11:50 a.m.
The team is on the bus and heading down the road. They are headed for Alexandria where they will eat lunch at Doolittles. From there they will head right to Macalester and get ready for their practice at 4 p.m. Each team gets one hour on the game field to practice.

Keep checking back for more updates!

A Drive To Score by Eric Peterson

As I was fixing my breakfast I heard my wife from the basement yell, “YOU NEED TO GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!” Now, if there is one thing I have learned in my life is that if someone asks you to smell something, taste something or if your spouse tells you to get down here right now – then the next thing you smell, taste and see is not going to be very pleasant. Sure enough, I ran to the stairs, climbed down the steps and took two steps past the entry way and felt my stocking feet start to squish into the carpet and take on water. I proceeded to the laundry room and I saw water spurting out of a pipe we had fixed last week. Apparently sometime during the weekend the joint that was fixed sprung a leak and started to fill our basement. We didn’t catch it until Monday morning and by that time we were experiencing the spring flood all over. 

After the initial panic, shock we started to haul everything out of the basement and onto the driveway and into the garage. This took all of my time on Monday when I should have been interviewing new student workers for the fall, entering rosters into the NCAA system and all the little jobs that are needed to start a sports season. I ended up going into work after the kids were in bed around 10 p.m. I then tried to play catch up until leaving at 2:30 a.m. 

That routine continued through Tuesday and Wednesday. On Tuesday we singlehandedly kept the Moorhead Laundromat in business for the month of September with all the loads we washed and dried. And then back to the office for a late night of catch up on Tuesday. On Wednesday we tore up all the carpet and padding and dried and cleaned the floors. Then it was back to the office for the midnight shift. 

Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, Thursday morning brought the most bizarre scene I have witnessed since my days of bouncing at a “dive bar” in St. Cloud after college. It started with the insurance adjuster coming over to survey the damage and ended with me having to step in between the adjustor and the plumber so it wouldn’t come to a fight. The adjustor finished with all the preliminaries and was going to make his assessment and call the plumber to get his take and then write the final statement. He then knocked on my door and said the plumber was on his way over and that we could talk it over with him (I knew this was going to be bad). To make a long story a little shorter, we were looking over the damage and the two were going back-and-forth and all of a sudden they started getting more forceful. Pretty soon they started to walk toward each other so I stepped in between and had to settle everyone down before I witnessed a UFC match in my carpet-less basement.

The only thing I could think of during the whole scene was how ridiculous the whole week had become, ending with me in the middle of a disaster area in between two people arguing over details and in ten minutes they would be back to in their nice comfortable spaces and I would still be stuck with a gutted basement – ain’t life grand! 

I then went to the office and tried to get some work done but just sat at my desk and laughed. I went home to spend some time with my kids on the final weekend before school starts on Tuesday. And then to put a nice little cherry on top of the “great week” sundae, my wife’s cell phone quit working. I went to the store and was told that she wasn’t due for an upgrade until next May. So in order to get my wife a phone before she left for St. Louis for the weekend I had to use up the upgrade for my phone. So at least my wife is happy with her new purple cell phone and I will be using my phone for the next 20 months or until it stops working on Saturday just before kickoff of the football game because after all, this is the worst darn week of my life!!!    

So there you have it, a little story to read and be thankful that you weren’t someone else for a few days. It is now 1:25 a.m. on Friday morning and I will be taking my wife and daughter to the airport at 5 a.m. So if you see me running around Concordia this weekend looking a little frazzled you’ll know my head is still above water and I haven’t thrown in the towel – and come Saturday night after the final recap has been posted I might have to celebrate just a little! 

After this weekend I plan to continue to write on the blogs and post videos and audio interviews. The feedback has been incredibly positive and I might have just stumbled upon the sports information wave of the future.

Good luck to the all the Cobber teams this weekend! 

I’ll leave you with the mantra that has been used at our house this week (taken from the fish Dory – which also happens to be the name of our dog – in “Finding Nemo”) – “Just Keep Swimming, Just Keep Swimming, Just Keep Swimming.”      

- 2009 Cobber Women’s Soccer Preview

Below the audio interview link you will find a few pictures from the men’s scrimmage against the Alumni on Sunday.  

- Audio Interview with Dan Weiler – Aug. 30

Cobber freshman Jared Rice gets pinned to the sideline by wily veteran Jason VanValkenburg.

Cobber freshman Matt Winkels delivers the ball forward.

Junior Jon Hedin goes after a bouncing ball at the top of the box.

Freshman Artem Shchepetkin eyes the ball as he looks to settle and attack.

Senior Ghalib Simai does his best Wayne Rooney impersonation as he fakes out a defender.

Junior defender Tyler Siverson heads up field.

- 2009 Cobber Men’s Soccer Roster 

The Cobber women's team was out in full force to support the men on Sunday.

August 30, 2009 2:30 p.m.
 The Cobber men’s team just stepped off the field from their scrimmage with an alumni/men’s club team. The Cobbers posted a 3-1 victory and head coach Dan Weiler got to see many players as they start the grinding task of putting together the final roster.

The first unit played the entire first half and the first 5-10 minutes of the second period. CC scored all their goals in the opening period of play and led 3-0 at halftime. Juniors Marco Riboli and Phil Bruckbauer and sophomore Riley McGlynn netted tallies for CC as the team started to click about 20 minutes into the opening half. All three goals were scored in a span of about 20 minutes.

The lone goal for the alumni team came off the foot of Jason VanValkenburg who was an MIAC All-Conference player for the Cobbers from 2000-03. He is in medical school at the University of North Dakota and, despite not having played much ball over the past year, hasn’t lost his touch or magic in the middle of the park.

It was nice to see all the former Cobbers especially the ones that played “back in the day” which included Eric Singer, Jamie Hager, Cyle Cavett, Brandon Root and current Cobber women’s assistant Kevin Roos. It was also fun to watch some of the more recent Cobber grads come to grips with their new “old timer” status. The 70-year-old man award goes to Aaron Kline who walked on the field to begin his final minutes of the scrimmage like a man who needed a walker to get into position!

Concordia continues to take a step forward each year and this year’s squad will be no exception. They have a solid central midfield and can now expose the opponent’s defense by building through the midfield or by a quick counter after winning the ball. A year of experience has paid off for the Cobber sophomores that started last year. The team has also added a few solid freshmen that will see significant playing time in 2009.

It will be nice to see this year’s team continue to lead the program back to the days of the mid 90′s when the title came through Moorhead.

It’s about 10:15 p.m. and we are halfway home from Duluth.  Actually now it’s 11 p.m.  I was side tracked by Kevin Roos’ intriguing commentary as we pass through towns on the ride home. 

Most, if not all, of the players are asleep as they are wiped out from the long day.  (Dan, of course, is still working already editing film from today’s scrimmages.) 

We began our day early, leaving Moorhead at 7 a.m.  Ok, actually 7:15 a.m.  We drove straight through with no stops since we brought food on the bus so the players could eat breakfast. 

We arrived in Duluth about noon and had lunch at a place called Sir Benedicts.  It’s a little humorous when we travel because it’s like a 50-person maroon blob wherever we go.  People sometimes walk in and they look like they are thinking “what the heck is going on!” So we ate some soup and sandwiches and were on our way. 

We arrived at St. Scholastica with enough time for the guys to get changed and warm-up.  The girls took it easy but were still a little hungry and wanted a little something closer to when they would play. So Kevin and I went on an adventure.

We had Stucke’s SUV and so Kevin and I went in search for a grocery store.  We were having some trouble with the GPS – plus we had no idea where we were going.  We ended up having to guess but it all worked out as there was a store about two or so blocks away from the college.  

The guys scrimmaged first, playing two 45-minute halves just like a normal game.  Unfortunately they had a rough day falling 3-0 to the Saints.   

It was a cold, wet day so the guys went to clean up and eat pizza as the girls started.  

Like our team, the St. Scholastica women have a larger group so we were able to play longer and have everyone (that is healthy) play.  We played two 40-minute halves then an extra 20 minutes after that.  We scored three goals and won 3-0. 

After the girls took their turn to clean up we took off for home eating pizza on the bus for dinner. It’s now 12:20 am and we should be home shortly. 

Coach Weiler was very happy with how the team attacked all day and didn’t allow the Saints to establish a lot of possession in the Cobbers’ defensive third of the field. Both freshmen goalies kept a clean sheet during their play and both are still pushing for the starting position. Weiler is optimistic for the season and knows that this could be a special team for the Cobbers.

The teams will have pictures in the morning and then the women will practice from 9:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. The men will then scrimmage an alumni team at 11:00 a.m. The two teams will then be back on the practice field for a lighter session in the afternoon.

One final thought for the day: Manchester United 2, Arsenal 1 – enough said!