My current work project, in a nice coincidence, brought me back to the homeland. Tonight we made it out to PNC Park, where the Pirates made me feel more at home by losing. (They even gave up an inside-the-park homerun. Nice.)
Gotta give it up though for the best stadium in baseball:
I love watching the world’s best players every four years, and seeing these guys in action makes me curious about their pro careers, but I know it’ll be 2014 before I follow soccer again. In talking to my World-Cup-loving friends, who should be prime candidates to follow MLS or the Premiership, I’ve learned I’m very typical in this regard. I have the NFL and the NHL, and I’m cool with that.
Rather than the tiresome debate between the misguided American pro-soccer optimists and the xenophobic “Real Americans hate soccer, and get off my lawn” grumps, let’s just enjoy the World Cup Olympics-style: as a fun, international treat that comes along just often enough to be special.
And the requisite highlight vid:
With this Sunday’s World Cup final fast approaching, I realized I have to pick a favorite team among two countries about which I care not at all. I’ve never been to Spain or the Netherlands, I don’t have any acquaintances from Spain or the Netherlands, and I don’t even care that much for paella or whatever it is they eat in the Netherlands that isn’t Heineken. (Actually I’m pretty curious on that one, so feel free to fill me in.)
But in my quadrennial soccer-fan career, I have really enjoyed this 2010 World Cup, so I feel I should go ahead and find a side to support. My man Tony argues for the benefits of historical symbolism in World Cup matches, so I’m taking a page from that.
Because Ireland deserved to be in this Cup and was unfairly cheated out of it, and because I’m of Irish descent, I’m going to base my decision on Irish history and go with Spain. Spain and Ireland had the Catholic thing in common, they had the Spanish Armada thing and the subsequent Black Irish myth, and today they’re both known as PIIGS. Meanwhile, the Netherlands was the home of William of Orange, the infamous usurper of James II and winner of the still-a-sore-spot-in-Ireland Battle of the Boyne. (Coincidentally, that battle ended on July 12, and the game is July 11.) Maybe Spain and William were on the same side in that fight, but I’m not about to let facts get in the way of this nerdy argument. The Dutch dudes even wear orange uniforms — this one is a no-brainer.
So ¡Vamos España! — let’s all eat tapas and fight some bulls this Sunday. I look forward to my last day as a soccer fan until 2014.
UPDATE 6/11: Obviously this was the year to be a Blackhawks fan. I will say I was happy, but I wish it had been the Pens — last year was total euphoria. I’m on my way to the parade, though — gotta see that Cup when you get a chance.
I got into a debate on Facebook a few weeks back on whether it’s OK to have a second-favorite team in any given sport. This is particularly relevant for me these days.
While the Penguins are hockey team No. 1 for me, I’ve had a bizarre second-favorite thing going for the Chicago Blackhawks since I was ten. Though I had nothing to do with Chicago until college, this random second-place fandom was due to an older kid I knew liking them and the fact that, unlike Pittsburgh, Chicago was a playable team in Blades of Steel. (At least an 8-bit, gray-and-red team called “Chicago” was playable.)
(I realize I sound like a Cubs pink-hat using some forgotten trip to a great-aunt in Skokie at age 4 to justify getting hammered at Wrigley, but I’m for real in not being bandwagon. Ask G, considering I used to drag her to games in the Bill-Wirtz-era 2000s, when the Blackhawks truly sucked.)
With the Pens eliminated two rounds ago, I’ve been hoping for a Chicago Stanley Cup. I say having a second-favorite team in sports is OK, so long as you follow these rules:
So there you have it. In conclusion, I would like to say Go ‘Hawks (with no exclamation point, per Rule No. 3) and Ravens suck. Thank you.
Much as this season was a huge disappointment for us in Steeler Nation, I’m happy to see the Saints win this one. Though I got married in Indy, I figure I spent a greater number of hours in New Orleans when my bro was there for school, so I’ll claim them more than the Colts.
Also, I won $10 betting against my friend on the outcome. That’s five pitchers at Scorekeepers!
I declared it over prematurely a few weeks ago, but in the end I was right anyway. This post-Super Bowl = no playoffs pattern is a pretty bizarre one, but this is officially the third time the Steelers have pulled it off. (See also 2006 and 1980.)
The team felt out of Pittsburgh-style balance a lot this year – poor running performance in many games, and even stranger, poor defense. (Aaron Smith’s and Troy Polamalu’s injuries clearly played into that, but can’t explain all of the defense’s frequent fourth-quarter collapses.)
I’ll wait to see how things look in the off-season, but they have a lot of aging players these days, and that makes me nervous for 2010. Regardless, Pittsburgh sports don’t get much better than 2009, and now’s the time of year to become a full-time hockey fan again.
While slight, there’s still a shot for the playoffs. It’s pretty pathetic that the Super Bowl champs are one of those “Denver has to lose, then New York has to lose, and maybe Houston or Baltimore … and THEN we might get in” teams, yet that’s where we are. A dude can hope.
I’m obviously pulling for the Steelers next weekend, but shoutout to Miami’s two (!) Woodland Hills H.S. grads in the lineup — Jason Taylor and Lou Polite.
I’m not a soccer hater, but seeing this yesterday brought back the best American satirical take on soccer:
Love that Bariaga!
Big ups to my favorite NFL player from back in the day, Rod Woodson, who was inducted yesterday into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. (Which is, as Tom Landry used to inexplicably say in the commercials, in “Canton, Ho-i-oh”.)
When I was 10 or so, I used to mail off baseball/football/hockey cards and player photos now and then in hopes that one would come back with an autograph. I have to wonder if kids still do this, but I hope so, because it’s a lot more successful than standing outside the players’ entryway in a giant cluster and waiting for someone to walk by. I sent a team photo of the 1989 Steelers to Rod, and lucky me, a few weeks later it showed back up at my house signed “Rod Woodson #26″. It was tacked to my wall for many years, so in my mind, Rod Woodson has always been a chill dude. That was true even though the nachos at Woodson’s All-Star Grille were nothing to write home about — I’d say he was more cut out for interceptions than the restaurateur life.