I am Al Davis, and let's go watch Volleyball and Soccer LIVE

You are looking at the picture of the Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis. He basically runs the entire team and makes all the decisions.

In some ways, I am the Al Davis of your St. Mary's sports, except probably 60 years younger and I could probably beat him in a race.

Long story short, Al Davis fired the Raiders coach Lane Kiffin today. It's been rumored for weeks and it finally happened.

To make more sense of it, picture your soccer, volleyball or basketball coach. Whoever it is, I don't like him or her.

And then all of a sudden you hear rumors Bryan is going to fire one of them. But you like your coach, and the coach is actually doing well.

However, it doesn't matter what they do or think. It doesn't matter what you do or think. Either way, they are fired.

Why? Because Bryan doesn't like him and wants to control everything (which sometimes I do, but just not as bad as Mr. Davis). And the coach doesn't get the rest of his or her money I owe them. (But coaches sadly don't get paid)

Did that make sense? Probably not. Do you watch football? Probably not.

SOCCER AND VOLLEYBALL TRIPS

Today I passed out forms for volleyball and soccer, where we can attend an actual game. Volleyball, next Friday at 7 p.m. @ Stanford, to watch an actual Stanford game. Good news: The tickets are free.

Soccer- I gave you an option of either October 11 or October 25, in Santa Clara. $20/ticket. A 50% discount from the original price. And we can get autographs after the game...very cool.

Bring them back asap. Your entire family is invited, so please everybody come on out.

COMING UP TOMORROW

We've lost two volleyballs and you'll see the exclusive here tomorrow.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY MOM...Today she turns 213 years old...just kidding. I will not reveal her age, because I don't know what it is.

Thanks to Brandon, Derek, Tommy, Tom and Elliot who harassed her at the library today. Feel free everyone else to go and wish her a happy belated.

3rd/4th Grade Soccer Practice OFF for Monday/Changed to Tuesday

The 3rd/4th grade soccer practice for Monday this week is canceled and moved to Tuesday at the same time.

This Friday is a half-day, so there will be an opportunity to practice in the afternoon for both soccer teams.

Also, a possibility for volleyball practice Friday for half-day as well.

Cards Due Tomorrow

Thank you cards are due tomorrow...thanks!

8th Grade Girls Look Strong Again/3rd and 4th Grade Shut-Out

The 8th grade girls look good, very good. They are on the cusp of having it come full circle. Yes, it was another loss, but it was the way they loss, which was encouraging.

Serves are starting to clear the net with ease, balls are being returned, and the girls in general are making it look like a game. You couldn't sit and watch this game and say, "This team is playing for the first time this year." Anytime you can get people to say that, progress is being made.

Now they need to take that extra step, the hardest one, to get even better. 25-15 and 25-11 were the scores, but their head coach, King Yu, said they played better today than last night, even though the score didn't show.

SOCCER

With the double-header for the 7th grade canceled, the 3rd/4th graders took their shot literally at the first goal. They played a team that had previously won 10-0. It was only 2-0 at the half, but the final score was 5-0. Garrick Sin o the 3rd grade stood out in today's game, as he was quick to many balls and was in on almost every play.

**EXCLUSIVE BREAKING NEWS: 6TH/7TH GRADE SOCCER GAME CANCELED

EXCLUSIVE BREAKING NEWS

Always check the blog.

Coaches are trying to get in touch with players as we speak.

The 6th/7th Grade Soccer games for today, BOTH have been canceled. The field was overbooked and a mistake with the Park and Rec has caused both games to be postponed.

Make-up dates will be announced within the next week or so.

Now you have time to go to the 3rd/4th grade soccer game, 1 p.m. @ West Sunset and the 8th grade girls volleyball game, 3 p.m. @ St. Emydius.

Results for those games later tonight.

8th Grade Girls Play Their Best Game

The 8th grade girls played only their second game and are inching closer and closer to putting it altogether.

They lost both sets, by the same score of 25-16, but are leaps and bounds better than a few weeks ago, and also not too shabby for a team that started playing less than a month ago.

Not so good for the 6th/7th graders as they seemed to have taken a step backward after a good 2nd game and good practices during the week.

Miscommunication, and the inability to return the ball really hurt them in their game just hours ago. Back to the drawing board for Sunday's practice.

8th Grade girls give it a go again tomorrow at 3 p.m., St. Emydius. Soccer also tomorrow. 3 games...

3rd/4th grade @ 1 p.m. West Sunset
6th/7th Grade @ 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Polo Fields. Stupid CYO scheduling, but what ya gonna do?

Trivia Question

Last week's winner: Sally Li of the 7th grade.

When you post a comment for the answer, leave your name. I got a few anonymous ones and have no clue who they are.

The answer was 1964.

This week's question:

Who was the starting goalie for the U.S. women's soccer gold medal team in Beijing?

Same rules apply.

BREAKING NEWS: 6th/7th Grade Soccer Game Time Changed

I guess it's better than playing back-to-back.

The 6th/7th Grade soccer game has been moved to 2 p.m. for this Saturday. Then they will play again at 4 p.m.

Now there will be a one-hour break between games. It's not the best, but it's still better than playing for 2 straight hours. It's a dumb idea to begin with and it's something CYO needs to take care of. We are unfortunately innocent victims in this.

CYO doesn't have enough fields, so since we had a week off, we are forced to play 2 games in 1 day. Absolutely ridiculous and stupid if you ask me. Just pray this doesn't happen again.

BREAKING NEWS: 8TH Grade Game Time Changed

It pays to visit the blog...

The 8th grade girls volleyball game scheduled for 6:45 on Friday has been changed.

NEW GAME TIME

5:15 @ Epiphany.

So the game is moved up 1 hour and 30 minutes...

Spread the word and tell everyone involved to visit this site for details.

Saturday Results for Volleyball/Soccer

VOLLEYBALL

The day got off to a good start as the 6th/7th grade team made huge strides today in their game this morning.

It was a rough first set, but the second set was much closer. 25-16 was the final. The team played with only 6 girls today (where was everybody else???). Sally Li of the 7th grade stood out as she made a few very nice serves and returned the ball on a several occasions. The entire team as a whole has made great strides in just one week, and are doing a lot better job of communicating on the court. Even though they didn't win, they are definitely on the right track and a lot of positives came from the game despite the loss.

Mr. Tsokas was in attendance and was the referee for the game. He said afterward, "Not bad for their first year."

They practice tomorrow from 12-2 at NDV (GIRLS WHO WERE NOT AT THE GAME).

SOCCER

Now onto the soccer...we're still looking for that elusive first goal.

The 6th/7th grade team also showed drastic improvement from their first game. The defense is starting to shape up. Gavin Lin (6th Grade) who was pretty shy about playing when he first started played a great game. He made strong kicks up the field and dribbled the ball when he had the opportunity. Kelvin Mai also played a very strong game in the defensive backfield.

For the 3rd/4th graders...

They definitely looked like the stronger team and had possession of the ball for more than half the game. For the first time this year, the majority of play was in the attack zone, but unfortunately no goals came from it. There were a few good scoring chances, but nothing ever panned out. They are also slowly getting there.

Steve Ung (4th Grade) was a beast out there today, running over kids and kicking the ball hard. He was aggressive and played fearless, which is something everyone needs to learn from. The final score was 3-0, however the first goal was very questionable, due to the opposition being offsides.

Volleyball/Soccer Schedule This Weekend

Please come out and check out the games tomorrow for volleyball and soccer.

11:30 at St. Monica's is the volleyball game. Right after, you can drive a few blocks over to the Polo Fields for the soccer game that starts at 12.

At 3 p.m., the young kids, 3rd and 4th grade will play their 3rd game at West Sunset.

Hope to see you out there. If not...THEN........

More Gossip/Happy Birthday to Tiff

Today is Tiff's birthday. As you well know, she graduated last year from St. Mary's and now goes to SH. Today she turns 14. Her sister is Marissa in the 6th grade, who is playing both soccer and volleyball. What a trooper.

Tiff spells her name different than most Tiffanys, as she spells it Tiffanie. Her last name is Yu, but she is not related to the 8th grade volleyball coach, King or Priscilla in the 8th grade right now.

Someone told me today to post more gossip on this blog...So I will...

Starting tomorrow. Coming up soon the story of how a volleyball got run over by a car.

This Week's Trivia Question

TRIVIA QUESTION FOR THIS WEEK

• What year did volleyball become a sport in the Olympics?

o 1960
o 1964
o 1968

A winner will be drawn at random and announced here next week. Winners will be eligible for a raffle drawing at Awards night. Answers must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Friday night. Leave your response in the comment link below.

Dan wins Big Brother 10!!!

Off topic, but I promised to add something new every day. How many people are actually reading this? Thanks if you are.

Spread the word, so I don't look like a clown just amusing myself with these posts.

The Big Brother winner was crowned earlier tonight and he is wearing a St. Mary's T-Shirt...

He is actually a football coach from Michigan.

Newsletter will be out Thursday and as of right now, no breaking news.

Trivia Winner/Practices This Week

Congratulations to Larry Wong, husband of your 5th grade Mrs. Wong. The correct answer was Eric Wynalda, who scored the first goal ever in MLS history. 1994 was the year I believe and probably all of you were not born or 1 years old at the time.

PRACTICES THIS WEEK

3rd/4th Grade Soccer- Thursday @ Moscone 4:30 - 6:30

6th/7th Soccer- Tuesday @ Moscone 4:00 - 6:00
Thursday @ Moscone 4:30 - 6:30
Friday @ Moscone 4:00 - 6:00

6th/7th Volleyball - 4:30 @ Helen Wills
8th Grade Volleyball- Tuesday & Friday @ Helen Wills, 4:30

If there are any changes or edits I need to make, let me know.

Soccer Results from Saturday

The 3rd/4th grade team with only 8 players (usually you have 9) until the 4th quarter lost 2-0 and the first goal is still up for grabs.

Saturday Morning Volleyball Results

LOS ANGELES- I am typing this from LA and was unfortunately not at the game this morning. But the 6th and 7th grade girls lost their first game in 2 sets, (25-7, 25-8).

More notes to follow tonight or tomorrow.

Last night's 8th grade result is below this post. Be back later with soccer results.

Volleyball 8th Grade Results

The brave 8th grade girls played the first St. Mary's volleyball game in years, but lost Friday night in 2 sets.

St. Mary's actually got on the scoreboard first after SVDP faulted on a serve. But experienced prevailed and St. Mary's lost the first set 25-11.

The second set was a lot closer and even tied half-way through, with St. Mary's ultimately falling 25-16 in their loss.

A lot of times I tend to sugarcoat things, and make things better than they seem, because...well...everyone playing is young and inexperienced. Mistakes are supposed to happen. We're not pros.

In previous newsletters, you might not see a score or a record, fearing that I'd embarrass whoever played.

I won't do that on this blog. You'll read things that will never make it to the newsletter.

So I start with that tonight. The girls played a phenomenal game. The thing EVERYBODY could tell, including the people at Mission Dolores that I speak to frequently...experience. The other team has probably played for years, and had the chance to since they were in 3rd grade. Our girls started 2 weeks ago.

The star of the game would have to be Iris, who transferred in to St. Mary's last year. Other players, in any grade, need to look at her as an example. She called out the balls she was going to hit and had the confidence to hit them over. Everybody needs to develop that and in time, I'm sure it will happen.

To have a volleyball team is a big accomplishment for a school like ours, so be proud of that. I have nothing negative to say about tonight.

Tomorrow morning will be the first look at the 6th/7th grade team as they play their first game, also at Mission Dolores. The game is set to start at 10 a.m. Hope to see you there.

Good night.

Go out and watch Volleyball and Soccer this weekend!

Please, if you have time, go check out the games this weekend for St. Mary's. For you students--instead of being stuck at home playing video games, go out and support your school.


SOCCER

3rd/4th Grade
9/13 West Sunset @ 2 p.m.
Location: 41st and Quintara Ave

VOLLEYBALL

8th Grade
9/12 Mission Dolores @ 8 p.m.

6th/7th Grade
9/13 Mission Dolores @ 10 a.m.

Address: 3371 16th Street

HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE. THE TRIVIA QUESTION IS GETTING LONELY. Please take a look...

This Week's Trivia Question

Who scored the 1st goal in MLS history?

Click the comment button under this post to answer.

A winner (with the correct answer) will be drawn at random and announced here on this blog even before the newsletter comes out. Winners will be eligible for a raffle drawing at Awards night. Answers must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Friday night.

Welcome

Welcome everybody to the St. Mary's Athletics blog, where you will find up to date news and information about St. Mary's Athletics.