So much of the way the kids practice and play is now mental. I have one kid who is quick, knows what he is supposed to do, but has no agression. A year ago, that was my son. At some point, my son decided he was tired of his teammates not passing to him, taking the ball away, etc. So he decided to keep the ball and started dribbling it. (It was also the downfall of his baseball experience - he started showing me he could be good at soccer.)

I've told my other player that once he decides the ball is his, that he can take it away, then he will start to have fun. He doesn't know that once he gains that first bit of confidence, then the game is his. My job as a coach is to help him get that confidence.

Another kid had been talking about this first kid. I told him that all this kid needed was confidence, I said, instead of saying "He doesn't get it.", tell him "Hey good job.". I was impressed that the second kid actually did it.

I had another kid ask to play more goalie. I've asked the kids to not ask me during a game to play a position. This kid is good at goalie and I'm happy to help him out. I've decided this season to try and focus the kids on a set position. Normally it is pretty random what they get to play.

I've got another kid who was playing before in a lesser league - a more relaxed environment. What I like about him is that he actually listens. I was doing a keep-away drill, 1-1. I got up and told him to use his bottom to keep the defender away. At 9, he has less back there than I do. But he tried and was able to use it effectively.

By the way, I saw a great pick from the other team this weekend. But blocking the defense is not allowed in soccer.

The final mental aspect are the kids who back talk and trash talk. I don't think at 9 you need to be using swear words. (I wasn't allowed to at swim practice when I was 17/18.) I also don't think you need to be telling your teammates they suck. I had a kid do that tonight. I told him to run the goal posts on the next field. He walked. I told him to run or sit down when he came back. He waited, ran a bit, but when he came back, told me he was sitting.

I said fine, he could explain it to his dad when he picked him up from practice. He told me he would tell his dad it was my fault. The dad took him away, without talking to me, early.

This is a rec league, he'll get the same playing time as the other kids. But he really needs to applogize to both his team and his coach.

My son doesn't trash talk - the Monster likes to let his defensive skills show through. I had the other coach working with half the team - a cone lane with a defender on the end. The offensive player(s) have to get the ball past the far cones. The defender just has to get it out one of the other 3 sides. It was 2-1 against my son, the other kid said, "Let us show you how it is done." My son took the ball away from him and said, "This is how it is done."

If you know the Monster at all, it is pretty rare that he talks up his game. I think it just gets to him after a bit. But I'm really proud that he has made soccer his game and that he takes pride in a job well done.

I ordered some DB9 and DB25 hoods from CablesWholesale.com. Why them? Well because the hoods cost 90 cents versus $6.95, like I found on my first google. For that price, I assumed that the pinouts sr sent me were valid, i.e., that there was a standard on the colors. For $6.95, I wouldn't have made that assumption. The hoods work, I now have warlock patched into my console server. And I can easily move other PCs into my closet.

  31D3-3720BL   DB25 Male / RJ45, Color Blue               5     0.90      4.50
  31D1-1740Y    DB9 Female / RJ45, Color Yellow            5     0.91      4.55
  31D3-37200    DB25 Male / RJ45, Color Gray               5     0.91      4.55
  31D1-1740R    DB9 Female / RJ45 Female Modular Adap      5     0.96      4.80

The pinouts I used were:

	DB9 (female) hood for Filer/PC/NPS/RPB/Suns/etc.
		2 - yellow
		3 - black
		5 - red

	DB25 (male) hood for Suns
		2 - black
		3 - yellow
		7 - red

	DB25 (male) hood to Livingston
		2 - yellow
		3 - black
		7 - red

Note that these are strictly for the Livingston Portmaster. If you use another device, you will want to do some research.

So, in conclusion, a lot of my issues with cabling up the w2100z were that I didn't have the right adapter hoods. If I had, I could have easily worked through the issue of which serial port was A.