Words and Sports

If you’ve been around here a few times, you know that I am a sports fan, often a passionate one when it comes to my teams.  Sometimes I step back from myself (not an easy feat) and am a little embarrassed about just how a victory can make my day … or a defeat can ruin it.  I am, some report, an intelligent man and they are, after all, only games.  My favorite sports are basketball and football, a domain in which I have definite favorites (USC Trojans. Lakers. UConn Huskies), but when the playoffs roll around, I’ve been known to imbibe a bit of hockey or baseball.  I am also a soccer fan and for the last two weeks I have been overdosing on World Cup soccer.  The games have, for the most part, been excellent (except for that Germany-Brazil debacle) and I can tell you, after watching the Brasilian soccer fans, I am no longer embarrassed, even slightly, by my own fandom.

Soccer

When I was 30 years old (shortly after the extinction of the dinosaurs), I knew nothing about soccer.   Oh, I probably knew vaguely how it was played and I’m sure I’d noticed kid’s teams playing on the school fields on weekends, kicking and squealing in their colorful uniforms.  I probably knew of the World Cup but I can assure you, I had never watched a soccer game, on TV or in person.  When I was 35, we decided to enroll our son, Aaron, in the local youth soccer league.  I think that happened because his friend’s Mom was going to coach a team and wanted to know if Aaron would play.  She also asked if I would help her coach.  She actually played soccer, so I said, Yes, figuring I could learn as I go.   There wasn’t much to learn that year … Instructional League wasn’t known as beehive ball for nothing.  If you could teach one or two kids the idea of passing instead of ball-chasing, you’d had a good year.   Aaron took to the game like a natural, not so much because of superior coaching but because he emulated Steve, another player on his team who had older brothers and was very good.  Aaron was hooked.  So was his Dad.  Him on playing, me on coaching … and later, the game itself.