Oh, the Agony of Defeat!

After a victory in their first game, our intrepid soccer players thought themselves to be invincible. Even though the win was only by one point, the fact that most of the players on the other team were twice their height gave them quite the feeling of confidence. Aptly named the "Mighty Midgets," our vertically-challenged soccer players fought to the death in their first soccer game and conquered the towering players of the other team.

Perhaps such a tremendous win caused them to become a little too confident in their superior soccer skills and they assumed they would also defeat the other team in their game this week. Dr. Crane's team, though it has older players than our team, appears to be on a more even playing field as far as height. However, they scored one point in the first half and their goalie managed to block all of our shots on the goal. Still determined, we came into the second half starving for a goal and immediately scored two, bringing us into the lead. Jamey had volunteered to be goalie for the second half and I believe there never was a shorter goalie standing inside that U12 goal. The goalie shirt fit him like a dress, but he was undeterred. Although he did block some of their shots, they were still able to score on him, bringing the score to a tie.

Our Mighty Midgets fought to gain their lead back, but they were running on empty and soon they succumbed to the need to rest, moving slower and slower across the field. What we thought might end in a tied game turned out not to be. In the last few minutes of the action-packed game, the other team managed to score not once, not twice, but THREE times on poor little Mighty Mouse Jamey, who like the Energizer Bunny was determined not to ever give up. Once he pounced on the ball and rolled several times across the field, clutching it to his chest and not letting go. Still, we knew we were defeated, even as Micah made one final shot on the other team's goal, just as the ref blew the final whistle and the game came to an end.

The Whiting House saw three moping soccer players (especially Micah) and yes, even one moping soccer coach walk through its doors feeling defeated. The Lovely Assistant, a.k.a. Mom, reminded these mighty soccer players that how one handles defeat can quite often be evidence of the kind of character one has. At least, I reminded them, we will not have a season with no wins, as we did last spring. We have one win under our belt and surely there will be others. The Mighty Midgets will have yet another day to shine...