Today was Brayton's third game of the Fall 2005
AYSO soccer season. We are in
AYSO Region 91. Brayton plays in the boys U8 (under 8) division. Before the season started, there was a parents meeting. There the coach announced that the team name that had been assigned was the "Phantoms". This generated a ho-hum response from the parents in attendance. The coach also said that there was something about "F-4". I pointed out that they probably were talking about the fighter jet - the
McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom, one of the all-time great fighters. Once I explained what plane this was (Vietnam era fighter, at one time a
Blue Angels jet, one is
mounted on a pedestal in downtown Lancaster), everyone at the meeting felt better about the name. Here is a picture of him with most of his teammates (one missing). The U8 boys play with five boys on the field and no goalie. The team they played today, the F-22 Raptors (named for the
Lockheed F/A-22 Raptor), played very well. So well in fact, their coach invited our coach to play another player (six on five). And then another (which was everybody on our team). Seven vs. five seemed to tilt the balance too far so the game finished with six vs. five. Brayton did not seem real intent on the game. Like a kid spacing out in right field that gets bonked in the head by the baseball because he is looking the wrong way. One of the other moms asked me if Brayton was feeling OK. I said that it sure seemed like something was wrong though I think he was just distracted. We will work on instilling the "
eye of the tiger" this week.
the F-4 Phantom menace
