Das Endspiel zwischen BVB Borussia Dortmund und Bayern München

  The All-German Champions League final before 86,298 at Wembley Stadium lived up to the pre-game hype as Bayern München and BVB Borussia Dortmund put on a well-played and entertaining match that was not decided until Arjen Robben scored in the 89th minute to make it 2-1.  The Associated Press account is here.  Robben had the assist on the first goal.

   I watched the first 15 minutes and the entire second half.  In the early going Dortmund seemed to control the play and looked sharper, working the ball down the outside.  But Munich managed to keep the game at 0-0 through intermission, then picked up the pace in the second half. 

   Bayern got on the scoreboard in the 60th minute on a play I hope youth players were watching.,  It began when Franck Ribery 'megged his mark and got the ball to Robben who took it a short distance to the goal line then drew it back to Mario Mandzukic, who touched it home.  The lesson was given by Robben  - are you listening, kids? - who rather than try to shoot from an impossible angle put it in front of the goal, giving Mandzukic a ball on which one of my grandsons could have scored.

   Seven minutes later Munich was fortunate it did not go down a man when Dante, already carrying a yellow card, was called for kneeing an opponent in the chest, in the box in the 67th minute.  Ilkay Gündogan   buried the PK to even the score.

   Bayen had several big chances in the minutes that followed but Neven Subotic cleared what looked like a sure goal off the line in the 71st minute and keeper Roman Weidenfeller made a diving save to his left five minutes later.

   Just when it appeared overtime would be needed, Robben burst up the middle from the penalty spot, beat two defenders and gave Bayern its first Champions League title since 2001.  Bayern lost to Chelsea in a shootout in last year's final in Munich.

Utah referee dies after assault by youth

What else can be said?   A 17-year old goalie punched a referee during a game in Utah and a week later the ref died.  Associated Press report here.

The sun actually shone on son Scott's wedding

  

             September 28, 2013 -- My favorite male soccer player, my son, Scott Partenheimer, married Stevie Neale yesterday on an island in a lake at Camp Ockanickon in Medford, NJ.   They had been engaged since last August.

            We have this thing in our family about bad weather at weddings, including a blizzard, heavy rain and a howling Nor’easter (for Debbie and me on March 13, 2010), so it was a joy to see picture perfect weather in an idyllic setting,  As he had been for Kirsten in 2008 and for Debbie and me, brother Gary, an ordained Episcopal minister, was the officiant.

            Scott is known for backflips, but rather than backflipping to start the ceremony, he just paddled over to the island in a canoe, and after he and Stevie were pronounced husband and wife, they left by canoe.

            As I said at the reception, I was honored to join the Chesla family in Minnesota when Kirsten and Chris married in 2008, and to be accepted by the family of Debbie’s son-in-law, Adam Werner in 2010.  Now I am equally honored to join with the Neale family of Florida.  And reiterating the toast to the happy couple, Scott was best man when Debbie and I were married, so to the best son a man could ever hope for and his new wife: Hoch sollen sie leben! Dreimal hoch!

Women's Pro Soccer Tries Again

             Women’s professional soccer gives it another try tonight – the third – when Portland Thorns FC visits FC Kansas City to kick off the National Women’s Soccer League.  (Clever name for Portland: the city has a huge public rose garden and is nicknamed “The Rose City.”)

            The other six teams begin action tomorrow: Seattle Reign (another clever name) at Chicago Red Stars; Western New York Flash at Sky Blue FC at; and Washington Spirit at Boston Breakers.

            Here’s the Boston Globe’s story on the new league.  And the New York Times did a more comprehensive piece.

            I saw a lot of Philadelphia Charge games in the old Women’s United Soccer Association (WUSA) and just one (in Chicago) in the Women’s Professional Soccer League.  I doubt I’ll see many in the new league as it has by-passed Philadelphia, for now at least.  But best of luck to the league and all the players.  As the Globe notes, it may be the last chance for the women's pro game in the United States.

Benefit in Memory of Joe Dadura on March 16

    Friends of Joe Dadura will hold a benefit for his wife, Bobbi, on March 16 from 7 - 11 p.m. at the Washington Square Ballroom, 131 Johnson Road, in Turnersville.

   I wrote about Joe's untimely passing on December 4 in this post.  You can read more about the benefit and how to but tickets or make a donation if you can't attend at this link.  There will be a lot of people there and a lot of fun.

   Joe was nearly killed by a drunk driver while at work in January 2003.  He was never able to work again and because of his injuries unable to obtain life insurance.  This is a chance to do a good deed for a truly deserving person.  I hope all my friends will be able to help.

   Thanks from Coach P!

I "Gess" It's The End Of An Era As Glenn Resigns At Haddonfield

Seems like just yesterday I was on a committee helping interview Glenn Gess and two other finalists to replace Charlie Keil as Haddonfield Memorial High School’s girls varsity soccer coach.  Nine years later I was on the committee to find Glenn’s successor.  (More on that in a future post.)

Coach Gess and Coach P

From a selfish point of view I wish Glenn would stay for another nine years, give or take.  Aside from being a part, however small, of a highly successful program, I enjoyed the time spent with Glenn, who at once is funny, entertaining, athletic, a good soccer guy, a good person and a good friend.  He even put me on the roster as a "special assistant," a title I am proud to hold, although I'm still not sure what it means.

Glenn e-mailed me back on November 7 and tipped me off that he was stepping down after nine years as head coach.  His daughter, Brianna, is an exceptionally talented runner who will be in 9^th grade next year and Glenn said he wanted to be at the cross country meets, and to spend more time with son Derek’s club team.  Both laudable intentions.  Because more than being a good friend and a great coach (in my opinion), Glenn is first and foremost an outstanding family man.  Meet his parents, his lovely wife, Pam, and his kids and you'll see that.

I knew Glenn back when he was the Haddon Township coach because I used to bug him for his roster starting two weeks before the Hawks were due in our stadium.  When we interviewed him for the Haddonfield job, a parent on the committee wondered if Glenn might be a little intense.  “I think Glenn’s intense when he butters his toast in the morning,” said then Athletic Director Phil Smart.  (Phil is now the A.D. at Eastern.)  But he said we were looking for someone to take the program to the next level.  We found that someone in Glenn.

During the Gess era, HMHS was 116-3-3 in Colonial Conference play, with eight championships.  Overall we were 189-18-7 with three State Cups and one runner-up.  Then there were two runners-up trophies in the South Jersey Coaches Tournament.

More important, from my observation, Glenn could push your daughter to be the best she could possibly be on and off the field.  Glenn would tell it like it was from day one each season.   Every girl knew exactly where she stood and the 15 or so best players played the most.  No excuses, no entitlements. 

Aside from being one of the best coaches in the area and an excellent athlete in his own right, I always thought Glenn was pretty funny.  One night several years into his tenure I sat next to him at a dinner at Bob and Sue Heindel’s house and he was talking about the interview process for the HMHS job.  He interviewed first with A.D. Smart and thought it went well and that he would get the job.  But then he got a call that he had to interview with the principal.  So he did, and he thought it went well and that he would get the job. But  then he got a call he had to come back to meet with committees of parents, players, alumni and Coach P.  Only in Haddonfield, he thought.  He said when he applied for the Haddon Township job, “They asked if I knew who Pele was, I said, ‘yes,’ and they said, ‘You’re hired.’”

My favorite Glenn Gess line was from one of our year end banquets a few years back when Glenn told the story of finding his wife Pam’s Cosmopolitan, leafing through it and “I felt like I was reading the other team’s playbook.”  For the record, Pam denied ever even subscribing to Cosmopolitan.

Coach Gess, outgoing Booster Club president,  Sigrid Kiep and husband, Bob.

I would like to say HMHS girls soccer won’t be the same without Glenn Gess.  In way it’s true but in a way things won’t change.  Our committee recommended an excellent candidate whom AD Lefty Banos has proposed to the principal and the superintendent.  HMHS girls soccer will remain in good hands (or feet), but it will be a little different next year.

As I said at the recent year-end banquet, we won before Glenn Gess came, we won a lot while he was in charge, and we will win after Glenn Gess, but I for one will miss having him on the sidelines.  But he promised to sit up in the press box during the stadium  games, so I am looking forward to being entertained once more.

Fashion Statements in The EPL

   Back when my son, Scott, was playing for the Medford Strikers, someone busted on parent Bill Gill, about the hiking boots he wore to a tournament game one wet day.  "I never intended to make a fashion statement at a soccer game," Bill replied, knowing he would have dry feet at the end of the game.

   I'm with Bill, but apparently fashion statements are expected by the managers of the English Premier League teams, as reported in today's New York Times.  In this country, baseball managers since Connie Mack's day have no such worries because they and their coaches in the dugout wear the team uniform.  (No one could ever say why that is.  Best explanation I have heard is that unlike the other sports, in baseball the manager and coaches are routinely on the field.)  In hockey and basketball the coaches dress as if they were modeling for GQ but in American football the staff is usually dressed in team shirts.

    The best quote in the article is: “The top clubs all have designers throwing beautiful clothes at them and the whole world watching them, and still so many of them manage to look cheap and nasty,” said Dan Rookwood, style director at Men’s Health U.K. “They look like middle-management insurance salesmen, not multimillionaire leaders of men.”

   I would be in big trouble if I coached in the EPL because when I was coaching I focused on comfortable.  If it was wet I wore waterproof boots.   If it was cold I dressed warmly.  And the most comfortable attire I could find was the warm-up suit.

Coach P with Bridget Claus August, 2007

   But according to Sarah Lyall, who wrote the Times article, "At the bottom of the heap are those whose no-nonsense track suits and warm-up clothes evoke the crabby phys ed teacher who taught soccer at your high school in the 1980s. These men seem to wish they were playing, not standing on the sideline. They are “the ones that style forgot,” said Jessica Punter, the style and grooming editor of British GQ."  And she goes on to mention Stoke City's Tony Pulis, who not only wears a track suit, but, (gasp) a baseball hat.  Well ,that was me.  As any parent whose kid I've coached, and any opposing coach whose team we played knows, my standard uniform was shorts and a Strikers coaching shirt, warm-up suit when it was colder, and always a baseball hat.  Like Bill Gill, I was never there to make a fashion statement.