Last Friday, I joined the Stress Free Fridays crowd at the Black Label bar in downtown St. Louis. First time there and I like the place. I even autographed a $1 bill that was taped to the bar's rear wall.
Rain late last week caused my Saturday morning games to be called off, but I did get in the games Saturday afternoon. It was a tournament played at Sportport and it involved younger youth teams (under-14 and below), which made a nice change of pace for me. I worked three games, all of under-8 to under-11 kids, and they went fine. However, a lot of rain overnight washed out my games on Sunday for that tournament.
I got good news by phone last Monday, when the US Census Bureau asked me to come back to them as an enumerator this year. I had worked in this job a year ago, helping lay the groundwork for the 2010 Census. I would be doing the same, including visiting households that did not mail their census forms back. (Our household did so last month.) Training for four days would be in the last week of April, then the work would run for up to eight weeks.
Last night, I worked two boys soccer games at the SLYSA Complex. I had an armful in the under 17 match, when I had to deal with a rather unruly team and coach. I issued nine yellow cards -- six to one team -- and they were mostly for unsporting behavior. I also warned both teams' coaches, separately, for stepping out of their technical areas. One coach did it again, and I dismissed him. They were irate, especially as the match ended in a draw, with the tying goal scored at the end of the time I was adding on waiting for the coach to leave the field area. I wrote up a report and turned it in to the league office this morning. We just can't have that kind of behavior among coaches in youth soccer. It sets a bad example for their players and just makes the referees' jobs more difficult.
Looking forward to Stress Free Fridays tomorrow night, and Easter weekend. No big plans, except to watch a pair of soccer friendlies Saturday night at the Soccer Park in Fenton. At 5 pm, St. Louis U. and SIU-Edwardsville renew the Bronze Boot Game, followed by AC St. Louis vs. Kansas City Wizards at 7 pm. Should be neat.
Happy Easter all my fellow Christians. Later.
