The Tale of a TI Survivor

Caution: This is not for the fainthearted.

3 Dec 2011 - It was a typical Saturday. When I looked up to check the time, it was already past 1 in the afternoon; well past my weekend duty hours; well past lunch as well. Sis wasn't done with the salon yet but I sure am done for at least a day and a half for all the work that I have put in all morning. Pre-lunch fare was a slice of pizza. Something was odd. The dough tasted papery.

At home, there's not much to do but wait for the much hyped about LA Galaxy and Azkals friendlies (aka the Dream Cup - maybe because it was the organizers', the players', and the rest of the football lovers' collected dream to see the superstars of LA Galaxy)  at Rizal Memorial. It pays to read/watch the sports news (only if  Diane Castillejo wasn't in it. My! Listen to her!). So I paid dearly. Sat in front of the tube for nearly six hours, having no idea when or what station was the game to be aired.

Dinner came and gone. Then the game started. It was fun before it got really boring. At the fifteenth minute, I swore that if Beck wont make a goal in the first half, I'm off to sleep. Then on the 20th minute, maybe Beck got bored as well and wowed everyone with a goner from way way back. Truly, he bends it like no other.

I quit earlier than promised though. When the Azklas got that single goal, there was only one defender between the ball and Saunders. How was that possible. The last time I checked, there were 3 big guys protecting the goal, Beck included.

I remember our game against the USC varsity during the Thirsty Cup (hope we'll have the same event here in Negros). Even with the knowledge that we were not that tough a team, they never gave us a reason to feel small. They challenged us to be tougher and better players. Look at how where the girls now. 2, 3 championships in the open category and counting.

azkals vs kuwait

We are just not THERE yet.

The Azkals sure have gone a long way, but getting somewhere in football entails a lot of hard work...and time. We are up against teams from countries which declare a holiday every time their national team play.

How else could we show our support to our home team but watch their games?

And watch their games I did. Every single one.

My heart broke at the 3-nil culmination of the first match against the Kuwaitis last week. That didn't keep me from another broken heart after last Thursday's game. What made it more painful was the fact that by the second half, the Kuwaitis were undermanned and most of their subs saw action, still they managed to regal us with some quite fancy footwork and win the match.

(Just my opinion) Seeing that the penalty box is impenetrable or that we are undermanned in that area, Coach should have seen the advantage of making long shot attempts like Schrock did in the first half, we could have done better.

Oh, well.

Action from the U16 Qualifiers for 2009 at Panaad

phil v. indonesia

the philippine team

last scrimmage on petc rain drenched pitch

thanks for making tth something to look forward to every week!

see you guys around!

the 2008 football season is unofficially open yet the lfc girls are already back on the pitch kicking grass, even playing against the boys. the excitement stemmed from the group's recent registration for the post-valentine's event, the thirsty cup. it'll be the group's first outing as a team, i.e., not a support to mulbachs or supported by the latter. this is made possible with the assistance of PETC director raul fuentes and IMDS manager gina delos reyes.
gary garciano and judah ciriaco (en absentia...with his forthcoming offshore assignment in korea) are coaching (with gumarz showing the same zeal for the beautiful game, rain or shine).

'nice defense'

...coming from gary is noteworthy...especially when compliments like this one are hard to come by anymore. admittedly, i could be the worst goalie there would be if i choose to make a carreer out of it...blame it on the numerous and painfully memorable injuries the flying ball has inflicted on me through the course of my playing soccer. i've had my moments though. like tonight, i might have been hysterical to find the ball going my way many times but once i got the hang of it, i managed to keep the ball away from the goalpost and earned that 'nice defense' comment. of course, it helped that i made two goals for the team early on in the game.

losing sleep...again

I hope that this is only one of those days that happen once in a blue moon. My sleep was cut short by a rather loud chatter from the main house. When I checked the watch that I kept on the window sill, it said 9:48 a.m. To think that I finally succombed to sublime subconsciousness at around 6 a.m. Not only that, the pump, which is only a meter away from my bed (separated by 6 inches of concrete wall) nearly drove me crazy. Apparently Ponching has not finished with today's load of laundry. I decided between screaming and keeping my cool. The latter won out. What I did was drape the windows with blankets, tucked my head at the corner of the bed, covered my ears with pillows. Thankfully, I promptly went back to sleep and said hello to the world with a smile at 1 p.m. I was so hungry and couldn't be more grateful to see some still warm rice on the table (Fran's an angel). The hotdogs were cooked at the minimum and I concentrated on filling my empty stomach.
Paracetamol and phenylpropanolamine make me feel lousy but they're a big help driving the cold away. Today, I can't remember sneezing nor blowing my nose anymore. I felt so down it actually crossed my mind not to play soccer anymore. I actually went back to bed after downing a rather big helping of chicken macaroni (which I prepared after lunch) but at half past 4, I headed for the shower like an automaton. I couldn't help myself. Subconsciously, I could be thinking that I couldn't wait another day to get into the field. :) Boy, we are pathetic. We are so addicted to the sport.
My playtime was around 1 1/2 hours. It was a good workout. Everyone must have had enough of accidents already, we had none of that tonight. I missed two good passes though and a million of opportunities to make a goal. Hopefully, today's exertion will render me dog tired at the end of the shift so I would be oblivious to whatever distractions when I reach r.e.m.

for the love of...

Here I am, with something so significant to write on my diary and I couldn’t find a single writing implement within my reach. While I was giving my control file some attention over a cup of coffee, inspiration just struck me. And I just have to seize this moment…come what may.

I was in my element on the field today. I exhibited the same surge of energy as I had last Tuesday…doing a lot of running across, up and down the field that time flew so fast. What fired me up all the more was the fact I made a “nice” (for lack of a better adjective to use) goal with a long ground pass from Judah earlier and a good assist that had Doli make her first goal too. But what happened to me next was totally unexpected albeit inevitable in the sport.

My last recollection was that I saw the ball coming towards me that called for a left kick. I went for it but lost my footing. My world suddenly skidded to a stop when I heard the familiar sickening crunch of my left ankle as my left foot folded inwards and supported my weight. As in, time went to a standstill and I found myself lying on the ground face up, left arm covering my eye, my left leg folded over my right. “Blinding pain” best described how I felt and my upper limbs felt numb for a moment. I couldn’t remember who helped me up and guided me to the sidelines. Whoever you are, thanks a bunch!

Oh, the price that we have to pay for the love of the game!!!