I will not be taken down so easily!

One of my most recent endeavors is playing on a city league soccer team. It has been a good many years since I've played on an organized outdoor team. A group from church decided to get a team together and let me tell you... we are fabulous! We named ourselves Jock Jams after the beloved ESPN sports soundtrack. We have played four games so far and finally won our first game!! We're pretty proud of ourselves for our win considering only a handfull of us played competively in high school/college. We get a nice crowd to come out every week... to include my parents. My friends think I am so cool because mine are the only parents to come to the games... and bring oranges! Funny how that kind of stuff embarrasses us ten years ago...

I am realizing now that though 25 is just a mere child in biblical proportions, my athleticism is not quite the same as it was 10 years ago. In a recent trip to the ER (elbow to the mouth/jaw), I took the opportunity to inquire about my other recently acquired injuries - sprained ankle (4 months and still sore) and a seriously huge bruise that's about a month old. The Xray tech proceeded to give me a lecture about young people my age that still think we're teenagers and indestructible so when we get injured we don't take the docs seriously when they tell us to "rest". That's why it takes us four months to recover from sprained ankles. Oh pish posh... needless to say, I am still playing soccer once a week and basketball often twice a week. The bumps and bruises are all part of the game right?

The lovely part about my soccer league is that we're co-ed a/k/a girls havin a good time with 20-something men trying to relish the 18 year old soccer stars they once were. In the most recent game, one player in particular ran me over harder than I have ever been run over before by a guy - TWICE! The first time he belly-ached to the ref that I was in his way (hello, defense? ever heard of it?). The second time he again belly-ached but this time with me and my fellow lads on my team yelling in his face. Its the closest I ever came to fighting on the field. I was instantly reminded of something my dear friend Jess told me when I started playing basketball at BYU-I. She said that she'd want me on her team b/c if she were playing against me, she'd be afraid of me. Well clearly I instilled no fear is this guy. Maybe next time.