Football v Futbol
With The World Cup winding down, I can't help but look at the calendar and realize that the NFL season is rapidly approaching. Quite frankly, it can't get here fast enough.
This is not in any way to bag on the sport of soccer ( sorry, it is soccer to me, not Futbol). I actually played 8 years of soccer when I was a kid - until I discovered the joy of football.
I have enjoyed watching The World Cup - I have even drug my butt out of bed at 6am, to watch a few of the matches, after working until 2am the night before. It has been fun, exciting, and I won't lie - there have been some GREAT matches.
There are many things that I like about soccer and many things I don't. I have gained a lot of respect for the sport in a few areas.
I like the fans - THESE PEOPLE ARE NUTS. The fans wear outfits that even my wife wouldn't wear, and she wears some pretty ridiculous things. Especially at sporting events. Like the puck head or the giant block of cheddar that we were "lucky" enough to inherit from some friends from Green Bay. The fans are also very passionate about their teams - it is like being at a game between two great college football rivals - times ten.
There are a few GREAT traditions in sports. One of the greatest is when two hockey teams line up and shake hands after beating the hell out of each other in the best of a seven game series. In soccer, this comes at the end of the match when all the players shake hands and the majority of them exchange jerseys with a member of the opposing team.
And then there is the yellow card, and the red card. Being carded in soccer to me, is like being called out in front of the class when you were a little kid and you got caught shooting spitwads at someone ( not that I would know this personally, as I was an angel growing up.) When you get caught doing something "bad" in soccer - you get singled out in a stadium filled with thousands of people. The referee calls you over to him, and then holds that little card high above his head, for all the stadium to see. BUSTED.
The respect thing - these guys are in shape. Holy Cow. To go out and run as much as they do without huddles, or the offense heading off while the defense takes care of business. I respect the hell out of soccer players for the physical endurance that it takes to play the game.
As much as I like about the sport, there are things that I don't like. This list is short and sweet. There are only two things that I have noticed in the last three weeks, that I really don't care for.
The biggest is Diego Maradona. This guy is a first class jack ass in my opinion. I was always taught to win with class, and lose with grace when it came to playing sports. Basically, don't be a sore loser, or a poor winner. This guy has neither class, nor grace. First of all he looks like a pimp with all his jewelry. I am a fan of doing and saying things to get your team pumped up - but let's face it. You are an aging, slightly over weight, EX best soccer player in the world. Keep yourself out of the newspapers and concentrate on passing along your experience and expertise to your players so they can be best prepared for playing. Stop promising to run naked through the center of Buenos Aries if Argentina wins the World Cup. Thank God (and Germany) that we don't have to witness that. I wonder if his team threw the match against Germany, so they wouldn't have to see it either.
The other is the constant crying, and rolling around on the ground after a little contact from an opposing player. I have always joked that soccer players roll around on the ground in "pain" just long enough for the referee to pull out that aforementioned yellow card (or red if the acting was superb,) and then they hop up and run down the field, laughing all the way. One friend referred to soccer as a bunch of drama queens thinking they were up for an Oscar - I have to mostly agree.
It has been a fun three weeks, but I am not going to lie........................this kid is ready for some FOOTBALL. It is time for 22 men to take the field and beat the hell out of each other, huddle up, go at it again, and then rest when the the other half of the team is on the field. A game where there is no crying when you get hit, instead you get up and get even. Unless you're the kicker, and chances are you were a soccer player, so we expect it.
All of this without me having to get out of bed at 6 am to watch on the television.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Monday, March 1, 2010
The Thrill of Victory, The Agony of Defeat and The Olympic Spirit
Sports like life can be cruel.
With on well placed shot on Sunday, two teams, two countries, got to see first hand the meaning of the words that title this blog.
Team USA had managed to tie the score with just 24 seconds remaining in the game to force overtime. Who would have expected anything less from this game. The build up and the hype after The Americans had defeated The Canadians in Pool Play. After Team USA had beaten them, at THEIR game, on THEIR soil. One second we were watching one of the most exciting Olympic hockey games EVER, and the next it was over.
In one quick flick of the wrist, you heard one country let out a cheer that was heard coast to coast, and yes, probably even in The States. The other country, let out one big collective sigh. You witnessed one man further grow his status as The Next One, throwing his gloves, and jumping around like a child while waiting for teammates to join celebration. You saw one man fall to his knees in disappointment and disbelief. You saw one man lead his country and his teammates in celebration, while the other lay on the ice feeling he had let his teammates and country down, only to be picked up and consoled by those teammates.
No matter what side of this great match up your were rooting for, you have to admit, that was one hell of a game. One for the ages, if you will. Canada needed to win, they deserved to win. This is THEIR sport, on THEIR soil. Anything less than gold would have been a failure. By no means was I rooting for The Canadians to win. I bleed red, white and blue, through and through, and was sending out USA - USA - USA text messages to all my Canadian friends all day long, all week long. After Team USA won the first game I was pulling for the rematch on one hand, and dreading it on the other. The team that loses the first time, always seems to have the advantage in the rematch. The Canadians had nothing to lose - and everything to gain. As luck had it, the rematch came, and what a rematch it was. If Team USA couldn't win, I was at least happy that it would be The Canadian team that would win the gold.
I have to give huge props to Canada for the games that they put on. Inviting the world to Vancouver, and putting on one hell of a show (other than that little problem at the Opening Ceremony that left Wayne Gretzky looking more than a little lost and confused). In every sport that I watched the athletes and the people of Canada won with class and lost with dignity. Not the same can be said for all of the athletes, like the Russian skater Plushenko who decided to award himself the Platinum Medal in disgust of actually winning the silver. They cheered loudly for their athletes, and politely applauded the efforts of athletes from other countries. To hear the cheers that The Canadian fans gave Team USA when they announced their names during the medal ceremony in hockey, was awesome. The fans recognized the great play of Ryan Miller, Brian Rafalski, and Patrick Kane. Great job Canada.
Congrats to all the athletes from The United States - you did your country proud. You also won with class, and lost with dignity.
So I will travel to Las Vegas next month and pay my debt to my Canadian friends and congratulate them on the Gold Medal - hopefully they will let me have at least one shot of the bottle of Jager that I will be purchasing for them to pay off my debt.
With on well placed shot on Sunday, two teams, two countries, got to see first hand the meaning of the words that title this blog.
Team USA had managed to tie the score with just 24 seconds remaining in the game to force overtime. Who would have expected anything less from this game. The build up and the hype after The Americans had defeated The Canadians in Pool Play. After Team USA had beaten them, at THEIR game, on THEIR soil. One second we were watching one of the most exciting Olympic hockey games EVER, and the next it was over.
In one quick flick of the wrist, you heard one country let out a cheer that was heard coast to coast, and yes, probably even in The States. The other country, let out one big collective sigh. You witnessed one man further grow his status as The Next One, throwing his gloves, and jumping around like a child while waiting for teammates to join celebration. You saw one man fall to his knees in disappointment and disbelief. You saw one man lead his country and his teammates in celebration, while the other lay on the ice feeling he had let his teammates and country down, only to be picked up and consoled by those teammates.
No matter what side of this great match up your were rooting for, you have to admit, that was one hell of a game. One for the ages, if you will. Canada needed to win, they deserved to win. This is THEIR sport, on THEIR soil. Anything less than gold would have been a failure. By no means was I rooting for The Canadians to win. I bleed red, white and blue, through and through, and was sending out USA - USA - USA text messages to all my Canadian friends all day long, all week long. After Team USA won the first game I was pulling for the rematch on one hand, and dreading it on the other. The team that loses the first time, always seems to have the advantage in the rematch. The Canadians had nothing to lose - and everything to gain. As luck had it, the rematch came, and what a rematch it was. If Team USA couldn't win, I was at least happy that it would be The Canadian team that would win the gold.
I have to give huge props to Canada for the games that they put on. Inviting the world to Vancouver, and putting on one hell of a show (other than that little problem at the Opening Ceremony that left Wayne Gretzky looking more than a little lost and confused). In every sport that I watched the athletes and the people of Canada won with class and lost with dignity. Not the same can be said for all of the athletes, like the Russian skater Plushenko who decided to award himself the Platinum Medal in disgust of actually winning the silver. They cheered loudly for their athletes, and politely applauded the efforts of athletes from other countries. To hear the cheers that The Canadian fans gave Team USA when they announced their names during the medal ceremony in hockey, was awesome. The fans recognized the great play of Ryan Miller, Brian Rafalski, and Patrick Kane. Great job Canada.
Congrats to all the athletes from The United States - you did your country proud. You also won with class, and lost with dignity.
So I will travel to Las Vegas next month and pay my debt to my Canadian friends and congratulate them on the Gold Medal - hopefully they will let me have at least one shot of the bottle of Jager that I will be purchasing for them to pay off my debt.
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