Hit 200k words on the novel this morning and 5×260 on the bench for the first time in a while. Not ideal, but not bad either. It almost makes up for that choke in front of goal that cost my team a victory instead of a tie last week – I changed my mind at the last possible second and the hesitation took all the velocity off my shot so it blooped up and right into the keeper’s hands. That was the last game of the season, so I’ll be seeing that one all summer. The trick now is to try to stay in cardio shape so the first August practices don’t hit like a truck. Like a very large truck with malicious intent.
Ender’s team did surprisingly well at the large international tournament. They finished in the top half thanks to a big upset on the first day of the Ukrainian team that finished fifth overall. They would have won their last game, too, if their coach hadn’t made an inexplicable tactical blunder and subbing out their staunch central defender for a mediocre female midfielder who had literally no clue how to play defense. They went from being up 1-0 and in near total control of the game to spending the rest of it on the backs of their heels and eventually losing 2-1. Neither I nor the other fathers, including the girl’s father, have any idea what inspired that coaching masterpiece. I explained to Ender that coaches have bad games sometimes just like players do, but it’s difficult to see the kids play so hard and then get undermined by a momentary flash of unfathomable stupidity.