Messi's Blog

For some reason, Lionel Messi's blog is published in Japanese only. I guess it'll eventually be translated to other languages, but his blog is only in Japanese for now.

I'd say this is one of the few times that I'm glad that I know Japanese.
His blog is very simple and writes about his life like anybody else that I know.

I wish him a great season. I hope to see him in Barcelona in a few months.

End of the Road

Bought a car from an auction. Speedometer doesn't work. Otherwise it's OK. I think I paid a bit too much though.

I lost the other job opening cuz I waited too long. There's a job at a mod center that I'm under consideration for. I won't know anything untill at least Friday though. If I don't get this job. I'll just drive around town for a factory job. Cuz I need a job before the end of the month to survive.

Arturro let me park my car in his garage until I can get rid of the van. He gave me a ride home. I'm grateful that people still look after me after all the stupid things that I've done.

I went to a practice yesterday night. I got pissed at one of the guys who wasn't running and told him so in front of everyone. I feel like shit. I hate to tell people what to do, and I think I should've just let it go.

4-4

We tied today 4-4. I've decided to quit playing soccer.

I'm going to find a drafter job or a factory job somewhere next week.

I've lost interest in a lot of things. I don't find much purpose in continuing on the things that I've done.

I feel like I lived my life the way I felt like, and this is where I ended up.

I Have Responsibility

I'm frustrated about not finding a job. I guess I should settle for a job to get some income while I learn new things that'll make me more useful for the other people to make money off of.

I'm pretty decided on not playing soccer this year. Or maybe forever. I think that playing soccer had saved me from a lot of things, but I think it also has the power to destroy me. I feel like I should walk away before it does.

I want to move to another city where no one knows me.

King of Pain

We had our first loss of the season on Saturday. I was pretty depressed for most of the week before the game, and I was considering not playing soccer anymore. I wasn't going to play on Saturday because I didn't want to talk to anyone, but I changed my mind at the last minute and decided to play. I really felt like shit after the game.I skipped out on the game on Sunday.

Went to a restaurant called Las Gaviotas with a teammate on Sunday. Soon as I sat down, I noticed why he brought me there. The food was good too. I talked about the game we lost and joked around about stupid shit. At the end of the day, I kind of got myself back together. I'm grateful for how people save me and trust in me that I'll be OK.

Toure Yaya

I've been playing soccer for about 6 years now, and it seems that I'm useful as a defensive midfielder more so than the other positions. I like players like Toure Yaya, Makelele, Edmilson, Rafa Marquez, and Michael Essien who can distribute the ball and has solid defensive abilities.

I think the reason why I'm interested in playing this position is that they have the ability to select the overall attacking option as a team and to fill the 'vital' spaces that pop up on the field during defense. I think these decisions require the player to have an accurate grasp of how the team is positioned against the other team along with knowing the options and abilities of your teammates in each situation. The important effect of the players with this 'distribution role' is that the speed of attack as a team is depended on how fast the player plays the ball.

I probably seem to be a good candidate for these things because I can settle the ball and distribute to other players on the field. Maybe it's just that a lot of people want to always move the ball forward, but I sometimes choose to play the ball anywhere to keep possession of the ball. I think it's important to move the ball up the field as fast as it's necessary, but I often see the team trying to play the ball faster than they're capable of which leads to losing grasp of the game.

I'm starting to get the hang of moving into spaces to receive the ball. It makes things a lot easier because it buys me a lot more options to select the next play from.

7-4

Won again today 7-4 against the second best team in the league (we have the best record so far). Our record is now 6 wins and a tie and 0 loss. It was a very close game till the end. They scored the first goal after ten minutes, but it was good on our part that we tied it within a couple of minutes. It could've been their game if we let it slip a bit longer.

I think I need to be a bit more aggressive on defense sometimes. Again, I got tired too soon. I've been running for a while now, but I'm starting to realize that maybe I need to do more sprints or get my heart rate maxed out to get more stamina. I need to work on thinking continuously about what to do next. I always start to lose concentration when I get tired. I want to fix that. And I need to learn to move with the ball more effectively. I always stop when I get the ball.

I guess everything is OK now that we're winning, but I want to know exactly what we're doing so well. I used to think that that there are three reasons why we're winning. One reason is that we have two new players who are really good. One is solid on defense and the other is a solid midfielder who can score. The second reason is that we have players who show up every week, and we've always had enough subs except for the one game we tied. The third is that we are really good at transitioning from defense to offense. It's because we now have defenders who can keep the ball a bit and make good passes to start the attack.

Things that are irrelevant keeps me alive

I talked to a recruiter last week. One job is about an hour from the city. One job in Colorado and other one in New York.

I talked to another recruiter yesterday. It's a technician job, but it's in the industry that I wanna work in. It's a traveling job.

I want to move out of the city before I have to see S again.

We won our fifth consecutive game last Saturday. I don't really value the record much because I don't think I'm any better player than before. But I'm starting to make better decisions than before. I'm more relaxed, I think.

I somehow realized today that I want to be able to make correct judgments and be more decisive on whatever I do.

13-2

We won this Saturday. 13-2. We were up 5-0 within the first ten minutes. Amazing. Unbelievable. With three wins and a tie, we are at the top of the table after 4 games. All the credits go to the three guys who joined us this season. I'm happy about the results, but we should forget about the table for now and just keep playing like we've been playing.

No progress on the job front.

Went to the indoor pick-up game on Sunday. Went to a Pho place afterwards.

velocity = distance traveled in a certain direction / time

I like playing soccer because it give me a sense of grasp over space and time.

Usable spaces continuously appear and disappear on the pitch as time passes. The size and location of the space are affected by the relative locations and movement of the players. The movement is the direction and speed (velocity) of the players. The options are almost unlimited, but the size, location, and the predicted duration of certain spaces limits the options significantly. The technique of the receiving player also limits the options especially on the choice of routes the ball must travel to the space and the size of space the player requires. The subsequent analysis of the location, size, and duration of the spaces along with the possible routes to the next space must be done from the new location of the ball. Ideally, the analysis will be done before the pass is made to the space with intended benefits and predicted consequences.

I think some people focus too much on the players and the ball. But at the same time I'm bad at marking the opponent players because I sometimes only look at the spaces.

8-0

We had an indoor game in Cicero last night. We won. We won by the score of 8-0. This is unbelievable. It has never happened to us before. I doubt the score really reflects our ability or drastic improvements on our game. But it shows that we are getting better.

I want to stay in this city for now. Until about a year ago, I didn't care to leave everything behind, but I've changed my mind. I came to know a few people that I get along with in this city.

I have a phone interview with a company in a different city tomorrow.

I think the reason why I quit is because I didn't want to be a sellout. I didn't want to be an engineer who can't do any engineering work, but merely there to make money.