Seeing as today is the 2010 World Cup final (GO NETHERLANDS!), here is a hodge-podge of what I’ve learned about soccer/fútbol and the World Cup in general from the 2010 World Cup.
- Soccer/fútbol players must moonlight as actors, because I’ve never seen such childish, petulant drama on a sports arena. (Granted, I don’t watch a lot of sports.)
- Speaking of drama, the French national team… a theater troupe of actors if there ever was one!
- Vuvuzelas annoy everyone except South Africans, apparently.
- FIFA referee calls are controversial at best, downright awful at worst.
My Brazilian soccer/fútbol player name is… MANDERTO!
This pie chart sums up the rest of my lessons from the World Cup, courtesy of Cracked:
And now, all talk of soccer will go quiet on the U.S. front until the World Cup in 2014!
Yesterday I had a small blast from the past in the form of hearing several stories about a boy I used to be really good friends with. It’s a consequence of being back in the place you graduated from high school in; you hear these kinds of stories whether you like it or not. It’s especially common when your high school is as small as mine and everyone knows everything about everyone. Anyway, news about him got me thinking about all the good days back when we were good friends, even best friends, and what things were like before life got in the way and we just naturally grew apart.
As I was lying in bed last night, thinking about all of this, I started reminiscing about all the friends I’ve gained and lost over the years, those that I’ve gotten closer to and those that I’ve drifted apart from. The friends who I know I couldn’t live without; the friends who I no longer see but will never forget; the “friends” who I question why they got the title of “friend” in the first place. The friendships that were damaged, battered and ended because of a boy; the sexual tensions between myself and various guy friends; the friendships that never took off because there was too much romantic history to be able to put it all in the past and move forward.
Friendship is a funny thing. It has a fluctuation/turnover/retention rate like nothing else in life. And while there are many days where my friends drive me up the wall, I know I could never live without them. I also know that it’s my friendships with the people in my life, both past and present, that shape who I am today. So, while it was sad to hear about the news in my high school friend’s life from someone other than him, it was good to hear that he is doing well all the same.
(Then I began to wonder if people felt the same way about me as a friend and if those I’ve fallen out of touch with remember me. Thankfully, I fell asleep before I got too insecure/neurotic/paranoid about any of this. That’s a danger of thinking about all of this late at night on your own when you’re walking the line between staying awake and falling asleep!)
In other, far less philosophical news: many thanks to Aleida, Karin, Melody and Tess for awarding me with the Sunshine Award; I wrote a guest entry on Krissy’s blog about the wonder and beauty of Kurt Halsey’s artwork; an article about my scholarship win is on the front page of my university’s website; I have made absolutely no progress on building my professional digital identity; and I am breathless with anticipation for tonight’s Hawks vs Flyers hockey game (Game 4 in the series, 2-1 Hawks).
Posted on June 3, 2010 | Categories: Entertainment | Tags: sports
Ever since the semester has ended and I’ve moved back home, I’ve been watching hockey games. More specifically, I’ve been watching the game whenever my team, the Chicago Blackhawks, is playing. I watched them beat the Vancouver Canucks and I watched them sweep the San Jose Sharks (that one was particularly satisfying as one of my friends is a diehard Sharks fan). Now the Hawks are against the Philadelphia Flyers in the Stanley Cup finals and I’m suddenly being reminded of why I have steadfastly avoided following sports my entire life.
It’s stressful being a hockey fan! You are glued to the game, pulse racing with every move, afraid to breathe whenever either team is about to score, bellowing in frustration whenever the other team scores, cheering with joy whenever your team scores… the tension, anticipation, anxiety and unadulterated joy when it comes to sports is really unparalleled. More often than not I’ve found myself alternating between wanting to cover my eyes at the truly tense moments (usually whenever either team is about to score) and not being able to take my eyes off the game. (I realize that wanting to close my eyes is silly because those moments can be part of the best or worst moments of the game.)
Part of the reason why I’ve become interested in hockey recently is that it’s just a fun game to watch. I’ve tried watching numerous sports over the years and the only ones I’ve found interesting are AFL and hockey. (My friends that are fanatics about American sports will be disappointed to hear that American football and baseball are among the sports that bore me to death.) I’ve been able to pick up a surprising amount about hockey in such a short amount of time, both in terms of how the game is played as well as background about the Hawks players. Also, it is not a bad time to start watching hockey when your team wins the Western Conference and has a 50/50 chance of winning the Stanley Cup. Just putting that out there.
But yes. Even though I don’t like following sports in general, and even though I’ve discovered it is very stressful towards my health to start becoming a hockey fan, and even though last night’s overtime against the Flyers in Game 3 almost killed me…
GO HAWKS!
