The rest of the way.....

As the mid-season crunch approaches and the Ivy games arrive thick and fast I thought it would be a good idea to give a quick half-term report and a schedule update for the rest of the way.

Remaining Games

Oct. 10	Princeton *		7:00 PM EDT
Oct. 13	Rutgers		7:00 PM EDT
Oct. 17	at Harvard *		1:30 PM EDT
Oct. 20	at St. John's (N.Y.)		7:30 PM EDT
Oct. 24	at Cornell *		1:00 PM EDT
Nov. 1	Penn *		1:00 PM EST
Nov. 7	at Yale *		4:30 PM EST
Nov. 15	Dartmouth *		1:00 PM EST

The Record to Date (5 wins, 4 ties, 0 losses)
At the start of the season I think this record would have delighted the staff and players, yet it shows how far we have come, and how much the team has matured in that there is frustration that at least two of those ties should have been wins. There is no doubt that the team bears the hallmark of many typical Brown teams in being hard to beat. But, we can still improve and nobody (staff or players) is sitting back and saying "job done." Perhaps the most pleasing aspect of the season so far has been the teams' ability to deal with adversity and recover from set-backs.
The Players
It's impossible to single out one or two individuals for their playing performances, as so many of the boys have contributed to the results on the pitch. In practice, T-time remarked recently that even our scout team is the best one he's ever seen! Both he and Wallsy have kept their focus and just as importantly, have kept the teams' focus when it has been needed, and are providing leadership off the field. I work with the goalkeepers on a daily basis and have been delighted with their attitude, not only to training, but also to each other. They are pushing each other every day but also being the best of teammates. Those not in the starting eleven are pushing to play - this is an absolutely essential ingredient for any squad of players that want to achieve success....
Injuries
Those of you who were at Columbia will have noticed the absence of our pocket-rocket Austin - he is recovering from a concussion sustained at USF and is making steady progress. No fixed date for his return yet, but he's back in light training and raring to go. Dylan Remick sustained a nasty ankle sprain in the Columbia game - no breaks or significant damage, so hopefully he'll be fit to return sooner rather than later..... The welcome sight of Ian Smith in a Brown uniform punctuated the last two contests and he is rapidly coming back into contention as the days go by. It's been a long road back from his pre-season metatarsal injury... Finally, Mitch Justus, yet unseen in a Brown uniform is on the road to full fitness following his hamstring problems...
And the Other Stuff...
There have been a few light-hearted moments along the way..... we can (almost) laugh now at Jonny's own-goal in the BU game, just as much as Robbie almost impaling himself against a goal-post today at practice (he looked back, saw it, then still ran into it....). Then there's the bright blue boots of McDuff, not to mention his very own facebook fan-club group.... Raymond the bus-driver provided some interesting moments as he succeeded in bottoming-out the bus (twice) on one of the steeper hills in the streets of San Francisco (the scraping sound was enough to bring people out into the streets and start video-taping the event!). The office has been a fun place to be, with "tea time" now a regular occurrence (bring your own mug) and Christine truly enjoying poking fun at the whole charade with her impersonations of Jonesy and Yours Truly.... And then there was Villa thrashing Liverpool 3-1 at Anfield..... mistakes in the office are now officially known as "Pulling a Lucas."