My Exhaustion

What..... a weekend!  I had to ref two games at Western Wyoming in Rock Springs, WY.  It wasn't quite as bad as I thought it was going to be as far as the three hour drive each direction, and the actual level of play, except I got pretty sleepy on the drive to Rock Springs.  I centered the Women's game first, and was a linesman on the Men's game.  The Women's game was comparable to a High School JV game, and upon arriving, I noticed several piles of "pebbles" on the field.  Yes, there was deer poo.  My thoughts immediately went to how I was going to run, keep close to play, be able to see everything, and still be able to avoid these piles.  It wasn't far into the game that I realized it was impossible, and would have to just deal with it.  I also decided that two college games back to back were just too much mentally, because after the first game, you just want to be done.  I didn't really enjoy that.  So about 12 fouls were called, a PK for each team, and no cautions were given.  One good thing was I got to see one of my former players that played for Wyoming.  The problem with that, though, is she tried to give me a hug at half-time.  Sweet kid, but I had to whisper... "not now".  We did get to catch up a little after the game, though.  The men's game was at least intense and somewhat interesting.  Thank goodness we avoided OT, as I didn't think I could last much longer.  I was STARVING!  As my mind wandered during the game, I couldn't help but notice that Rock Springs also reminded me of "The Hills Have Eyes", and I decided there is no way I would ever live in any town that reminded me of that movie.  The drive back home was much better as I grabbed a bite to eat, got me a caffeinated drink this time, and plugged my ipod into my stereo.  I must say... audiobooks are also a major plus.

Unfortunately, I had to be up by 6:00 the next morning to be in Layton by 7:30 to ref 3 state cup boys games.  The first two games were no problem, as I ran a line for U14 & U12 boys.  The third game, I was the center for U15 boys.  That was a mess.  I have decided that boys at that age are just as emotional as girls, if not worse.  I even had to tell a kid to control his emotions after I cautioned him for dissent (he didn't think he was offside).  I ended up handing out 7 cautions total.  That might be an all time high for me for a youth game.  The last time I gave out anything close to that was 2 years ago at NAU vs. Sac. State.  I hung around to watch Riley's team thump on a crappy team 6-0, and headed back home.  That made for another 10+ hour day of soccer.  I didn't realize how much the last two days had taken its toll on me until I realized it was 8:24 and was having trouble keeping my eyes open.  Sure enough, I fell asleep by 8:30 watching TV, and didn't wake up until just before 9:30 the next morning.  That's a good 13 hours of sleep.  I was quite proud of that, and really, I only woke up because I had a personal training session at 10:00, so who knows how long I would have been out.  The next two weeks are going to be killer as it's the final weeks of college conference play.  I'll be reffing 6 college games in the next 12 days.  Wish me luck!