Dashian Emilio

Tuesday night, Emilio and I went to a Tikka ceremony hosted by ECU's Asian Student Association, where they served a hot chai (milk tea) and cookies. The ceremony marked the end of the Dashain Festival, which is the most important Hindu holiday of the year we were told by the Nepalese students who organized the event. We were also told that the Dashain Festival commemorates the victory of a warrior goddess over a ten-headed demon. Each year Hindu people go home to be with their families for this holiday, and it is common for people to get new clothes, to clean (and sometimes paint) their houses, and to eat lots of meat.  In order to give the god of the Earth a rest, they build swings that reduce the number of feet that are on the Earth at a given time.  They also fly kites that send messages to the rain god:  "Please don't rain on our Festival!" At the Tikka Festival, elders give their blessing to younger ones, putting red rice on their foreheads and barley blades behind their ears while saying a few words (see above), like "May you have a long life, do well in your studies, and respect your parents," and give them some money.

Catty Wampus (Season Four, Game 3.2 . . . or 5)

So it was 6-0 late in the first half of Emi's return encounter with Coach Dwight & Co. when lightning struck. I thought they were just going to play the second half after the next week's game, but they decided to run the whole game over. When I spoke to Emilio on the phone afterwards, he told me "I have a new name: Catty Wampus." Apparently, Coach Dwight had come up with a strategy to stop Emilio that included holding back on defense and having someone cover him the whole time. "Catty Wampus!" or "Cover Catty Wampus!" was code for "cover Emilio."  Apparently, it helped. Why "Catty Wampus," you ask? No idea.

#1 is a sneaker.  Notice the other fields are empty.  Emilio is quite excited about his first in this game.  He even goes for a two-fist salute.  But after quickly resuming his spot, he either regains composure or expresses some fatigue.

One minute later, Emi pounces on the kickoff, but soon loses his shoe and Big Red takes advantage. 1-1.

Four minutes later, Emi takes a kickoff in for his second. Does this mean the score is 2-2?

Nice clear and a strong kick.

I love the way Emi jumps up after hitting the post and soon ends up with another shot on goal.  Good job by Emory in the Blue goal.

Close call.  The Big Red defense is strong.

Tyler scores for the Dragons.

Great shot from way out off the far post which gets in just before Tristan can get to it. That's #3 for Emi.

Two minutes later:  #4.
When I called at halftime, Emi told me the score was 5-2. Apparently, Emilio sat for the third quarter and the score, by the time he came in was 7-6 us.  That seems like a lot of scoring to me, but . . . I wasn't there.

Great pounce. #5 at the other end.

Two minutes later, Emi gets bonked on the head.  He's all smiles, but his mami is concerned . . . and loses track of her documentary duties.  Emi scores, but we don't see it. #6.

Great slalom following a kick-off and a finish with the left:  #7. This one is the highlight of the day in my book.

Amazing intercept score:  #8.  And I love the nod to mom at the end.

This is not a score, but I dig the spin move. Coach Brian encourages Emi to pass the ball; he does . . . and then swoops around behind the pass-ee--just in case he doesn't control it.

The final score, I'm told, was 9-6. Emi scored 8. Considering that it was 6-0 at halftime a couple of weeks ago against the same team, that's quite an endorsement of the Catty Wampus Defense, but in the end, Catty Wampus laughs last. Next week is a Fall Break bye.

Season Four, Game Four

I had to miss this one because I was reading a paper at an academic conference in Lawrence, Kansas.  It hurt!  As soon as I got out of my session, I called the field in time to get a half-time report from the second game of the double-header (the next post).  I am very grateful to Maria for serving as documentarian.  

Emi goes the length of the field, takes his time, and it's 1-0. 

This is the ensuing kickoff.  Nifty.  2-0.

Two minutes later:  I've seen this movie before; the intercepted goal kick becomes the hat trick.

Three minutes later:  #4.  The next clip is 24 minutes later, we've switched ends and perhaps Emi took a break?

Impressive footwork here.  That's #5.

Two minutes later, Emi goes the length of the field for #6.


Tyler scores the last one; nice assist, Emi.  Mari tells me the final score was 7-1; Emi scored six and had one assist.

Lightning 1, Dragons 6 (Season Four: Game Three)

After the bye week, Emilio's team squares off against our coach from last year--Coach Dwight and former teammates Eva and Paik. Coach Dwight's wife Deena told me a couple of weeks ago that he was not looking forward to it.

It's really hard to tell, even in slow-mo, whether this one crosses the line before or after it is touched by the toe of teammate Lane or the opposing defender.  Either way, one minute into the game, it's 1-0 Dragons and Emi either has his first goal or a great assist.

No doubt about this one.  Two minutes after the first goal, it's 2-0 Dragons.

This over-the-head shot is one of Emi's favorites.  3-0.

The patented pick-pocket:  Emi is great at intercepting goal kicks and taking them in for the score. Four minutes in, it's Dragons 4-0.

Sneaky! Dragons 5-0.

At this point, Coach Dwight has assigned #3 (son of ECU's Math Dept. Chair) to cover Emilio full-time. Emi hits one off the post, but he will not be denied . . .
With the score 6-0 in the second quarter, lightning strikes in the area and the game is called. The plan is to play the second half after our next game on Saturday the 12th, but I, alas, will be in Kansas delivering a paper at the Literature/Film Association Conference. I REALLY hate to miss these.

Blue Dragons vs. Green Ninjas (Season Four, Game Two)

Week two: Emilio's excited to be playing against Graham, an old friend and teammate.  That's Graham about to deliver a second-hafl kick off in the photo immediately above.

For some reason, this week, they're playing five to a side. We have six on our team, so there won't be much resting.  I'm OK with that, but I prefer the open-field play of four to a side.  Oh, well. Early on, Emilio's shot on goal is rejected, but Tristan is there to follow. 1-0.



The Ninjas take a 2-1 lead, and Emilio scores the equalizer:  his first.



Nicely aimed at the far post. 3-2, Dragons.



Again, nicely aimed at the far post. 4-2, Dragons. Emi has three.



We debated whether or not Emilio knocked Kate down on this play. Slow mo shows that he stopped the ball, and she tripped on it, not his leg. 5-2, Dragons. Emi has four.



Brilliant planning by Emilio, who makes his move at just the right time. 6-2, Dragons. Emi has five.



Emi was supposed to sit to start the second half, but Wyatt was on a bathroom break, and Emilio made the most of his opportunity. 7-2, Dragons; Emi has six.


Again, I've lost track of the score. This one makes it 8-2; Emi has seven. The Ninjas score one more, and that's how we end it.

Next week is a bye--which is a good thing, because I'll be out of town.

Seeing Emilio enjoy such success at soccer--it's magic--is a highlight of my week, my fall, my year. And my life.

Behold: the Blue Dragons (Season Four, Game One)

Emilio's third 8-game season of U-8 soccer begins with a game against the Orange Trackers. We've got a new coach and five new teammates, and at our one practice, on Monday, we picked the name the "Blue Dragons."  There will only be four players on the field this season (there were five last year), so we're looking to see a lot more open field play--which should be more fun.

The Blue Dragons are, from left to right in the photo at left:  Wyatt, Tristan, Tyler (son of coaches Brian and Courtney), Lane, Emi, and Emory.

Above:  the first four seconds of the 2013 Fall season.

Picking off goal kicks is Emilio's specialty.  We're three minutes in to the first quarter, and the score is 2-0. Emilio has scored both our goals.

Following an Orange score to make it 2-1, we kick off.  Still the first quarter. Emilio loses the handle, loops around to defend his own goal, and shows some nifty footwork. Soon after this, Coach Brian gives Emi a rest, but when Tyler--who has been playing defense--gets hurt, Emi gets sent back in.  At first, Emi believes he's going to play defense, but Coach Brian sends him forward.  I think I'm pushing the record button, but I'm not, so I miss his fourth goal of the young game.  Emilio sits for much of the rest of the first half and the Orange Trackers score three more goals to tie the game 4-4.
Quarter three:  This is one for the ages.  Following a handball, Emilio lines up to take the kick facing a well constructed Orange Tracker wall. If he scores, we take the lead.

Quarter number three: The score at the beginning of this clip is Blue Dragon 5, Orange Trackers 4. I know this now, but during the game I had lost track of the score.


The patented goal kick pounce produces goal number seven and a three-goal lead for the Blue Dragons.


Emilio scores his 8th goal of the game--and it's with the left!


Emi is well set up for the goal kick, but it goes the wrong way, and Emi comes in for a great save.


The Orange Trackers have narrowed the score to 8-7, and Emilio delivers a perfect pass to Tristan.


Number nine.


Number ten is a brilliant scoop with the left foot.  We win 11-7; Emilio scores 10, with one assist, and a nice save.

At this point, I expect that I will have to miss two of our eight games this season.  I'll be in Lawrence, Kansas on October 12th and New Orleans on November 9th.  I really hate to miss these.

Riff Ram Bah "Zoo"

Don't double Horned Frog fingers look suspiciously like quotation marks suggesting an ironic, hipster  "fandom"?

Emilio attended his first TCU football game on Saturday, September 7th with me and Melissa.

I chose this game against Southeast Louisiana, an FCS opponent, because I thought it would be an easy victory. Alas, it was not that.  With 2:38 to play in the first half, the score was tied 14-14.  Adding injury to insult, QB Casey Pachall broke his left arm. It was also hotter than the blazing fires of hell (kickoff was at 11 a.m.). We did our best to cool off with bottles of ice water, a Lemon Icee and Dippin' Dots, but it was a losing battle.  It took us half an hour to hike back to the car afterwards, and about 20 minutes into our ride back to Ada, Emilio returned all that ammunition to the floor of the car.

But that most important thing is: we looked good, outfitted in Horned Frog purple provided by Mom and Dad, as you can see in these pictures.  We had first row seats ($16 per on Stub Hub).  Pachall's replacement, Trevone Boykin played well, and we eventually won, 38-17.

And one week after losing a relatively close one to SEC powerhouse LSU in a Cowboys Classic season opener, we defended our top 25 ranking.