Today’s been something…and it all happened BEFORE the show!
9:50am: Taking the morning off, I’m thinking about mowing the lawn, but instead I get sucked in to the watching the US-Algeria World Cup match on ESPN…when I lived overseas, I was really into soccer, but I’ve fallen away from following it closely the past few years. Still, there’s nothing quite like an elimination game, and when your country’s fate is on the line…well, you watch. What made this match compelling was the fact that England was playing Slovenia at the same time, one channel away (ESPN2).
11:45am: After 90 minutes of a scoreless tie, and the fact that England was winning 1-0, I’m thinking two things: 1) I just wasted nearly two hours watching a scoreless tie…and…2) our boys were about 4 minutes away from being eliminated.
11:46am: Landon Donovan scores. The stadium roars. An ocean away, America roars and rumbles with approval.
11:50am: It’s over. US wins, 1-0. The Americans and Brits both make it to the round of 16…and I must admit, it was compelling, emotional sport at its best.
(while all this is going on and beyond): Two guys at Wimbeldon are making history with the longest tie-breaker ever in Grand Slam tennis. American John Isner and Frenchman Nicholas Mahut are STILL going…suspended twice by darkness, tied 59-59 (that’s games, not points) in the fifth set, completely incredible. Over 10 hours of tennis between these two, now going into it’s third day. They pick it up tomorrow. Wow.
12:15pm: I go outside to mow the lawn…note to self…there’s a reason you usually mow in the evening. It’s hot.
12:45pm: I run out of gas (the mower, that is)…off to the gas station…sorry if you saw me there. I’m soaked in my own sweat.
1:41pm: The ground rumbles for just a bit, the reverb not from South Africa, but from an earthquake in Canada. It was felt across Ohio. I missed it, recovering from my mowing session in the shower.
1:42pm: My friends Mike and Leah become first-time parents with the arrival of their baby girl. Congratulations!
…and who said summer was boring?
-Joe
Driving Notes 
June 28, 2010 at 5:28 pm
Haha! you’re killing me joe! So, finally you admit that you have gone away from “The beautiful game” and become just one more american dude who thinks that watching a soccer game is boring if the score is not 8-7. Unbelieveable. I never thought you’d join that group. You of all people! with the diverse, MK background. Im speechless. At least Im glad you got to experience why “soccer” (football, according to the OTHER 6 billion people in the world), is exciting, even with a low scoreline… It only takes a second! and EVERYTHING can change. Soccer is an amazing sport, did you hear how much those guys run per game? its incredible! The technique required to kick a ball, curve it just right and make it land on your teammate’s head 40 yards away, AS HE HAS BEEN IN MOTION the whole time you ran, controlled the ball, thought of the pass and actually executed it… well, thats tough. Sports dont get much tougher than that. I mean, other sports are difficult, I give them that. Baseball, football, golf.. they all have varying degrees of difficulty, but usually, tons of timeouts, dead time, thiking time… in Soccer, it all happends in an instant. You blinked-You missed it. Soccer… it’s just Beautiful. Passionate. Extraodinary. Someday the US will figure it out… the rest of the world already did! (Actually Im quite impressed by how much following the World Cup has had on ESPN.Com) VAMOS ARGENTINA!!!!!
June 30, 2010 at 7:51 pm
Jay- relax, mi amigo…I have not and will not join that group. I’m not a soccer hater…and I didn’t think the match was boring at all. In ANY sport, when you invest the time to watch and your team is losing or about to get eliminated, you’re going to be disappointed. Like OSU-Florida in 2007…now THAT was a waste of time! BTW- if Argentina wins the cup, does Maradona become the first player and coach to win it all??