For the first time since my high school days, this past Sunday morning I played an organized game of soccer in a match between some members of the Western New York media and the Queen City Football Club staff.

After finishing the game, I could only think of one thing: wow, do I stink at soccer.

Granted, I was playing among some former good high school and college soccer players, which personified my lack of skills either more, but there were a lot of basic things such as kicking that I probably should have worked on beforehand.

But through it all, I will chalk this up as a learning experience.

I've learned a bit about the strategy in soccer like about the formations and when to pressure the man with the ball. I also realized that you are not suppose to run around the whole field, like I would in the gym during physical education class, that it's ok to walk when the ball in all the way down the field.

My highlights for me were passing the ball successfully twice. My lowlights included slipping on the wet turf of All-High Stadium while going after and out of bounds ball and whiffing on a pass in front of the net. There were two moments when I was caught like a deer in the headlights. One was when I kicked the ball to the wrong team when I got possession (I should've dribbled for a while instead) and the other being when a long pass came my way when I wasn't really expecting it.

One thing that did beat expectations on the positive side was my conditioning. Going in, I thought I was going to keel over a die after the game but instead I held up pretty well. I guess all the weight lifting, walking and biking I've been doing played a part in that.

Even though I looked like a fool for the most part and we ended up losing on a goal in the last minute of the game, 6-5, I still had fun which may be the most important part in the long run.

But in the end, I think I will be sticking to things I'm more familiar with such as refereeing pro wrestling matches, pumping iron, run blocking in pickup "American" football games and committing fouls in Fireman's Park basketball, before signing up for a recreation soccer league.

Click here to check out my game story on the Queen City vs. Lancaster Inferno game which was played after our match.