Us: 0; Them: 4

Absolutely ridiculous night. I had one player just not show up, another player tell me he didn't feel like playing, and my assistant coach mysteriously dissapeared before kickoff - word is that she quit. We then went on to give up two exceedingly sloppy goals first half - a throw in that we deflected into our own net, and a corner that just sailed, untouched, into the top corner. Chasing the game in the second half, we gave up another pair of goals, but nothing to be ashamed of - especially without two of our best players.

M.W. shows up, late, just before kickoff. I tell him, after I send the team out on the pitch, to go get warmed up. "I'm already warmed up", he says, and just sits there. Fine. Ten minutes later, I tell M.W. to get up and get ready to go in.

I don't feel like playing.

What?

I don't feel like playing.

You don't feel like playing!? Ok. Give me my shirt, my shorts, my socks, and go the f- home.

"You didn't have to cuss me out" he says as he stalks off. Five minutes later, a conversation with the uncle of M.W. I explained the situation to him, very politely.

But did you curse at him? he asks.

Yes sir, I did, and I apologize for that.

I understand the situation, but you don't need to be cussing people out. If you want to cuss people out, you might as well just quit and let somebody else do this job. (I'm paraphrasing here - at the time, I was trying to coach a game and figure out why my assistant had mysteriously quit.)

I have no idea what to do about M.W. This is not the first problem I have had with him. He is often late, and he simply does not like me; that much is obvious. He's so moody - that's what drives me crazy about all these kids. He can be a fabulous player, full of energy, bombing up and down the sidelines. He is lazy though, and lacks the discipline for his defensive duties. He started the season at sweeper, and lasted all of three minutes of the first game before I had to throw D. P. on for him. I was so unimpressed that I actually lifted D.P. off the bench and told him to get M.W. the f out of there. That, I think, may have been my first mistake. Thinking back on it, although I did not lay into him at the time, I'm sure his teammates let him know the circumstances regarding his substitution.

We are losing numbers fast now. My vice-captain center-midfielder, the one who tackles hard and really gets stuck in, never showed up tonight. No call. No information from the rest of the team, just never showed up. N.B., my left back who has been coming along so fabulously, missed the first half because of a computer class he is taking. He also appears to have broken his nose at the weekend, but I played him through the second half anyway.

C.B., my keeper, took a severe beating tonight. Kicked in the face, the ribs, and the hands. I need to have a chat with the next set of officials before the game even starts, because he can't keep taking hits like this. If talking to the officials doesn't make a difference, then I need to start instructing him and the defenders around him to play a little different. As the old saying goes, if the ref won't protect him, he'll have to protect himself.

My apologies for the quality of this post. Too many things going through my mind. Too many things left to do tonight. Way too many things to do tomorrow.