The one thing I regret is that we didn't take a picture. I remember the scene from the picnic table where we laced up our cleats, my brothers and I: across the green grass field in Fontana, California, were the San Bernandino Mountains, looming. It was an amazing backdrop and would have made a great picture. Chris and I talked about how it had been ( Read more... )

With the Red Sox (and the rest of MLB) in Spring Training (our diaper lady was just bemoaning John Lester's recent four-run outing), I watched the American remake of Fever Pitch last night. In the original movie (starring Colin Firth), the main character is obsessed with Arsenal, the football club in London -- as in Nick Hornsby's novel, from which ( Read more... )

At a friends' house in Easthampton, I watched Asamoah Gyan power through the US defense to stick a dagger in our hearts. Overtime, after the US had equalized, 1-1, again coming back in the second half, but Ghana prevailed. I was sitting on the couch with damp swim trunks on and my US jersey, vintage 1995. After Algeria, I was ready to believe that ( Read more... )

(My new favorite goalkeeper)
or, A Tale of Two Sams
(Adams, as in the Boston Lager, vs. Smith, as in the Oatmeal Stout)
or, A Point Is a Point Is a Point...

Yesterday, I went to my friend Hef's house to watch the USA v. England on his TV. I wore my USA jersey (circa 1994, I think) and came bearing beers from the opposing countries. I thought the ( Read more... )

Tomorrow, the 2010 World Cup begins. For a soccer fan without television, it presents a slight problem. Univision claims that you can watch all 64 games live streamed on their website for free.

Before the last World Cup in 2006, L. and I took the train down to Hartford to watch the U.S. National Team play Latvia at Rentschler Field. I watched the ( Read more... )

1. It's a charming, feel-good movie about soccer.
   
2. It reminded me of growing up in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, and playing soccer and watching the Tigers play at C.S. Harris Field: Tim Tapallion, the O'Briens, the Garys, Thad Berry, the Foleys. The tournament games, the penalty kick thrillers, the state championships.
   
3. I learned that Andrew Shue and Elizabeth ( Read more... )

Yesterday, Poetry Daily featured a Glyn Maxwell poem, "Joey Through Smoke." It's a narrative poem, presumably written about somebody, perhaps an old mate, that Maxwell talked to at a pub. Or, at least, that's what I'm gathering. A simple man telling his life story through one anecdote from his youth ( Read more... )

When Zinedine Zidane drew a red card for head-butting an Italian in the World Cup Final today, L. and I were at the Northampton Brewery with our friends Ross and Emily, who have spent the past year and a half in a small village in South Africa. We were partially watching the game, but mostly talking. The Italians won in penalty kicks and probably ( Read more... )

Diane Ackerman has a wonderful little piece in Conjunctions called "Give and Go." The piece weaves in and out of a Cosmos game with Ackerman watching Franz Beckenbauer from the stands and describing how it is her soccer mania began. Here's a choice cut:Without understanding exactly what I was watching, nonetheless I became enraptured by the ( Read more... )

Today, I learned that Budweiser has a monopoly on beer sales at the stadiums of the World Cup. Only, the Germans don't like Budweiser much (if you click the link, click "gallery"). Which I understand. I'm not a big fan of Budweiser, either. But my brother, pkhentz, lives less than a mile away from the Anheuser-Busch brewery in St. Louis. We're descended ( Read more... )