the Perilous Knickerbockers

Sunday evening at 7:00, the Atlanta Hawks, fifth seeds in the Eastern Conference, face the fourth-seeded New York Knicks in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. There is a chance that this game will be the first game in NBA history to feature a player from William & Mary. But even if he doesn't get into a single game during the Hawks' playoff run, Nathan Knight proved he belongs in the league. And ain't that something?

W&M's greatest all-time player signed a two-way contract with Atlanta as an undrafted free agent, meaning that he was only eligible to be active for 50 of the team's 72 games. Ironically, the pandemic helped Nate, because normal NBA rules only allow a two-way player to spend 45 days with their NBA parent club and the majority of their time with a G-League affiliate.

I'm not such a homer that I'd overstate Knight's impact on the Hawks in the 33 games in which he appeared, but he did make his mark on a couple of occasions. In his second professional game, with the Hawks' roster depleted by injury, Nate dropped 14 points, making two of three from deep and rocking the rim on a pass from Trae Young as the Hawks beat Memphis (the dunk is at the 1:19 mark in the video below.

On back to back nights in March, Knight scored 16 and 15 in Atlanta's wins over Cleveland and Houston. Then, in the team's final game of the season, he went for a double-double, scoring 13 points and grabbing a career-high 10 boards in 26 minutes of action.

All told, Nate finished his rookie season averaging 3.8 points and 2.2 rebounds in 8.5 minutes per game. He didn't shoot the ball particularly well from the field (37%), but he did make 80% of his 55 free throws. In game action, he demonstrated an offensive explosiveness that we didn't see that often in college.

In our unbiased opinion, the Knighthawk showed enough to get another season in the league. He's got work to do on both ends of the floor, and we're not yet ready to argue that he's a starter. Yet. We reached out to the Atlanta front office for comment about Nate's future with the team, but they declined comment. Which, obviously, means that they don't want the rest of the league to know what they think they have. Smart, right there.

Our crystal ball says Nate's back with the Hawks next year, potentially bouncing up and down between the NBA and G-League. But we haven't seen the last of him, and that's a hell of a thing for a W&M product.

More 80's Musical Filler

rob's been posting musical reminiscences lately so I run up on his corner because Spotify just served up some 3rd Bass and we shouldn't forget about them.

20's Musical Filler

Your GTB co-house band (proudly sharing the stage with Greasetruck and Rootstone) has another single hitting the airwaves this week.

Summer's almost here. Fishing Trip is 2 months away.

More coming soon -- full album release in the fall. Just for kicks, anyone know how to get homegrown music on vinyl?

Rob Lasso: Episode 4

“Takin’ on a challenge is a lot like riding a horse. If you’re comfortable while you’re doin’ it, you’re probably doin’ it wrong.” -- Ted Lasso

If I were more of a planner, and a better writer, I'd have planned a story arc to go along with this running diary. And if I had done that, this episode might have been a good time to introduce some conflict, seeing as it's about half way through season one. Fortunately for me, reality planned better than I did.

During the week, we'd told the kids that we were going to try to play a JV game against one of our county's new schools on Friday as a lead-in to the Varsity game that evening. It would mean that we'd likely play 9v9 or 10v10, but it would be a chance for kids who haven't played much to get a run. When we announced the plan, it went over like a lead balloon (or a lead pillow), as the faces of the players betrayed the calculations they were making in their heads about which game they'd get/have to dress for. (In our county, you can't play in both a JV and Varsity game on the same day.)

As a part of the same conversation, we discussed arrangements for the bus transportation to the game. Because of the pandemic, our county has relaxed its rules on travel, allowing kids to get themselves to games if they choose. Since we were going to play a JV game at 6:00 and only take one bus, that meant that any Varsity kids who rode the bus would have to be ready two hours earlier than they might normally need. Before we even finished explaining, Dutch and Ab enthusiastically said that they intended to ride the bus to the JV game so they could watch it. Predictably, a whole lot of others jumped on that train.

As it turns out, we had two injuries and a conflict with an AP Exam that left us short of the minimum number of players available to play the JV game, and all the angst was for naught. But I saw you, Dutch and Ab.

Speaking of the former, our narrative arc darkened a bit further when she sidled up to me and the head coach to let us know that Natasha's attitude was becoming problematic. The latter has been dealing with an injury, and missed practice earlier in the week because of it without letting us know. And according to Dutch, she's been chastising teammates in less than kind ways. She got her moniker because she's of Russian descent, and she seems to have some of that culture's stereotypical steel in her personality. We're a lot better with her at left back, but as Ted Lasso figured out with Jamie Tartt, talent takes a back seat when toxic behavior corrodes a team's culture. One to watch.

On a much better note, a seemingly minor moment mid-week stuck with me enough to go out of my way to pump a kid up about it. I've been gently chiding Kenny about her inability to use her left foot. She's uber-talented - her skills on the ball are phenomenal, and made more effective because of her above-average height and long legs. But she's very right-dominant, and good defenders can use their positioning to limit her effectiveness. More than once, she's told be that she doesn't think she's very good with her left - and we need her to be.

After practice on Wednesday, I noticed her and Jennie head back onto the field after the other players packed up and started to leave. She took a ball and started taking shots with her left foot. She really isn't all that good with it, as it turns out, but she's putting in work. And as I told her the next day, that little example is a kind of leadership in its own way. If the team's most talented player is willing to work harder than anyone else, that'll play.

We took our first bus ride on Friday (our first road match was really close to our school, so we just got there on our own). Ab asked the coach if it was to be a silent ride, and he took advantage of the opening to make it so. Rookie mistake on Ab's part.

As for the game, it was a perfect Bob Knight outcome. We won, 2-1, but we made enough mistakes and missed enough chances that it'll give us a chance to keep the kids from getting overconfident.

We probably outshot our opponents by something like 20 to 5, but we didn't convert several gilt-edged chances. Natasha ruled herself out with her injury - a game-time decision - so sophomore Joolz made her debut as a starter. She went all 80 minutes in a game she didn't know she was starting until ten minutes before kickoff. Her nerves showed in the opening minutes, but she settled in a played a solid game.

Dutch was an absolute legend in this one. She had to guide a nervous first-time starter through the game, she covered time and time again for mistakes on the other side of the back line, and she wound up getting on the scoreboard. She hit a free kick from 20 yards out inches wide of the post, but she got another chance five minutes later after Kenny was hacked down in the box. Dutch walked to the spot with the ball laughing audibly. Nervous habit, I'm sure, but it must've made the opposing keeper think she was a lunatic - right before she absolutely stonked the spot kick into the upper left corner.

After the break, Kenz got her second career goal after Steph danced her way through the defense and slotted a ball that would've been hard not to convert. Kenz made no mistake, blasting it with her left foot into the back of the net. Joolz started the movement with a terrific pass to spring Steph.

We could've and likely should've scored three or four more: Steph had two breakaways and missed the frame both times. Sid had a sitter from three feet out and clanked her shot off her plant foot. Sam hit the keeper in the numbers unmarked from 15 yards out.

That lack of efficiency made things a bit white-knuckled when Sid fouled an opponent in the box and they converted the penalty, but the girls made the scoreline stand up to bring our record to 2-3.

Ab was bummed not to play, and Sid was basically inconsolable even in victory. There are some growing pains nagging at the good guys. Gonna have to earn our money coaching this week.