I think everyone has a place.
A place you go to when things get tough, sad, stressful. A place where when you close your eyes, you are far away from the current state of affairs. Maybe you stay for a brief moment, a quick getaway to get you back on track. Or maybe you stay as long as you can, recalling all of the sights and sounds and smells of that place. I have one such place from my soccer life and it's SO SWEET.
It was the summer of 1994 when the World Cup was in Detroit and I was working as Competition Manager for the Organizing Committee. The Swedish national team was practicing at the lower field at Oakland University, their chosen training site while in Detroit. Their training was "closed", meaning neither the public nor the media could attend. There were just a few of us there, our security director, a medical officer, Gary Parsons and a few other OU guys.
I sat alone on the grassy hill on the far side of the field and remember feeling so lucky to be there. I was extremely busy that night (the World Cup was in town, for pete's sake), but I was absolutely conscious of the fact that this was a special moment to savor. It was around 8:00pm and the day had been hot. The sun was beginning to set behind OU's campus and a slight breeze began to push the humidity away. I marvelled at the brilliant green pitch that almost seemed to glow. We worked so hard on that field and now it was near perfect.
It was surreal to watch the Swedish players train. Henrik Larsson, Martin Dahlin, keeper Thomas Ravelli all doing the exact same drills and runs we've all done as kids, and have coached as coaches. Same but different...these guys were warming up for the biggest games of their lives. Sweden would advance to the quarterfinals and beat Romania in San Francisco - but they didn't know it yet. They would play a tough semifinal match against Brazil, but would not see the Rose Bowl finals. But we didn't know it yet.
My place had a wonderful, private view of the best soccer players in the world. It smelled of just-cut grass and was as perfect as perfect can be. I sat in soccer heaven for 60 minutes taking it all in. Then, just when I thought it couldn't get any better, I heard a sweet, smooth sound coming from the east. And just like the Grinch when he hears the Whos down in Whoville, the sound started in low and it started to grow.
The music was coming from Meadowbrook's amphitheater. It floated through the woods, over our field and into my place. It was Ray Charles live singing "Georgia on my Mind" and it was amazing. After a slight case of the goosebumps, I smiled and giggled as I laid back on the grass.
"This is the life," I thought and this is my place.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Ohno, Twitter
Watching the Winter Olympics and started following Apolo Ohno on Twitter today. It's very cool, as he is posting his tweets frequently and keeping us posted on what he's doing, where he's going, eating, etc. As a sports event junkie, this is neat because I am always thinking logistics, rules and the fun stuff that happens in between games. The best part though, was reading his thoughts and feelings before and after his first race.
ApoloOhno It's time.
ApoloOhno Wow...historical night for me...I have absolutely NO REGRETS...thank you all for supporting me...I'm on cloud 9...skated a brutal hard race!
ApoloOhno What a night. It feels surreal....
ApoloOhno As I lay here in bed, memories from the last 7 hours are replaying in my head. Carrying the struggle further, no regrets. I am smiling :-)
I'm brand new to Twitter, so excuse me if I'm stating the obvious or coming in late here. The more you follow someone, the more you feel like you know them. And in this case, the closer you feel to the Olympic experience. I get it now.
Thinking ahead to World Cup this summer...how cool will it be to follow the players on Twitter? It's a fun way to get direct, up-close-and-personal reports from the trenches. A lot of the guys are already tweeting (Donovan, Rooney to name a few).
I'm glad I finally found it.
ApoloOhno It's time.
ApoloOhno Wow...historical night for me...I have absolutely NO REGRETS...thank you all for supporting me...I'm on cloud 9...skated a brutal hard race!
ApoloOhno What a night. It feels surreal....
ApoloOhno As I lay here in bed, memories from the last 7 hours are replaying in my head. Carrying the struggle further, no regrets. I am smiling :-)
I'm brand new to Twitter, so excuse me if I'm stating the obvious or coming in late here. The more you follow someone, the more you feel like you know them. And in this case, the closer you feel to the Olympic experience. I get it now.
Thinking ahead to World Cup this summer...how cool will it be to follow the players on Twitter? It's a fun way to get direct, up-close-and-personal reports from the trenches. A lot of the guys are already tweeting (Donovan, Rooney to name a few).
I'm glad I finally found it.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
World Cup 2010 Schedule Surfing – Part Two
** CONTINUED**
Sound like crazy talk? Grab your calendar and check out the schedule with me to see for yourself:
Must Sees
Friday, June 11 is Opening Day, a “holiday” of sorts to us soccer folk that only comes around once every four years. This day-off is a given. Hosts South Africa v. Mexico kickoff is at 10:00am, but back that up at least an hour and a half for the pre-game chatter and opening ceremony pageantry. No time to go into work before the game, of course. Second game of the day is at 2:30, Uruguay v. France. There is just enough time to cut your grass in between games so you’ll feel mildly productive and it will help justify the numerous beers you’ll drink during game two. (VACATION DAY #1)
Saturday, June 12 is a huge day for United States soccer. The highly-anticipated England v. USA match is scheduled for 2:30pm kickoff. For the casual fan, this will be the Opening Day. It’s nice that such a high profile game is played so early in the tournament and on a weekend – perfect for watching with the gang. Let’s hope for a good US showing so we can hook some new fans and prove to the naysayers that it’s worth another 90 minute look. On this day, game one at 7:30am is South Korea v. Greece. Game two at 10:00am is Argentina v. Nigeria and will be a nice tough game and good set-up to the US debut.
Saturday, June 26 - Round of 16 game times are 10:00am and 2:30pm. Note to self, go to church this night in order to see 10:00am game tomorrow live, which could feature the US team. If the US makes it through their group in the number two spot, we can pray-while-we’re-there that they don’t get crushed by (most likely) Germany.
Sunday, June 27 – Round of 16 game times are 10:00am and 2:30pm.
Monday, June 28 – Round of 16 game times are 10:00am and 2:30pm.(VACATION DAY #2)
Tuesday, June 29 – Round of 16 game times are 10:00am and 2:30pm.(VACATION DAY #3)
Friday, July 2 – Quarterfinal game times are 10:00am and 2:30pm. (VACATION DAY #4)
Saturday, July 3 – Quarterfinal game times are 10:00am and 2:30pm.
Tuesday, July 6 – Semifinal game time is 2:30pm. (1/2 VACATION DAY)
Wednesday, July 7 – Semifinal game time is 2:30pm. (1/2 VACATION DAY)
Sunday, July 11 – Final game is 2:30pm.
OK, so 5-7 days off...and maybe one more...
Monday, July 12 – HUGE VACATION DAY if your love lifts the Cup!
Cheers!
Monday, February 8, 2010
World Cup 2010 Schedule Surfing – Time to make way
We’re four months out now (122 days) from World Cup and it’s time to start scheming for those days off.
I don’t know about you, but any event for this June/July that comes up around here needs to first pass the WC2010 schedule test. This includes school events, daughter’s birthday party, family vacation, ortho appointments, soccer tryouts, barbeques, etc. I’m boxing out the whole month, June 11-July 11.
Yes, we have a DVR and we’ll be recording every game. But, there is nothing like watching these games live. If you don’t, you leave yourself wide open to a friend’s good-natured call that could spoil the final score. Miss the matches live and you will need to keep the radio turned off and screen your calls. You’ll need a black piece of paper to tape across the bottom of your TV screen to avoid seeing the ticker. And finally, new to this World Cup, we’ll all need to deal with the dreaded TEXT that could interrupt us with any score at any time.
Keep in mind that kickoff times are 7:30am, 10:00am and 2:30pm all to be shown live on ESPN. However, ESPN will devote at least ½ hour of pre-game time for lineups, predictions and national anthems so their posted show start times are 7:00am, 9:30am and 2:00pm.
For the record, I am happy with these kickoff times. It would be nice to have evening games for those that work 9-5 and to facilitate evening revelry, for sure. But 7:00am is way better than those 5:00am kickoffs, and it's been worse.
And let’s just be thankful that the games are being televised live and free and at all (remember the old days…?)!
Sorry friends, but I will not babysit, volunteer, “have coffee”, chaperone, carpool or offer to help anyone out during this month. No offense, but I won’t be available. During the last World Cup my house was a mess 24/7 and we were eating pizza way too much. I was gaining weight and I was super pale from the lack of sunlight. I remember calls from my Mom four years ago about “not seeing me for ages” and “needing to catch up”. Let's watch together or catch me July 12, Mom.
I also remember though, that during the halftimes of all of these games, my kids would play 1v1 in the front yard. Shot after shot after shot. It’s no coincidence that it was during this time that they learned to love the game as much as we did. We had the wall chart and the betting chart posted. They both started their travel soccer careers the very next season and haven’t slowed down or looked back. It’ll be something special to watch with them this time.
So - after reviewing the schedule in detail, it’s clear that most folks with day jobs will need to take off a minimum of five days. If you are wild for a particular nation, add at least two more days. During the group stages, most of the teams play two weekday and one weekend game. So let’s say a whole week for most World Cup fans.
Sound like crazy talk? Grab your calendar and check out the schedule with me to see for yourself:
** TO BE CONTINUED TOMORROW **
I don’t know about you, but any event for this June/July that comes up around here needs to first pass the WC2010 schedule test. This includes school events, daughter’s birthday party, family vacation, ortho appointments, soccer tryouts, barbeques, etc. I’m boxing out the whole month, June 11-July 11.
Yes, we have a DVR and we’ll be recording every game. But, there is nothing like watching these games live. If you don’t, you leave yourself wide open to a friend’s good-natured call that could spoil the final score. Miss the matches live and you will need to keep the radio turned off and screen your calls. You’ll need a black piece of paper to tape across the bottom of your TV screen to avoid seeing the ticker. And finally, new to this World Cup, we’ll all need to deal with the dreaded TEXT that could interrupt us with any score at any time.
Keep in mind that kickoff times are 7:30am, 10:00am and 2:30pm all to be shown live on ESPN. However, ESPN will devote at least ½ hour of pre-game time for lineups, predictions and national anthems so their posted show start times are 7:00am, 9:30am and 2:00pm.
For the record, I am happy with these kickoff times. It would be nice to have evening games for those that work 9-5 and to facilitate evening revelry, for sure. But 7:00am is way better than those 5:00am kickoffs, and it's been worse.
And let’s just be thankful that the games are being televised live and free and at all (remember the old days…?)!
Sorry friends, but I will not babysit, volunteer, “have coffee”, chaperone, carpool or offer to help anyone out during this month. No offense, but I won’t be available. During the last World Cup my house was a mess 24/7 and we were eating pizza way too much. I was gaining weight and I was super pale from the lack of sunlight. I remember calls from my Mom four years ago about “not seeing me for ages” and “needing to catch up”. Let's watch together or catch me July 12, Mom.
I also remember though, that during the halftimes of all of these games, my kids would play 1v1 in the front yard. Shot after shot after shot. It’s no coincidence that it was during this time that they learned to love the game as much as we did. We had the wall chart and the betting chart posted. They both started their travel soccer careers the very next season and haven’t slowed down or looked back. It’ll be something special to watch with them this time.
So - after reviewing the schedule in detail, it’s clear that most folks with day jobs will need to take off a minimum of five days. If you are wild for a particular nation, add at least two more days. During the group stages, most of the teams play two weekday and one weekend game. So let’s say a whole week for most World Cup fans.
Sound like crazy talk? Grab your calendar and check out the schedule with me to see for yourself:
** TO BE CONTINUED TOMORROW **
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
The Bee Scream
Call me crazy, but I’m longing for that first bee scream of the season.
You know the one I’m talking about. It usually takes place during a halftime huddle when the coach (me) is getting ready to divulge the second half game plan. It’s the clear answer to winning that 0-0 game, I’ve got it all figured out. I have all the girls’ attention (finally); for once they are totally focused on the game and want to win. Hair is fixed, water downed and the ritual showing-off of bruises, raspberries and scratches earned in the first half is complete. All the stars, planets, moons (and everything else out there) are aligned. OMG - they are all listening.
And then it happens. A damn bee buzzes too close to someone’s ear. You see it coming a split-second before it happens and pray a quick prayer to the coaching God above, “please let her be the camping-kind-of-gal that isn’t affected by a little bug”.
Well, of course she’s not - and she lets out a high-pitched SCREAM-OF-ALL-SCREAMS. It’s the noise that someone would only make if they were attacked in the shower by a super ugly, knife-wielding madman. She not only screams, but jumps 3’ into the air while shaking her hands and arms like an out of control marionette. Upon landing, she immediately jukes and jives around in a half circle like nothing you’ve ever seen. She spins left, then right, head fake and then an incredible burst of speed for at least five yards. Barry Sanders had nothing on this girl.
Her movements are highly contagious, and the other 14 join in mimicking her shakes, twists, yelps and various forms of jerky gyrations. It’s almost like being at a Kenny Loggins concert. This scene, of course, catches the eye of the other team, the referees, both teams’ parents. I can only hope they somehow saw and understand the incident and not just think we are “screwing around”. The high-pitched tones cause neighborhood dogs to start barking.
The bee returns a couple times, scaring random girls here and there. Every one of them is wide eyed now, frantically combing the area for a glimpse of the perpetrator. I find myself saying a couple of times, “it’s just a fly” – my lame attempt to try to regain their attention.
Once the sideline settles down somewhat, I realize the other team has taken the field and are waiting. “Play hard girls” is all I’m able to choke out.
A little perturbed, yes. A little embarrassed, yes. Laughing to myself, yes.
Ah, the beauty of outdoor soccer. Can’t wait.
You know the one I’m talking about. It usually takes place during a halftime huddle when the coach (me) is getting ready to divulge the second half game plan. It’s the clear answer to winning that 0-0 game, I’ve got it all figured out. I have all the girls’ attention (finally); for once they are totally focused on the game and want to win. Hair is fixed, water downed and the ritual showing-off of bruises, raspberries and scratches earned in the first half is complete. All the stars, planets, moons (and everything else out there) are aligned. OMG - they are all listening.
And then it happens. A damn bee buzzes too close to someone’s ear. You see it coming a split-second before it happens and pray a quick prayer to the coaching God above, “please let her be the camping-kind-of-gal that isn’t affected by a little bug”.
Well, of course she’s not - and she lets out a high-pitched SCREAM-OF-ALL-SCREAMS. It’s the noise that someone would only make if they were attacked in the shower by a super ugly, knife-wielding madman. She not only screams, but jumps 3’ into the air while shaking her hands and arms like an out of control marionette. Upon landing, she immediately jukes and jives around in a half circle like nothing you’ve ever seen. She spins left, then right, head fake and then an incredible burst of speed for at least five yards. Barry Sanders had nothing on this girl.
Her movements are highly contagious, and the other 14 join in mimicking her shakes, twists, yelps and various forms of jerky gyrations. It’s almost like being at a Kenny Loggins concert. This scene, of course, catches the eye of the other team, the referees, both teams’ parents. I can only hope they somehow saw and understand the incident and not just think we are “screwing around”. The high-pitched tones cause neighborhood dogs to start barking.
The bee returns a couple times, scaring random girls here and there. Every one of them is wide eyed now, frantically combing the area for a glimpse of the perpetrator. I find myself saying a couple of times, “it’s just a fly” – my lame attempt to try to regain their attention.
Once the sideline settles down somewhat, I realize the other team has taken the field and are waiting. “Play hard girls” is all I’m able to choke out.
A little perturbed, yes. A little embarrassed, yes. Laughing to myself, yes.
Ah, the beauty of outdoor soccer. Can’t wait.
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