I have to take my son to Indianapolis for a dumb soccer tournament, leaving tomorrow at noon. Thankfully his games are at 5pm all 3 days. I'm going to have to either watch the USA v NED game in my hotel room or venture out with 5000 other soccer families to some local venue. Either option kind of sucks. If I were a rich man, I'd book one of the hotel meeting rooms, have a breakfast spread provided, and TVs so that his entire team can watch together. Maybe one of the wealthier families will have the same thought... Who schedules a soccer tournament to coincide with the knock out rounds of the world cup?
1 - How is your son doing with soccer? I have meant to ask as a follow-up to the youth soccer thread from a few years ago. 2 - Between 10 am and noon, Markus has team basketball pictures and an indoor soccer game. Relegated to the Fox Sports App. First World Parent Problems, I suppose.
Actually, I've not been watching but, rather, just tracking live coverage on BBC (or other sites), reading some analysis, and watching video highlights of some games. Work gets in the way of watching, for me. That, and my mother is relocating from Oregon to Columbus, and arrives in town tomorrow; a drama I don't need to address in any great detail here. But let's just say it's taken a temporal and emotional toll. Anyway, when I said that I wasn't emotionally into a Qatar WC, I meant it. I'm finding these results really interesting, but that's about it. Prepping for my mother's arrival, I won't see a minute of tomorrow's game. That said, if we somehow survive, I can see carving out time to watch the next match on Friday. The plan was that my mom would arrive in Columbus and move right into the house she bought a month ago. But the movers she went with have proved to be ... less than reliable (they picked up her stuff in late October, and it's still out on the effing west coast). Goodness knows when her things will arrive. In the meantime, she'll be living with us, which always encourages me to get out of the house (and drink) more often than is the norm.
1. He's hanging in there. Enjoys it but doesn't really work at it. As mentioned above, he's on a third tier team of a very good club. He is not a natural athlete and without doing extra work he's stagnating a bit. I don't really think he's got college scholarship level ability. Which is why I'm peeved about this tournament. We had to set up Top Drawer Soccer profile for him and there were lots of instructions about how to send coaches your highlights. He just wants to play, stay active, and have some fun. I'm fine with that. 2. Enjoy the day, hope you can watch a little bit of the game. I know I'll be able to watch, just not how I would want.
I owe you a beer next season. The reality of the competitiveness in youth soccer is starting to settle-in for us late Gen-X/Early Millennials. I merely want Markus to have a chance to play soccer in high school. Club soccer seems to be the best (and maybe nearly only) way to have a chance at that. And club soccer costs a bunch of money. Also, I struggle with committing to club soccer because it is a real commitment. And I think of the things/opportunities lost due to that commitment.
Wow. Gotta be happy for South Korea and their fans. Even though they’ve been our undoing in WC’s past, I feel for Ghana. With the Crew-Ghana connection, they’re usually a nation I pull for.
From my group chat: In 2018 there were only 2 non-European/South American teams in the final 16. There’s 6 this World Cup
This is also the first time that a confederation other than UEFA puts more teams into the round of 16 than CONMEBOL at a men's World Cup. AFC has three. CONMEBOL has two.— Nick Zaccardi (@nzaccardi) December 2, 2022