...and we might not even watch the game!

Football is such an American sport.
American football that is.
Football, or Fußball, is a more popular sport in every other country.
We call it soccer.
Sure, they play American football in other countries, but they do identify it that way - as American football.
I didn't just make up that term.
Now have you ever wondered why American women are such amazing soccer players, but the men can barely get past the quarterfinals of the World Cup?
Consider that, and get back to me.
My husband, being from South America, can tolerate American football, but futbol is his beautiful game.
When I was growing up the TV was always tuned to football (and now I'm talking about American football, just so you're clear).
I enjoyed football then too.
How could you not?
Football is so ingrained in American culture, and it's become more of a social activity than enjoying it for pure sport.
And let's be honest - games take for-ever.
I thought last Sunday's Shoe comic strip really captured the essence of how long a game actually takes:

Look away from the field during a soccer game for even a few seconds and you can miss a lot.
Look away from the football field, and, well, I think we're clear on what you've missed.
(For those keeping score, it's either nothing, or not a heck of a lot.)
Football, then, is about sitting around a room for a long period of time, watching television, and, here's the best part, eating food.
Wait, I didn't even mention the commercials!
I've decided that tonight, however, I am prepared to enter into the festivities, so I will be making the following:

1. Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese
2. Buffalo Chicken Dip
3. Buffalo Chicken Wings

Wait, hold on, I'm sensing a theme here...it's...nope, don't see it.

Let me know if you find something - oh, wait, I see, I forgot to tell you that there are plenty of fresh veg for the dip.

Silly me.

Last year we ordered pizza from a local place, and they were so busy that this year I am not going to do that again. I had to wait about 20 minutes once I was there, and their waiting area is very small, and was filled with a lot of angry people who just wanted their pizza and to get home because the game was on!

For them, apparently, it's not just about food and commercials, they want to watch the game too (and drink beer). This year the pizza place is offering a free tray of nachos and dip with the purchase of pizza, and as enticing as that sounds, I still think I'll skip it.

In my family, well we'll have the food, and we'll have the beer, but will we be watching the game?

It is the Super Bowl after all.

I hate to alienate so many of my loyal followers (I count at least ten) who are total football fans, but it's not likely.

Hubby is all about futbol 24/7, and even as I write this (which is 6:55 AM on a Sunday morning), he is watching Lazio vs. Genoa on Fox Soccer Channel.

Oh we'll know who won (hopefully the Giants), but I can't even tell you right now if it will be on in our house.

But we'll be eating.

You can count on that.

Cutie Patootie

Here's SN2 in his college soccer picture:



What a cutie.

I Sit in the Stands and People Look at me Like I'm Crazy

So I'm sitting at a soccer game this evening and this lady working as security keeps looking at me like I'm crazy.
Seriously, don't you knit at sporting events?
Even in inclement weather?
I do.
What's a little rain to some socks?
They're going to be washed anyway.
Perhaps that is not what people are staring at, perhaps they are looking at me knitting.
I've gotten to the point where I have not only knitting ADD, but I can't sit still and not be working on something.
So we went to SN2's soccer game this evening, and naturally I brought along my knitting since I have a sock to work on.
And yes it was raining, but I managed to get several inches done on the leg.
His team won 2-1 in a game that was very dirty, and I don't mean because of the mud.
A lot of tackling from behind, and one of the players punched a guy from our team.
Did the ref see any of this?
Rarely.
He must have been too busy looking at the crazy lady sitting in the stands knitting in the rain.

The Cost of Children's Sports

Well DN2 is (almost) officially on the swim team here.
She's 8, so it's not the high school swim team but the local rec league.
They have them tryout twice to see if they will be able to keep up (it's not a learn to swim program, as they like to say, and it can get pretty boring swimming laps for an hour and a half three nights a week).
You'd think it would be pretty inexpensive; after all, what do you need but a suit, some goggles and a cap on your head.
Unfortunately her practice suits cost upwards of $45 each.
And besides the practice suits she'll need 2 team suits which will equal $100.
Plus swim caps with the team name on it and then probably more goggles.
We as a country complain about childhood obesity but then the cost of playing sports -- for both the equipment and the team cost -- is so high!
I spoke with a guy at work and his two children play tri-county hockey - cost for him for both children is $1200 for the season. And that's just for them to play, not for the skates, their stick, and other equipment.
SN2 plays on a travel soccer team - we paid $200 to the league and then we pay another $200 to the team. Plus the $120 pair of boots - for outdoor - then you have the shoes for indoor too.
It's a wonder there's obesity in our country - we sure push the wrong sorts of food via the television and then we charge enormous amounts for sports clothing and sports teams!
And the other problem is this rule about cutting kids from teams.
You want to encourage kids to get fit -- keep anyone who tries out.
I'm a slow learner. Through the years I've come to realize this. What some kids were doing athletically it took me to high school to figure out how to do. Cartwheels? Couldn't master that until middle school (although if necessary I can still do one today - but it's probably not a pretty sight).
But we cut kids off teams before they even have a chance to learn and now that our school district has decreased the days in PE to one day a week - when will kids ever be exposed to sports?
Not only that but we build more suburbs without parks and play areas -- if they can't even put crosswalks down what makes you think they'll put in a place for kids to run around and play games? We are a nation intent on driving ourselves from store to store.
Which was one of the primary reasons I moved to my town: we walk or ride bikes to where we need to go and we can because we have sidewalks.
Our kids are fat because we Americans don't walk anymore -- unless it's a town intentionally being built with sidewalks no new communities allow their residents to walk (again, no sidewalks and no crosswalks).
This originally started as a diatribe against the cost of sports for children and slowly segued into a rant against town planners.
So let's segue into the women's defeat against Brazil yesterday in soccer in the Women's World Cup semifinals.
Did anyone see that game?
Aside from the extremely poor officiating the American women were very sluggish. Before I watched the game (and not all of it because we had swim tryouts) I knew the score and was anxious to put the blame on the coach and Brianna Scurry. But after watching for 20 minutes or so it wasn't the replacement of Hope Solo by Scurry that caused the loss: the Brazilian women's team was tremendous!
And Cristiane from Brazil, although looking like someone who would chomp you up, played better than many men I've seen. I shouldn't make that comparison - it seems rather sexist - but she was amazing! Shannon Boxx's red card in the first half was a horrific call, or as they said in the half-time show, "The worst call we've ever seen in our lives," it still didn't make that much of a difference because the U.S. women were not playing well anyway.
Alright, enough about sports.
But if you have any horror stories about the rising costs of sports for kids feel free to share them.
I'm off to get ready for work.
TGIF!
Tomorrow we'll see if we can get Hannah Montana tickets - wish us luck!

How to Help Them Win

Recipe for a successful team dinner:

5 pounds of spaghetti
10 jars of sauce
3 pounds of ziti
2 pounds of mozzarella
6 pounds of ground beef
fresh basil
8 garlic cloves
2 loaves of Italian bread
apples
candy
2 pans of brownies (donated by another mother)
2 cases bottled water

Make spaghetti ahead of time and keep warm in new turkey roaster (won at raffle, not purchased - yea me!). Bake ziti with some sauce and LOTS of mozzarella. Serve all with extra meat sauce, stand back and watch them eat.
Let's hope they win today after all the carbs I gave them yesterday.

Final score of tonight's game - Our team 2, the Other team 0.
Must be all the love and care we put into the dinner that brought about the win. I'm sure it wasn't their mad soccer skills alone that did it, right?

Big News on the Football Front

I'm sure many have heard this story.
What I would like to know is what happened to the salary cap for MLS?
I'm anxious to see how this will pan out -- will more Americans suddenly begin watching and playing soccer?
I have to tell you, where I'm from (which is where I am now) soccer was always a popular sport.
And this cracks me up.

"David is truly the only individual that can build the 'bridge' between soccer in America and the rest of the world."

Pele built a bridge.
Don't get me wrong, Beckham is a brilliant player, but he's no Pele.
Especially if he turns to Tom Cruise for advice.
Yikes.