IM Champs

The Alt-tab team started off with a few kids from Danforth and Beau that loved to play soccer and one day decided to make a team. The brilliance of Phil and Kevin brought Team Alt-Tab into existence. From there, we played rather inconsistently for the first year, eventually losing out to WashU United :-(.

In our 2nd year, we picked up a few rather talented young individuals, or rather we attempted to pick them up. Sadly, we got disqualified during one of our playoff matches because we had an illegal player. Much drama surrounded this DQ, seeing as how that illegal player scored no goals for us, AND we had already put in about 4 goals by the time he got there. We didn't even know he was an illegal player until later. Secondly, we were playing 11 players (skilled) versus 8 players (not skilled) and we were willing to drop our numbers down to 8 players to even the teams out. Needless to say, the other team got destroyed and humiliated by WashU United in the next round of playoffs. But we pulled ourselves back up and were even more determined to win what was rightfully ours, the IM t-shirt.

In our 3rd year of existence, we picked up yet again another group of highly skilled athletes. I thought this would have been our year, but we were knocked out in the first round of the playoffs. We worked hard that year, but our team still didn't gel. Hopefully the next year we kept on telling ourselves after the playoff defeat.

This year, our 4th year as a team, we finally succeeded. 4 clean sheets, allowing only 1 goal. We had a goal differential of 16, with our top goal scorer being Murtaza (4). Coaching this team was a lot of fun, drawing up formations and lineups, yelling at the refs, and playing outside every day. The players did amazing this year, and we prospered from that. Mad props to the team for sticking to their guns, powering their way through the opponents, and eventually scoring those crucial goals.

We finally did it. We, Alt-Tab, are IM Champions. And, may this continue for years to come. Once the seniors leave, it will be left to the underclassmen to continue the team if they so choose. I hope they do.

Goodbye undergrad soccer....*sigh* I'll miss you! I'm glad we're able to leave each other on such great terms!

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Through all of this, I have learned that time, dedication, and perseverance can produce fine results. However, patience in the heat of battle, quickness in thinking, preparedness, and the confidence to take risks can produce results beyond the imagination. Just some food for thought: in many ways, life is like a game of soccer. Give and go, patience, holding or running with the ball, defense and attack, never giving up for what you believe in or want, never succumbing to laziness or tiredness, etc etc.

Heart to Soul to Body: A tragedy

A lonely soul rests on a park bench. His slumped shoulders and disturbed hair magnify the depressing drip drop of fall's downpour. Each drip, each drop mask the teary eyed man who only wishes to hide in the darkness of the cloudy day and scream curses to the gods above. Oh, what a wretched soul, a soul that is lost! Unwilling to return to the places he had called home; unwilling to bear the shame that rests so heavily in his deadened heart; unable to love the life he has led and completely incapable of changing the circumstances that has led him to this lonely, cold, wet bench.

Have you ever had the sky suddenly turn from grey to blue and the rain disappear? Neither has he. And, it didn't happen on that dark day. A heart full of malice, anger, spite, hate, and depression. A heart unable to contain such emotions, a bubbling concoction of metaphysical death. And, death it became. As the heart dies, the soul dies; and, as the soul dies, so the body dies.

And, on that fateful stormy night, a man wasted away because no one saw underneath his facade. No one dared to call him out; no one dared to pry; no one dared to try.

All he wanted to do was to happily say hello and happily say goodbye, instead of leaving this earth teary eyed.

Hear him whisper, " My friends, my family, my love, my God, goodbye."

He gets up from that park bench, drenched clothing, matted hair, bloodshot eyes with anguished stare, and languidly drags his feet towards the darkness. Silhouette enveloped by the shadows, and with tears merging with the pools of rain fading into the depths of despair, he disappears forever, vanishing from all memory, or lackthereof.