World Cup Review

Day 255

Sarah, a friend of mine from England poised the question "So has the World Cup made any of you not interested in football before more interested?"

I think that it helped that we had a friendly competition by drafting teams and facing off with friends. It definitely made me pay more attention than I normally would have. For the dumb picks that I made, (next time I will pay more attention to my picks) I didn't think I did too bad. And it was fun to watch some of the matches. I didn't catch all the games I wanted and I have to admit that I wasn't feeling it during the England/US game. I liked the heavy drama but the ending seemed very anti-climatic. It just seems to me that for the last 5 minutes or so all the players were playing for the tie. There just didn't seem any attitude or determination to go for the win.

I didn't do that bad. In fact my friend predicted that I would take 8th overall

But the next few games were more exciting and I can see why people get such a kick (bad pun fully intended) out of the World Cup.

GOOOOAAAAAALLLLLL!

Next time the World Cup comes around I am sure I will catch a few matches even if I am not part of some competition pool. I still consider myself to be more of a casual fan than a hardcore fan but it is still early and that may change. I have family (and fellow bloggers) that are soccer fans and they go to Real Salt Lake games and now I am more libel to go to one of those too.

So the answer is yes. I am more interested in soccer and that will continue to grow. I don't think it will ever replace my obsession with football or hockey but I can definitely see it getting stronger.

World Cup Madness

Day 221

I am not into soccer at all. I don't think I have ever watched a full match in my life. I usually like to watch football (NFL), hockey and basketball in that order but I have never had a desire to watch soccer.

That was until last year when I watched the MLS Championship and the only reason I watched it was because Real Salt Lake was in the finals. And I have to admit that I was more taken by it than I thought I would be. It was much more exciting than I remember soccer being. I told Kristy that we should attend a Real Salt Lake game and that I should watch more soccer games.

And now the World Cup is nearly upon us and what a perfect opportunity to watch some soccer and learn more about the game. In fact I am in my first World Cup Tournament. My friends and I drafted some teams and we are going to have a point system where basically you score one point for every match any of your teams win. You get half a point if they draw (only applicable in the group stage). Person with the most points at the end wins.

 
My friend Tim from the UK gave some analysis of my picks. I honestly didn't know what I was doing and that was obvious from the picks I made. Here is his analysis:

Matt: Portugal, Ivory Coast, Algeria, North Korea

Well, Matt should get something out of the Group of Death at least. Sadly and despite having three of the group’s four teams it’s almost certainly be only one space for the next round – it’s hard to see Brazil getting crowded out. It’s quite possible that the group will come down to who manages to pick on Matt’s other team in that group more and rack up goal difference.

Seriously, this is high-risk high-reward stuff. Although a little unlikely, it’s still possible to see both the Ivory Coast and Portugal outperform Brazil on a given day – they’re good teams – and if they do, well… Matt would then have two good teams in the knockout stage brimming with confidence from having bested the best already.

Algeria, well, nice to have them along. And at least if North Korea do threaten to bomb everyone he has himself covered in that way.

Bottom Line: If the Group stage goes well, be afraid. If not, unlikely to trouble anyone else.

I am looking forward to watching as many games as I can. I hope that there are some major upsets and that it is exciting. I guess more than half the world can't be wrong, it has to be exciting!

Mr. Roboto plays Soccer

Day 189

Short blog today. Kristy and I were up super late last night watching a marathon of Office episodes and we have a ton of stuff to do.

That is Logan sitting on a soccer game cheering on his teammates. When Cade scored he gave a thumbs up in appreciation.

Logan had his soccer game early this afternoon (which they won) but I don't think Logan's heart was in the game. He acted like his leg was killing him and his arm was hurting but when we would ask him he would say everything was fine. Logan just lacks the killer instinct to go after that ball. Still he has fun and that is what counts.

Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto, domo...domo. Thank you very much, Mr. Roboto!

Now we have to go and run and get some groceries and get Mother's Day all set up. We came home for lunch and I was in the kitchen consolidating all the boxes of Mountain Dew when Logan put some boxes on his feet and acted like a robot. I was hoping he was going to get all Mr. Roboto on us but he was too shy.

Soccer Days

Day 175

Hopefully Spring/Summer is really here and not fooling itself. I know that calendar-wise, Spring should already be here and since Logan has started soccer, it should officially be here. But then on the first day of practice, it snowed. And then a few days later at his game, I got sunburned. Welcome to the crazy spring weather of Utah. Hot one moment and freezing the next!

Last year Logan played soccer and he had a good time but I don't think he really learned anything except that he should kick the soccer ball and not touch it with his hands. He also learned that the goals switch sides at the half and that he wears different colors for home and away games but I think that is really all he learned. Kindergarten soccer is like watching a cloud of mosquitoes following each other.

This year has already been a little different. We have had only one practice and Logan went to his 4th game this afternoon. And he is playing with a bunch of kids from the 2nd grade that know what they are doing and I think Logan gets a little lost. The first game his coach asked him what position he wanted to play, defender or forward and Logan had no idea what he was talking about. Usually after his coach gives him a position or some instructions, I bring Logan over to give him some further explaination. But he is getting it. The coach must like him because he plays most of the games and rarely sits out.

Logan is using his two hands to talk to each other while the game is going on. I hope they are at least talking about the game.

The other thing I have noticed about Logan this year is that he doesn't hang around his parents when he is not playing. He will come between quarters so he could drink some water but that is it. He would rather hang around his coach and teammates. And he has manned up a bit too. In the first game he took a nasty blow to the face. Another kid kicked it right into his face, I mean it really cracked him hard. At first he just grabbed his face but continued to run on. Kristy and I yelled at him to keep going, we didn't want to make a big deal about it. And he ran for about 2 seconds before he started to cry a bit. But he didn't run to us, he ran to his coach and then came over to us. But he was only with us for about 2 seconds too. Once he had a drink and realized he was going to live, he ran to join his teammates and got right back in the game.  The next game he got kicked right in the gut and he lost his breath but he went to his coach who swatted him on the back to make him breathe. I went over there and in about two seconds he was better and ready to get back in the game. I guess when the game is on the line, he really can take it like a man!

I think Logan gets the duties of defender and forward mixed up. But he did have a good clear out while being defender.

He has a real good team this year and Logan is quite excited to be winning all the time. His team is 4-0. Logan just needs to learn to be a little more aggressive and go after the ball more. But I expect that he will get more used to it as time goes on. I can tell already that all the ball players including Logan have learned quite a bit in this short amount of time.

The kids like to cheer at the end of the game because they know a treat is coming up.

When Kristy Met Matt: Viva Las Vegas!

Day 128

About a month before Kristy and I were married, I was invited to attend Steven's (Kristy's youngest brother) soccer matches in Las Vegas. I thought it sounded a lot of fun so I went along. Kristy and I drove separately in my Geo Prizm and we took Aaron and Steven (Kristy's brother) and her parents drove along with their sister Renae.

We finally arrived after a long drive of just going the speed limit and I was happy to see our motel. Maybe I should rephrase that, I was NOT happy to see the closet we had to stay in. There were two beds and just enough room in between them. So Kristy's parents took one bed and Kristy and her sister took the other leaving Steven, Aaron and I to sleep on the floor. Steven slept between the beds, I slept with most of my body in the bathroom. Seriously, my feet were touching the tub. Aaron slept opposite of me and his feet were touching the front door.

One of the things that I forget every time I go to Vegas is that you are an hour behind time-wise. Milton (Kristy's dad) must have forgotten that as well. He and Steven woke up early because Steven had to meet the team before the game. So they went, an hour early! They weren't too happy about that since they were tired from the drive and little night's sleep from the night before.

The next time Steven had a game we all went and set up some chairs and watched Steven play. To celebrate the game, Steven decided to tie his hair up like dreadlocks. His hair was still a little short to do them properly but with his sister's help he managed to get it all done up. It was by far his best game, he had a chance to score a goal for his team but his shot was just a bit farther from the right. We were still proud of Steven (well, most of us anyway) for trying to score. That was the game that I was introduced to Walmart's Mint Cups. Have you tried these things? They are absolutely wonderful, it is too bad that they do not have them anymore.

The next game was one that I remember the most but it had nothing to do with soccer. We went to watch another one of Steven's games and we sat down and watched. The game was good and we started to get and up and pack our stuff. Milton was reading the paper and was a bit confused that we were leaving before Steven's game. I suspect it had to do with the whole time change thing. Dad unfortunately missed Steven's whole game because he thought it was the next one. I about died laughing hearing Colleen and Milt discuss this.

We walked down main street and played some slots. Anyone who has walked down main street knows that everyone ignores the WALK and DON'T WALK signs; everyone but Milt. We would quickly run across and look back and dad would still be standing there waiting for the WALK sign. We didn't notice at first but we caught on after a few blocks.

Our hotel room may have been totally cramped but at least they had a pool. So us kids went out late at night to swim. Now back in the days I was quite a skinny lad. These days... not so much. But back in the day I was a rail. So I was exiting the dressing room I called out "No skinny jokes" and Aaron called back "No fat jokes either!" and then I yelled out "Hey look! A blimp!" and pointed towards the sky and in the direction of Aaron. Aaron yells back at me, "Hey! I thought we said no fat jokes!" There really was a blimp in the sky. I promise.

We finally left Vegas for the long drive home. Steven and Renae accompanied us as we drove my Geo Prizm back to West Jordan. Steven took his hair out of his dreads and his hair just floated. It is kinda hard to explain exactly how his hair looked but it resembled an afro with the top cleanly chopped off flat. We would pass cars slowly on purpose so the car we were passing could clearly see Steven and his fro. I thought we had pictures of it but I cannot find any.

The air was not doing me any favors and I was congested. I had to spit while driving really bad so I rolled down my window and hocked a lugee. It landed on Steven's window and I woke him up and asked if he would wipe it off. The combination of Steven being woken up and the disgusting nature of this huge lugee made him wince and freak out. I didn't make him wipe it off, I am not that mean. But the look of fright on Steven's face was priceless.

We met for lunch at a park and ate sandwiches. We were all pretty full when Aaron asked he could polish off all the meat. Mom gave her okay and Aaron made this huge sandwich. After he was done, he showed us his final product and announced "Now this is what I call a ham sandwich!" I don't know why we thought it was so funny; it wasn't really funny at all but we about died. We quoted that all the way home and at almost family get-together that involves food, one of us will quote it and laugh.

After spending the weekend with Kristy's family, I knew that I would have no problem with my in-laws. I appreciate that they took me along and that they welcomed me like family.

I have said this before and I will say it again. I have been blessed with in-laws that I like. I just smile when other people complain about their in-laws because I have no complaints.