You can hate the Playa, Don't Hate the Game...

I had this argument with somebody the other day of why Lebron isn't the best player in this league. I was stunned by what he was saying. I can say that I am not a Lebron fan but I do watch a lot of basketball and I can say without a doubt that Bron Bron is the best right now. The only real argument that this person was making was that he didn't like Lebron so therefore he isn't the best.

I can't stand that argument. If you hate somebody and don't want them to win trophies that is one thing. If you hate somebody and say that they aren't better than another person that's another thing all together.

I am going to spin it to football because that is more in my wheelhouse. I think about players that I hate with a passion. Cristano Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos, and Carlos Tevez (I can go on for days) are players that I despise whether it is acting like a primadonna or not showing any sort of loyalty to any club that he has been on. When they step on the field, I am not going to lie I hope they don't do well. When they do, I tip my cap to them and say that was a sick move, tackle, or goal. Then I'll say, "If I see them on the street, I will beat them with a baseball bat."

Their play doesn't change my thoughts of them as people because that is why I am disliking them. The only way I will dislike a player for what they do in game action is whether they make a horrible tackle and don't feel any remorse or if they tried to cheat the game by repetitive diving among other things.

I guess I am just the type of player that see all footballers as who they are on the pitch for the most part. If they do something good, I will tweet the sickness of the move and then say I still dislike the person.


I think most fans need to start thinking along these lines before they make arguments they can't really win in. I am not going to argue whether Cristano Ronaldo is better than well..... any other player other than Messi because his statistics, trophy haul, and impact on a game doesn't lie. He is one of the best out there. I can still say I dislike the fool but I can't disregard all of what he has done in the game so far.


I'm going to get back to where I started earlier

So whenever you want to hate on Lebron James for what he does, you can hate all you want but you can't say though that he isn't the best player in the NBA right now by just claiming your dislike for his decision-making as a person.

Hate the playa all you want but the game is too hard to hate...

Call Me an Elitist

I will admit this. I am a soccer snob. I do not like playing with people who aren't as good as I am. This is the only thing I am uppity about. Don't mistake it, I don't mind playing with players who are competent in the game. However when people wear khaki shorts or blue jeans, we can't play soccer together. It is just not going to happen.

I came up with this realization when we were playing pick-up yesterday. We were enjoying our game and these guys wanted to come up and play. We made some excuse about wanting to play in a shorter space and having two more guys come on will mess that up. In my mind, I just didn't want them to come on because it would make the game bad.

When we usually play with other players who we don't know, they often do dumb shit like chipping the ball in the air for no reason. Or do some stupid move that has them get the ball taken away from them and we end up losing the game.

The reason why I feel this way is because whenever I play I would like to get better or have a productive session of footy. I don't want to lose any of my soccer IQ playing against someone who trips over there own feet often and just doesn't get it. I'd rather just go to the side and juggle the ball for a little bit. It would be much more productive to my day.

Maybe I am a little crabby about playing against bad players because I do often drive between 15 to 20 miles to play. I want to get the most out of each session that I can. And I don't want to waste gas on being out there with players that could not start on their rec teams (now that is just a bit mean).

As my game gets worse over time (hopefully not soon), then I'll be able to get use to playing against the normal people. I'll come out of my high pedestal and join the common man in this beautiful game that I love...

Calvin's Got a Job!

My name isn't Calvin or anything but yes I do have a job finally. I started working at a law firm as a service tech. Today was my second day. It isn't too difficult or anything, well at least from what I've seen. It'll definitely be a transition from my normal life of sleeping til 11am, eating, and then go back to sleep for a few. I need the busyness in my life. Waking up earlier and going to sleep earlier than I usually do. As of now I am only working from 9 to 1 but I am in training to take over my roommate's job.

So, what is this saying about my footy future. It doesn't say too much. Obviously this season is lost. However I am not going to say never to this footy thing. I feel like I have 8 to 9 more solid years left in me. I know that I can't keep on jumping from here to there but I think I needed to get out of New Zealand while I could, because I didn't have the money and I didn't want to sit around and do nothing to help me get a job when I get back. I enjoyed it and if I had my preference, I would have liked to stay albeit having a job but it was something I needed to do. It'll be nice to have solid job experience while I can and if a team from here or abroad comes calling then I hope to be ready. I've started running a couple of days ago and I hope to get back into some great fitness. I had fun while I could but now it's time to get back to work. Literally...

Just Another Week

I am trying to keep the blog posts going for those that actually read the blog (who are they?) All I did last week was train, play in a game and worry whether I would have a place to stay or not. If you must know, we have to move out of the place we are currently staying at because of some unfortunate circumstances due to the family that own the whole house. So they are currently in the process of selling and we all decided just to leave the flat before things got messy.

I found a place to stay however. Daniel Eisenhunt and his wife are allowing me to stay at their flat for the next month or two. By that time I will hopefully get my own flat or nice cheaper lodging that is somewhat comfortable. To be honest, I do not know what they have gotten themselves into but hopefully I will be moving in with them next week.

The footy? It's getting better. TKU scored another victory against Papatotoe (I like that name for some odd reason). We dominated the first half but somehow found ourselves down. Then we scored three un-answered before they pulled one back to finish 3-2. We scraped away towards the last 10 to 15 minutes but a win is a win and we'll accept the three points and ask questions later. No one said that getting three points in this league would be easy by any means.

Now we are in seventh place with 10 points and we have a big match against East Coast Bays next Saturday. They are currently league-leaders and have let it five goals up to date (they haven't played their round 6 match yet), so this is going to be a big match. Hopefully me and the boys will show up. We are having a problem with injuries. We had to make two substitutions along our backline last weekend due to injuries. And there are others in the starting 11 who are injured also, so we are only training two days this week (Yess!)

I am keeping it solid along the backline. I never want to complicate things while playing in the back. Using the K.I.S.S (Keep It Simple Stupid) method to make things go along smoothly. I do not need to be dribbling out of the backline or anything. Just look up, see if you can make a pass, if not clear the ball as far as possible. Being as fit as I am right now, I can do much more in the game especially in the center half position where you do not even need to do as much running as anyone else on the field, unless you are on the back-foot all the time.

During this point in time, I am going through a wide-range of emotions. I was actually thinking about picking up my ball and going home due to the club not being able to find me a part-time job when they said they would and now potentially being homeless. On the way to training on Thursday, I was about to utter the words: "This could not get worse" However when I thought about it, I was like: "you know what, it could possibly get worse so I just need to shut up." The problem that I am having with everything is that it has nothing to do with soccer. It is more of the real-life situation that I am in and the feeling of being used.

Fortunately, like I said earlier, I got a place to stay now and I have a job until I could possibly be working in a casino (which would be tight). So hopefully things are coming together just nicely. I have some money problems at this time but that seems to come with the territory for Mr. Andre Sherard....

#3 No Jokes Strictly Business

April 2, 2010 11:54pm

The season has since started and we have had mixed results so far. We've gone 1-1-1 in this early season and we are standing basically in the middle of the table. We haven't hit our stride yet and even in our W we were playing better when the other team had all their players on the field (they had two sent off) but a win is a win. Some people might think that maybe it's better to start off slow than start off fast and tail off. I don't know how true that is. Yeah you can say that if you're starting off slow and still winning games but if you are starting slow and losing or tying games then you can put yourself into a hole that you can't get out of. We play a top team in Forest Hill-Milford tomorrow, it is a key game for our goal of a top 8 finish of the first part of the season.

Those who might not know, the league is currently set up with 17 teams and the top 8 teams will be automatically put in the Premier League next season while the nine bottom teams have to battle it out for the final two spots.

The Forest Hill game is a crucial one, we need to start beating those teams that are in front of us. That is the key for this season, we should beat those teams behind us but beating a couple of teams that are in the top group will be key in our push for a top 8 spot. Then we have the reigining champions Melville on Monday. So it will be a pretty busy weekend and hopefully we'll be able to get six points out of these games.

Currently playing at the left back position. Normally I wouldn't be too happy about it but right about now I just decided to go with it and have some fun with it. I have been feeling as fit as I've been in a long time so I think I can go 90 minutes running back and forth. (err Maybe?) I played the position in last Saturday's game and it felt pretty good for the most part. And actually set up the second goal, that is one good thing about playing in the outside position, you can put yourself in positions to score or set-up goals.

I know what you are thinking? (probably not thinking this though) 'Andre, are you left-footed?' The answer is well, I am predominantly right-footed but I can play a left-footed ball as well as my right so playing the left back position isn't a bad thing for me. You do not really need your left foot unless you want to play a cross which I practiced more and more on that during Thursday's training and I feel like I got that on point. So even though I am not perfect with the left, I feel as if I can without thinking play a good pass with the left.


Nothing to note from me personally. I would like to keep my anger moments to myself and not divulge too much information unless someone can learn from them. I've been walking the beaches almost every day when I do not have anything else to do. It is really nice and relaxing to do. Sometimes I just sit there and stare at the water, not even thinking about a thing just staring. I am sure those who pass by are like what is this guy doing. It is better than sleeping all day which I actually did today because I spent yesterday pretty sleepless.

That is pretty much it from me. Yeah it is mostly soccer going on, that is why I had a big spill about it. If I have anything else to mention that has the least bit importance of the life of Andre Sherard, do not worry I will mention it...