Monday, June 18, 2007

STRATEGO

I congratulate all Deciders who participated in last evening's spirited scrimmage. I also congratulate the New York Yankees for their inspiring victory over the Mets; let their aggressive play and classy sportsmanship motivate our first win this Sunday.

In reviewing the events of our first game, I have formed some suggestions that may help us improve our chances for league domination, the domination we so dearly deserve and will likely effect. While I am wary of attempting to assert too much will over how we play, and of appearing to take this experience too seriously, I hope you will humor me and consider these few points which I offer to increase both our enjoyment and success in the league.

  1. During practice, it would be best to recreate the type of play we can expect in games. That is, we should play within tighter boundaries. This will force us to strengthen our close-play skills (fighting for 50-50s, shielding, communication, collapsing while on defense, and (most importantly) spreading the field and creating space while on offense). If we get the turf field, we can use the goalie box for field dimensions; that usually works quite well. I'll see if I can bring some variously colored pinnies/bibs so we can do a couple of other helpful drills.
  2. Shoot the ball. A lot. These small fields afford us plenty of scoring opportunities that we may not realize are there. Seriously, we should even be taking a shot off all kick-offs from midfield.
  3. Use the toe-punch, especially when in close proximity to the goal. Most goals are foiled when we take too long to get a shot off at close range, or else when the shots are struck while we're off-balance and are consequently weak. The toe punch corrects for both of these flaws: it's quick, fast, and accurate (almost always going straight from where you follow through). We should have no shame about using the toe-punch; rather, our foes will feel same, the shame of suffering defeat from our super toeing.

Thanks for humoring. Please feel free to challenge or echo any of these points, and, of course, to add your own.

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