June 2010 Archives
Cheerwine filled Krispy Kremes. But you'll have to come for a visit if you're not in NC.
Another 4 years of waiting for the US to make a strong showing in the WC. We looked like we didn't have much left in the tank during the overtime. I guess emotional, all-out comebacks eventually take their toll on a team. It didn't help that we had to sub for Clark in the first half. We could have used that pair of fresh legs in the end. Note to Bradley: 11 in the box for the first 20 minutes. So who do we pull for now? I'm a free agent fan taking bids.
We have friends in Kyrgyzstan. The violence there has finally reached their city and their landlord's 7-year-old grandchild was shot and killed while standing on the balcony of her house. News reports are calling it ethnic violence, and it is surely divided down ethnic lines, but according to our friends, the conflict is really fueled by the drug trade and corruption. Please keep these people in your prayers so that peace can return to that beautiful country.
Here are two links in case you are interested: photos and news.
The World Cup began today with a surprising tie between South Africa and Mexico. South Africa scored first and almost held out, but a botched offsides trap handed an equalizer to Mexico.
In other news, I found some great (and sad) pictures of the continuing devastation in the gulf. Click "continue reading" to see the rest.
Of course ET and I were in Wales during the 1998 World Cup (when the much-hyped English bowed out against a solid team from Argentina, think), and during that time, the unofficial world cup pub theme in the UK was "Vindaloo" by Fat Les (here's the link to the video). I was thinking today about how the US needs a good pub song for the games this year, and low and behold, I found out there is one that is gaining traction. It's called "Over There" and it is derived from a WWI-era war song. I'm embedding a video to help you learn it for this weekend. Obviously, just as in soccer, England has a leg up on us in pub songs, but this is a good first effort. If you find yourself wondering what you would do with such a song, it can generally be sung arm-in-arm with friends at a bar whenever the US scores or makes a good play. Enjoy.
The World Cup starts Friday and I'm excited about it. As usual, the US will bring a competitive team to the tournament, though we will be fortunate to make it out of the second round of the knock-out stage. We have some key injuries, and our defense looks sketchy, but unlike years past, this team looks like it is capable of scoring a few goals. If Tim Howard comes up big (because he'll probably get plenty of tests), we could pull off a couple surprises.
If you are uninitiated, here is my own World Cup primer: the playing surface is a field (not a pitch), a team is a singluar noun, a win is a result--but so is a loss, and players show speed and quickness (not pace).
You will hear foreign announcers and commentators make these mistakes repeatedly, even in American telecasts, but please remember where you are from, and take pride in your culture. We can play exciting, competitive SOCCER without sacrificing the distinctive quirks of the sport's heritage in our country, thank you.
Now here are some links for your reference: the complete schedule and a fillable bracket (courtesy of Evan).
**Update: the bracket is broken, but I'll fix it tonight.**
Beach week is about half-way over and we've had pretty good luck so far, although tarballs about the size of large pancakes started washing up yesterday. We're going to try to collect some and bring it back in a jar if possible. We saw a couple BP guys on patrol, and there is some kind of large-scale operation maybe 500 yards off the coast right in front of our beach house. Anywho, we've suspended swimming, probably for the rest of the week, but we got a couple good days in before the oil arrived and here are the pictures so far. We'll have another update about the conditions on the beach later tonight. Click "continue reading" for the rest of the pics.
