Good To Be Back In DC

Its been Monday since my last blog but if feels like a week ago with the past few days trials and tribulations.  Our 415am start yesterday for a brisk walk to the metro in St. Louis found us getting our 2 flights to get back close to DC or at least 5 hours away in Raleigh NC.  3 rented mini vans later and the long drive saw us back at foggy bottom about 730pm and the end of a stressful 2.5 days for me trying to get the team home.  Practice today was delayed an hour too give the guys some added sleep time although many of the guys were up for morning classes.

Seeing the devastation on the TV from NY, NJ and DE and other places and knowing some players had homes seriously damaged by Sandy made the trip no easier knowing that DC had been lucky to avoid the chaos and madness that these areas will face for days/weeks to come but a reminder that there are always those less fortunate than yourself.  I hope these areas recover quickly and my thoughts are with those that were taken by the storm.  I was just upset that I couldn't get home to my family and all the problems that we faced to get home.  It puts things in perspective when you see the news and what others are facing in the days/weeks ahead.

Back to today and practice was very light to get the trip out of our legs and see how the many injured guys that could not travel were doing and whether they were on the road to recovery to play this weekend.  A light jog and some agility work followed by a 7v7 was the order of the day and despite running 3 laps myself in the warm up I still could not find my legs to play in the game.  Its been a hectic 6 days for most of these guys and I liked the enthusiasm they still had for the session today leading up to the game Saturday against Charlotte ranked #21 by the NSCAA and going for the A10 regular season title.

I was still shattered getting home today but managed to put on a smily face for Halloween and the chance to take Cerys Trick or Treating in the local neighborhood.  I have to confess that I didn't dress up this year but when asked I told people I was dressed as a soccer coach without going into detail about the season and past few days and no more questions were asked luckily.

Looking forward to getting back on the field tomorrow and doing a Brendan Rodgers making the field my office and having those little conversations that matter and make players feel good about what they can do for themselves and the team.

Magic Moment of the Day
Waking up next to Liz, Cerys and Dylan.