Everyone Wins!

It was a great soccer Saturday. Hannah had a game at 10am, Sam had a game at 10am, and Patrick had a game at 10:30am.

I'm coaching Hannah's team again this year. We are going to be very good. It's not too often I had said that. I have coached a lot of teams. I use to coach Patrick and Sam's teams during the same seasons. I've probably coached 16 seasons of soccer. One year in Layton I had a team that couldn't be touched. They would win by double digits every game.

Hannah's team is very good. How good I don't know, but they are going to be good.

So here is a good story for you. The one loss we had last season was to the team we played this morning.

Last year they beat us good the first time we played them. Something like 6 to 2. I didn't coach the game because I was out sick. My assistant coach Peter talked to me after the game and said that the other team was a nasty group of people. He got yelled at during the game, and after the game. The parents, of the other team were out of control.

When we played them the last game of the season last year it was a doosey. At half we were behind by 2 goals. I still had parents from their team come up to me to complain about my players and the way they played. They felt like we were shoving too much. They had 3 dads running the sidelines yelling at the players. I could tell it was bothering my girls. They were scary. I understood what Peter was talking about. I told two of the mom's when they talked to me "your little girls are going to fall down playing soccer, they'll be okay." Oh they didn't like me.

Here is the real problem. That team was usually killing people by half time. They were hoping for a undefeated season, and all they had to do is beat us a second time. We were looking to finish with one loss and tie them up for 1st place. That game was nuts to say the least. I could make a movie about that game. It's funny that I remember that game clear as a bell from last year.

After the half they scored right as the half began. They were up by 3 goals. They had parents jumping and cheering and running up and down the side lines. I guess it's ok, it just seemed a little over the top.

At that point I walked off the field, and sat down next to Suzi. I said something like, that team is crazy. The coach was complaining to me at that point that his parents are telling him to talk to me about my team shoving. I'll be the first to admit that I had one girl who ran with her elbows up, but I told him "I'll talk to her if you talk to the three that you have who play that way as well." He just smiled, and let it go from there. The parents were yelling at my players, and they were up by 3 goals. I said Suzi "I'm done with that team." I literally sat down in a chair.

She said "don't you quit on your team. You get your butt up, and go tell them to win."

I called them over as we were sub-ing in a few players and I huddled them. I didn't say anything all that profound. Just a "lets beat these guys, we have 5 minutes to score 4 goals, lets get it done."

We scored 4 goals in five minutes. It was the most amazing come back I've ever coached. The last goal came with under 30 seconds. It was great!

We started our season againts them this morning. Not the team I wanted to face right off the bat. I really wanted to score first to make them play from behind. I don't think they have ever had to do that. As a player it feels different to play from behind than to play with a lead. I'm not sure why, but it does. I started with 5 forwards, and one fullback. We scored two goals in the first 5 minutes. After that I dropped two back to fullbacks, and played 3 forwards, and 3 fullbacks. They scored to make it 2-1, and we went into half time with that score.

After the half we scored to make it 3-1. They scored next 3-2. It stayed 3-2 for a long time. I had 3 super players that I usually play as forwards, and I kept them as fullbacks. I keep the forwards fresh by subbing in and out quickly. The forward players never got tired. The other team was running out of gas. At that point I put in fresh legs in at defense, and moved my super players up at forwards again and finish them off with two more goals. Final 5-2. It was a much closer game than the final score says. Hannah had one goal, and her friend in the picture above had 3. It was a great game.

Hannah's team is going to be good. Here is the thing about coaching kids Hannah's age. People think under 8 there isn't much you can do with them. Just go have a good time. With kids under 8 I don't think I've ever had more than two losses in a season. Kids this age can learn a ton about the game too make them good, and they can have fun. So look out for the Lodi Blue Flames. They are dangerous.

Sam's game apparently was a close one. 1-0. His team won. I didn't get to see it. Sam time as Hannah's.


I got to watch most of Patricks game. They won 3-0. Patrick had a goal too! His team maybe a very good team like Hannah's. He has the same team as last year. They were young last year, and they played great. This year they look like stars. It looked like it was their first game. The score should have been higher, they just made some first game errors. Great looking team.

Back To School

Its back to school time! The three big kids have been in school for 3 weeks now. Georgia starts this week.
Hannah is our big second grader.Sam is in 4th grade, and is back in the swing of it.
Patrick is the big 6th grader this year.

Soccer season has started too. Notice the two balls in the back ground. There are 3 more balls in the yard that you can't see in this picture. I love soccer, but it's hard on my grass, flowers, and plants. But as the saying goes, "I'm raising kids right now, I'll worry about raising grass later."

Sac Temple 5-O

I thought I had better give you the update on when Suzi and I did our security detail at the open house of the new Sacramento Temple. The Sacramento temple is the one there on the top.

The one on the bottom here is the Manti, Utah Temple where Suzi, and I were married 14 years ago.

We showed up to our assignment in the security office. It was a group of about 25 people. All of them men with the exception of Suzi, and one other woman.

Most of the other men were either police officers or retired police officers. I'm not kidding CIA, FBI, deputies, city police, CHP, a drug rep, and 2 home makers. "One of these things is not like the other."

However, it was a ton of fun! I did get a cool radio! All of us in Security, First Aid, and Facilities were given radios. They security radios wired into our ears and if someone really wasn't looking for it they probably wouldn't notice I was wearing one. All the wiring was under my coat.

There was a command center that all of us radioed into, but we could hear all of the radio dialog as well. Not too much nuttiness going on during our shift. A little, but nothing worth mentioning. It does amaze me that we needed that much security, but it was needed for the nut jobs that do decide to come and create trouble. The nuttiness gets handled quickly and discretely.

Here in Sacramento there are over 6,000 visitors a day, and so you could imagine with those kinds of numbers there are going to be a nut or two.

Oh, and I did get a badge of sorts too! There must be close to 500 volunteers at the temple at any moment. All of us wearing ID tags. With administration, and security we wear pretty large lapel pins. The best part of the pins is it gave us license to walk any around anywhere. That was kind of fun.

Suzi, and I had an awesome "assignment." Our first assignment was to cover the temple grounds. So we didn't' have a posted assignment. We didn't have to watch anyone piticular door, room, or space. We got to wander with the roaming security. That was fun because we got to go all over.

So Suzi and I had been working for about 6 hours when we bumped into Ben and Whitney. They came out and offered us a cookie. I grab the cookie, because well......Heck who am I to turn down a cookie. Suzi says "no thank you".

Well as I'm working on my cookie Suz says, "Your not suppose to be eating while your working." I say "I didn't hear anything about that this morning." She says "because they didn't say it this morning, they said it at the meeting a week ago that you missed!" I say "Oh." I'm not kidding, as soon as I say "oh" my ear piece says "Sean Kelly to the Command Center."

Of course I'm thinking, "quick hide the cookie". I say "Suzi hold my cookie!" She said "HECK NO! Hold your own cookie." I stuff the cookie in my mouth as I walk toward the command center, and realize I was standing 10 feet in front of the command center window while I was eating that dang cookie. Hello.

Well I walk into the Sgt, or Lt. Or whoever the heck makes assignments and I say with cookie crumbs all over my face and coat "how can I help you?" He tells me in the nicest way "we are reassigning you, would you mind covering the south east temple grounds." I say "absolutely! Glad to do it." I look at my map on my way out the door, and realize I've been sent to watch the volunteer parking lot.

I got moved from the sweetest assignment to the parking lot. I guess someone has to it. Glad to do my part. Glad to stand in the sun with no shade in a black suit in the dirt parking lot listening to all of the fun stuff back at the temple 300 yards away.

It really wasn't that big of a deal, but it was funny! That dang cookie. Curse you irresistible giant sized chocolate chip cookie!

We Rock!

The Kelly's at the Kelly Clarkson concert last year. We had a great time. Notice our seats couldn't be any farther from the stage. That's ok it was easier to dance that way. We had a great time. "Since you've been gone" cetainly seemed to be the favorite among the kids.

Sam Wins!

Sam ran for a elected position at school this year. The "Noon league Director." I think his responsibilities are to help run this years sports leagues that go on at lunch time. Kind of a big deal at the school. It was great to watch him get up there and give his talk in front of all the kids in 3-6th grade. He didn't look the least bit nervous. He gives a talk in church about once every 3 months or so, and I think paid off today. There were about 5 other kids running for the same position, many of them older. He ran a good campaign working his buddies his age, and Patrick worked the older kids.

If you would like to get some time with Mr. Director Sam Kelly I might be able to get you connected with him. I know him pretty well.

Sacramento Temple

It's exciting that the Sacramento Temple is having it's open house. Suzi and I are working security tommorrow there at the temple. I drove by earlier this week, and there were protesters out front. Just a couple of them. If anything nutty happens tomorrow I update you all. Suzi said I had to leave my bb gun at home. My air soft gun too. And my hand cuffs. And pepper spray. And my bat. I better get a walkie talkie or something, or a badge or something.