I had another rough day at work yesterday. I had to visit all the beaches in Chatham. What a drag.



And now we're heading on vacaction for 2 weeks. Hooray!  0 comments

soccersoccersoccer
it was a good weekend for folks like me*. The English Premier League kicked off on Saturday, so seeing the To Do List stacked with EPL games was just joyful. I got to watch 1 whole game, one half game and pieces of a 3rd match on Saturday and those games included 5 Americans on the field.

And then Saturday night, Reen, Andrew and I made the treck to Gillette to see the Revs v. LA game. It was funny to sit in traffic just getting up Route 1 to the stadium and then having to walk a fair distance to get into the stadium. Goldenballs didn't play, but the Revs won and it was nice to see 30k there to watch soccer.

Then Reen offered that we could stop at Taco Bell** on the way back and she would drive us home from there so I could enjoy my Nacho Supreme and Mountain Dew. I told you she was awesome.

And then last night I watched the MLS game that was on Fox Soccer Channel while we were out at the Revs game.

Like I said, life is good for folks like me. I could understand if you're feeling a bit let down about how your life isn't quite as awesome as mine right now, but check this out: If you have Comcast cable, you can tune in to a free preview of Fox Soccer Channel from Friday, August 17 to Sunday, August 26! All those EPL and MLS games can be yours for 10 days. Enjoy!



*soccer fans who have an awesome wife as well as Fox Soccer Channel and TiVo.

**I love Taco Bell but there are none very close to us. So when we're out and about I try to stop in to get my fix.  1 comments

done and dusted
we submitted the first draft of the work I've been slaving away at for the past few months. About 200 pages all told, plus appendicies. I had been working some long hours trying to get my parts wrapped up so I'm very glad that it's finished (for now). Thanks to Reen for her encouragement and patience, you rock!

Soccer news:
1) Revs are in first place in the East and have been looking good.
2) Beckham is here but still injured. LA v. New England is in 10 days...will he be coming to Gillette?
3) Freddy Adu has left MLS to play for Benfica in Portugal. From what I can tell, this is an excellent move for him. The style of soccer they play fits him very well and the club has a history of developing young players. Despite the 'failure' label which has been unfairly placed on Freddy, he's still only 18 years old.
4) Manchester United just signed a 9 year old kid. Here are some highlights of his play



Reasons this video is awesome:
i) about 30 seconds in (3:30 or so) he sends his buddy through on a breakaway and then sprints (at least the 9 year old's version of it) to support the play. As luck would have it, his teammate is tripped and the young lad is there to take the ball home himself. Most everyone else, pros included, would have made the pass and then stood back to watch.
ii) when he gets repeatedly fouled, he just keeps getting up and trying to play. No sitting and whining to the refs.
iii) none of the defenders foul him on purpose. They foul him because they lunge and miss. Each time he puts a move on a kid and skates past I keep expecting the defender to drop him with a forearm to the chest or take out his legs from behind. The game is much nicer to watch when the defenders aren't hacking down every guy that gets past them.  0 comments