Home on a rainy Saturday morning with my bride off on her day. Amid some housework, think I'll take in a soccer game while I prep for our evening together tonight.
9:55 a.m. - Here come Argentina and Nigeria out of the tunnel! I'm on the edge
of my seat as these two foes take the pitch. Wow....Ali-Frazier, Brady-Manning, Hulk-Hogan vs. Ric Flair...I haven't been this stoked since watching the 1988 "friendly" between the Ivory Coast and Honduras.
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10:18 a.m. - Whew....#15 looks OK, running like the wind. And here I was nervously worried about his family, watching at home. Miraculous recovery? I'm wondering what meds the docs may have given him? Hmmmm.........Roids? Do they test for that in this sport? Amazing recuperative powers by #15.
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11:34 a.m. - Oh! Yellow card on Nigeria - no idea what that means. Question, as i think aloud...if they pull out a green card during soccer games on U.S. soil, does that cause panic?
Can't say I didn't give it a shot 'cuz I did. I came into this thing not liking the sport and that hasn't changed. Perhaps if the rest of the world would hear of a game called "football", this world cup thing would go away. .
Who knows, maybe I'm wrong about this "sport". The rest of the globe seems excited, let's give it a go. Maybe, just maybe, I'm on the wrong side of an opinion, which would be a first..
What a week in sports, the greatest trophy in the world (pictured on right), is awarded to the Chicago Blackhawks after a 49-year wait while the non-football playing world competes for the golden paper weight (pictured on left).
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What a week in sports, the greatest trophy in the world (pictured on right), is awarded to the Chicago Blackhawks after a 49-year wait while the non-football playing world competes for the golden paper weight (pictured on left)..
Shouldn't the World Cup trophy be shaped like a foot? Makes sense to me.
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9:55 a.m. - Here come Argentina and Nigeria out of the tunnel! I'm on the edge
of my seat as these two foes take the pitch. Wow....Ali-Frazier, Brady-Manning, Hulk-Hogan vs. Ric Flair...I haven't been this stoked since watching the 1988 "friendly" between the Ivory Coast and Honduras..
10:00 a.m. - Underway in Johannesburg. The pace is slow and methodical. Shocker.
.10:02 a.m. - Nigeria #19 gets a good look and boots one from about 20 yards! Wow, he missed the goal by 20 feet, wide right. He could kick for Florida State.
. 10:06 a.m. - GOOOOOOOAALLLLL..#6 on Argentina......Didn't see it, i decided to mop the kitchen floor. DAMN! 1-nil for the Cali Cartel....or is that Columbia?
.10:14 a.m. - Nigeria #15 is down and injured...I THINK HE'S BEEN SHOT! Oh, the humanity. Aren't there any police in Johannesburg?
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10:18 a.m. - Whew....#15 looks OK, running like the wind. And here I was nervously worried about his family, watching at home. Miraculous recovery? I'm wondering what meds the docs may have given him? Hmmmm.........Roids? Do they test for that in this sport? Amazing recuperative powers by #15..
10:27 a.m. - Have made the bed, total productivity out of me today!
.10:32 a.m. - What is that damn humming noise in Ellis Park Stadium? Sounds like mosquitos to me. Business at the "Off" warehouse in Johannesburg must be booming. That, or there is going to be a serious malaria outbreak.
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Reason #8,491 that I'm glad I'm in America and not there.
.10:45 a.m. - Done with my bathroom break, relieved to find out that neither squad busted out the 2-minute offense in the closing moments of the first half. No Joe Montana, Kenny Stabler, or Tom Brady on the pitch today in South Africa.
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10:56 a.m. - What a first half!
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I swept and mopped the kitchen, 3 bedrooms and the front door area with only vaccuming to go on my self-appointed "to-do" list. This soccer thing is a great source of motivation for me. Maybe the boys in blue and green will ramp it up in half #2 and go no-huddle to open things up a bit.
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Given that there are 29 days of this riveting tourney until the finals, I'm thinking I'll have time to build an addition on the house if I keep watching.
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11:25 a.m. - Just woke from my nap, felt like two hours but was really 29 minutes. Anyone know how to remove drool stains from couch pillows? I'll hear about that one.
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11;32 a.m. - They keep yelling the name "Messy", can't be talking about my house. Nope, not today.
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11:33 a.m. - In the 75th minute, wondering when Nigeria will pull the goalkeeper for an extra attacker. Only 15 minutes left, not including injury time, whatever the hell that is.
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11:34 a.m. - Oh! Yellow card on Nigeria - no idea what that means. Question, as i think aloud...if they pull out a green card during soccer games on U.S. soil, does that cause panic?..
At least in Arizona.
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11:52 a.m. - Final in Johannesburg: Argentina 1, Nigeria nil.
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Can't say I didn't give it a shot 'cuz I did. I came into this thing not liking the sport and that hasn't changed. Perhaps if the rest of the world would hear of a game called "football", this world cup thing would go away. It is different that basketball, where you can tune in for the last two minutes of a game to see how it ends. In soccer, it is a slow, painstaking, brutally boring exhibition that lasts roughly 120 minutes.
.Meaning, this is two hours of my life that I'll never get back. After all, I'm never wrong.
