Greg also deals with being compared to the sons of his dad's boss, who all play sports and always seem to be outside exercising. Frank is jealous of this and wants his sons to be like his boss's sons. After conflicts over Greg wanting to stay inside and watch TV on Saturdays and Frank stealing his school snacks, Frank makes him sign up for intramural soccer. The last straw is an incident at church on Easter, where Greg accidentally gets chocolate on the back of his pants. He refuses to enter the church with the stained pants on for fear of his crush, Holly Hills, mistaking it for poop, so his mother allows him to use her sweater like a kilt. Greg gets bored during the lengthy service and teases his little brother Manny, causing Manny to throw a tantrum. The Heffley family is forced to leave, and Frank's boss saw everything, resulting in Frank becoming even more embarrassed than Greg, who had to walk past Holly.

Greg does not like his coach, Mr Litch, who yells like a drill sergeant and runs intense drills during practice. In order to get out of this, he volunteers to be the backup goalie, but becomes the starter when the main goalie is injured. He takes a break to pick dandelions on the field, which ultimately costs his team the game. What do you think might happen next? It usually embarrasses everyone, but for one time, will it...?