In Defense of Soccer

I promised to bring you my thoughts on soccer, surfing, and more. I'm beginning to see the beauty in tennis, but I'll save that post should my interest continue to grow. Soccer, on the other hand, I've played competitively since Kindergarten. I kid you not, my first team's name was The Wookies. If you don't know that Chewbacca is a Wookie, or if you don't know who Chewbacca is, please stop reading.

I played through high school and college, but, interestingly, only dabbled in the popular club soccer world which has taken over youth soccer. So, as a soccer fan, I consider myself a rare breed as an American who played the game at the college level, who understands the nuance of the great game, but who certainly, like most Americans, still prefers to watch college basketball, the NFL, The Golf Channel, or heck even a PTI re-run. Except for US Men's National team games. With the World Cup exactly one year away, and with team USA's amazing run in the Gold Cup, and, now, with Oguchi Onyewu's signing with AC Milan. There is more reason than ever before to be excited about USA soccer.

I know what you're thinking and here's why you're wrong. Sure, when I was a five or six year old playing for the Wookies it is true that my friends and I would literally play with our private parts while assigned to "defense" (and while the ball was at the other end of the field). And, I'm sure many of you would still resort to such amusement if forced to watch a soccer game today. But, have you ever played? Have you ever run on a perfect pitch of grass? Have you ever slid in the mud while wearing a uniform and, here's the kicker, not asked an umpire for time but instead simply got to your feet and kept playing...for 90 minutes?

Sure, scoring a goal is an elating feeling. You see this when a hockey player scores and then slides on one knee toward the corner while cranking his fist backward in a piston like fashion. Tell me that's not awesome! Soccer is similar, but the goals are even harder to come by. Hence the celebrations that make a Chad "Ocho Cinco" Johnson touchdown celebration look mild in comparison. But scoring goals is not what soccer is about. It's about attacking as a team of eleven and defending as a team of eleven. It's about endurance with bursts of speed, and it's about the impossible nature of one man beating eleven men (which is what makes this Diego Madadona World Cup goal one of the greatest feats of all time http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWNnK99mcrw ). Americans love basketball and the ball goes through the hoop an awful lot during the course of a game, but is that why we love it? Of course not. We love the athleticism. We love the mismatches of size vs speed, inside vs outside, fastbreak vs half-court. For the same reason we don't love basketball simply because "the ball goes in and points are scored," we should not hate on soccer because "the ball doesn't go in, and points are not scored."

The signing of American defender Oguchi Onyewu by Italian power AC Milan has rekindled my interest in American soccer, its stars, and also international club soccer. As a soccer player, I hated the English style of verticle passing. I much prefered the tactical finesse of the Italian style and for this I am very interested in seeing how well an American perfoms in the Italian Serie A.

Let's hope we can blog our way straight through World Cup 2010 in South Africa. Here's to running on grass without stoppage...if you're unwilling to expose your kids to this joy, you should reconsider.

My Top 10 Courses Played

I play to an 11.3 Hdcp Index but I've never broken 80. I am also a public links golfer, but, as you will see, I have been lucky enough to have been invited to some swanky places. I'd like to think that I'm representative of the masses in that I am limited to public courses (and too broke to play Pebble, Whistling Straights, Bandon Dunes, Pinehurst, etc), but I've always got my ear to the ground for chances to play the great layouts. Here are the finest tracks I've enjoyed:

1. Shinnecock Hills- This place is #3 on the Golf Digest Top 100 for a reason. The scorecard has a quote from Ben Crenshaw who said that Shinnecock is the U.S. Open, The Masters, and The British Open all rolled into one. Need I say more? I'll only add that my caddie was amazing. Thanks to him I only had one or two three putts. I shot 88 from 6200 yds which in the Shinnecock wind is no short-course!
   
2. Bethpage Black- This place is harder than Shinnecock and the USGA's money has made the grass the nicest I've ever seen...anywhere.
   
3. Sleepy Hollow CC- What a treat it was to be invited to this C.B. McDonald masterpiece. The design of this course is world class as are the facilities.
   
4. Huntsville Golf Club, Shavertown, PA- I'm lucky to know a member at this Rees Jones original. Layed-out over 300 acres without a home in site, this place is golf at its finest.
   
5. Tobacco Road- what an awesome place! Hard to define, this Mike Strantz design is a break from any other golf course design mold. Make the journey to Tobacco Road.
   
6. Taconic Golf Club, Williams College, Williamstown, MA - If you live in the Northeast you have got to play this old-school course set in the Berkshire Mountains of Western Massachusetts.
   
7. Seven Oaks, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY - This RTJ layout is big and bold with beautiful greens. The Central New York breeze and the Colgate campus make this experience one of a kind.
   
8. Atlantic City Country Club - This is my favorite golf "discovery." Designed by Willie Flynn of Shinnecock fame, ACCC is steeped in tradition, traditions much older than the AC skyline which is well within view but which does not stop the ocean breeze! Make this trip.
   
9. Montauk Downs- My proud "home course." Home to many, in fact. Other than Bethpage, you won't find a finer State Park golf course in the whole country. Rees Jones is currently making it more visually appealing and harder...which is nice.
   
10. Soldier Hollow-Gold Course, Heber City, Utah - Home to my career-best 81...on my wedding day!

Honorable Mention: Shennecosset (Groton, CT), Thendara (Old Forge, NY), Bretwood (Keene, NH), Okemo Mountain Golf Course (Vermont)

Stadiums

It pissed me off to no-end yesterday watching the Yankee game and not noticing any wildly dramatic differences between the new stadium and the old. The view from the center field camera? I could not have guessed it was a new field. Double down the right field line? The way the RF fielded the ball in the corner, I would have guessed it was the old stadium. The ball hugged the wall in the exact same fashion. The black seats in CF, the facade, the dimensions, it goes on and on...

Meanwhile, CitiField is a circus...a pathetic hybrid of Ebbets Field, Camden Yards, The Jake, Houston's Enron/Minute Maid, Coors, The Ballpark at Arlington, the new Comiskey(or the old Comiskey with the chain link field level fence in the outfield). But the real killer for me is the god damn Slurve of a warning track in Right-Center Field. I hate the brick behind home plate, I hate the Pepsi sign, and I hate the Black fence in left center and its strange height.

I'll have more once I've been to each park, but for now the Yankee legacy lives on and the Mets continue to struggle to find an identity. Seaver and Piazza throwing and catching the opening pitch was comforting, but what else do we have? We don't even have our team colors, Blue and Orange.

Unlike the Tar Heels, I'm not quitting the Mets. But I am desperate for a reason to be excited or a reminder of why I'm a lifelong Met fan. A new house isn't enough. A John Maine no-hitter would be nice (actually I'd prefer Pelphrey but he's hurt), Beltran hitting .370 would be nice, Jose Reyes walking 80 times and stealing 80 bases would be nice, K-Rod saving 60 games would be nice, Delgado hitting the Pepsi sign...give me a reason to Believe!

April Sports Television

I'm struggling now that the Final Four and The Masters have come and gone and with Spring waiting to arrive here in the Northeast. Others bemoan the weeks following the Super Bowl as the dullest stretch in American Sports, but I contend that this period is far worse.

Obviously, baseball is upon us and I did peek at last night's Mets home opener at the new CitiField. The talk radio is already slamming David Wright and Jose Reyes for not hustling to first-base. Has anyone else ever felt their hamstring about to pop because they were playing baseball in April in 50-degrees and went from standing still for 2+ hours to a full-on sprint? Of course guys aren't going to hustle to first every time! And get off your high horses for slamming those who do not. I don't care if they get paid millions...it's your problem for worshiping these baseball drones If you want nine David Ecksteins, then you can have them. Alas, there's no GM that does. Again, this Blog is not meant to bash baseball but it's just too early for me to worry about the Mets bullpen, etc.

So what is there to watch?

• Have you ever had a friend who randomly decided he was going to choose a NASCAR driver or an English Premier League soccer team and suddenly become a fanatic of that driver or club? I do not recommend either, but I do recommend the NHL Playoffs. I'm excited to watch the Rangers and High Definitition TV makes it all the more fun. Heck, I might even try to go to a game at MSG. Stay tuned for more on the NHL...
• The NBA playoffs can be entertaining, but it appears that we're destined for a Lebron vs Kobe Finals. The NBA sure could use the Knicks and the Bulls in the Eastern Conference race, but that appears to be a few years away. Thankfully, the Celtics will challenge the Cavs, but will the Lakers hit any roadblocks? It seems doubtful. Nevetheless, I love TNT's 40 Games in 40 Nights. Plus, you get to hear tons of hysterical commentary from Charles Barkely.
• The Haney Project: The Golf Channel hit a homerun with this series which features Charles Barkley and Hank Haney, Tiger Woods' swing coach. Catch the re-runs to see Sir Charles hacking up the course and improving his golf swing little by little. Not to be missed!

I cannot recap The Masters and do it justice. I'm just sad that it is over and I look forward to one day walking the grounds of Augusta National. I will say that Phil Mickelson has really grown on me. Phil's skill, competitive spirit, gracious demeanor with the media, and his newfound confidence that he's going to win more majors...way to go Phil. Can't wait to have you back to Bethpage!

Quitting the Tar Heels

My own Carolina obsession began in fourth-grade when my teacher, Mr. Brown, ran a March Madness bracket with each student choosing two or three teams out of a hat. I drew JR Reid and the North Carolina Tar Heels. I think it was the 1988 tourney won by Danny Manning and the Kansas Jayhawks. It was not long before an entire wall in my bedroom was painted Carolina Blue, I began dreaming of playing for Dean Smith, and never did I have enough UNC gear. I read all the Carolina books. My favorite part of Michael Jordan's "Come Fly With Me" video were the clips from his Tar Heel days. Beating the Michigan Fab Five was cool, but not as cool as watching Stackhouse, Rasheed, Vince, and Antawn.

In college, I met a guy more nuts about the Tar Heels than I. We swapped stories, drafted our all-time Carolina teams, and we even drove to the Dean Dome together. Before I go on, here are my all-time favorite Heels.
My favorites (1988-present):
PG Ed Cota
SG Dante Calabria and Wayne Ellington
SF Jerry Stackhouse and Vince Carter
PF Rasheed Wallace
C Tyler Hansbrough

Things started to go south for me with Joe Forte and the 2000 Final Four team. The 2005 Champs (Felton, May, McCants) were not loveable. I'm thankful to Roy Williams for compiling and leading this 2009 Championship team, but I think they may be my last.

I'm tired of picking UNC to win it every year. I'm tired of picking them with thousands of others. I'm tired of their merchandise on every street corner. Though I was never a bandwagon fan, I hate being associated.

Congrats to the 2009 UNC Tar Heels; an All-Time great champion. I quit you.

Baseball: Not My Pastime

I once turned an unassisted triple play(first grade tee ball...actually the Dad's tossed underhand) and I played baseball straight through high school. I appreciate the great Ernie Banks quote, "Let's play two;" but, when I'm listening to Mike Francesa on WFAN, or Michael Kay on ESPN radio, I find myself wondering, what exactly is so great about baseball? I will not watch or attend a game, unless specifically invited(like I have been to the Mets vs Sox exhibition at CitiField), until at least July 1. (This could change this year, however, as I am excited by each of the new stadiums in New York). I can't get excited for Opening Day. I'm too pumped about March Madness and The Masters and my own golf game to worry about the Mets and Yankees in the first month of the season. I can't stand the constant talk about "Jetah," "Jaba," "Georgie," "Robbie," "Melky," and I wonder if the rest of you baseball nuts have a life?

Come July 1, I become intrigued by the daily box scores and the general flow to the baseball season. I enjoy watching the starting pitching rotation cycle through in five game increments and I will occasionally watch the Sunday Night Game on ESPN. I can't truly enjoy baseball until every pitch matters. Did you see the slow-motion shot of BJ Upton digging-in his spikes preparing to steal second base in the rainy, soon-to-be-postponed World Series Game 4? And then his slide into second? What about his dropping from 5th to 4th gear rounding third base so as not to slip and fall and then scoring the game-tying run? That is baseball. Nothing in April compares to that.

After the Final Four comes The Masters (and I'll watch the coverage all week on the Golf Channel). While the rest of you morph into baseball/couch potato mode, I will gladly head to the gym in the evenings and stop at the course on the way home for some chipping and putting. I will then watch TNT's playoff basketball 40 games in 40 nights or whatever it is and I'm even planning to recommit myself to watching the hockey playoffs (MSG's HD has me enjoying the Rangers). Through April and May, as June's US Open at Bethpage Black approaches, I will be trying, desperately, to get out on that course once or twice . As the NBA Finals come to a close, I'll be preparing for summer which to me is defined by the beach, not by baseball.

Lastly, has anyone told you that baseball is ruined? That for 15 years it's been one big joke? I'm thirty years old and my best baseball memories officially end somewhere around Kirby Puckett, Kirk Gibson, Joe Carter, Ryne Sandburg, and replays of Carleton Fisk jumping up and down the first base line. Steroids, Bud Selig, and Donald Fey have ruined the game for me. I am an advocate of the asterisk. 1993-2008. If the game is so great, then it can withstand fifteen years of hypocrisy. A-Rod's steroid use, the latest dagger, only underscores the gross pathetic out-of-control nature of the mismanaged and poorly governed "state-of-the-game." I simply cannot watch the game and care about the statistics like I once did. As a boy, like so many of you, I had all of the lifetime numbers memorized. Today, I cannot tell you how many home runs Barry Bonds has hit. I do not care. Same goes for so much of the game.

Most of us do not get to play baseball past eighteen years old. There are times when I miss the metal spikes, the jockstrap, the raspberries on my left ass cheek, the pleasurable soreness of a hard screaming line-drive hitting me square in the palm of my mitt, and, of course, the line-drive up the middle and the casual rounding of first-base like you've done it one thousand times before. But golf is better. Surfing is better. And, in Colorado or Utah, skiing is better. Someone please tell me why watching 162 baseball games is pleasurable?

I will not transition this bog entry into why football has now become the National Pastime. I disagree with this notion. Alas, we've found another topic for another post...

What Game are We Playing? An Introduction

This Blog is officially underway, on its way, and under construction.

Here is where its going. Interests of mine include:

• Sports media: From ESPN's Around the Horn and PTI, to talk radio, to HBO's Real Sports what's good, what's crap, who knows there stuff, and who is full of hot air?
• Golf. The greatest of games.
• I grew up playing soccer, baseball, and basketball. I even played two of these sports in college. Today, I love to surf, ski, and play golf. I also play some squash and practice yoga and I love the outdoors. I believe that not enough people make the transition to these lifelong sports and activities.
  
• Things I read and Watch and listen to: I prefer si.com although I wish I read more of ESPN's The Sports Guy as he is certainly an inspiration, NY Times Sports Section, Espn's PTI and Around the Horn, WFAN Radio, ESPN Radio, and I've read tons of sports books like many by John Feinstein (though I don't care for them any longer), The Best American Sports Writing series, etc. I love Outside Magazine, Golf Digest, and the Cloudeveil and Patagonia catalogs.
• Travel. I won't list the places I've been...yet. But surfing and skiing and golfing are great ways to see the world.
  
• Indeed, I am a hoops junky. I would gladly watch Argentina vs Spain in a quarterfinal at the World Basketball Championships. I watch the NIT, and I am passionate about Division III basketball. The great site d3hoops.com and my frequent posts in the NESCAC room also inspired this Blog.
• A sampler of people who have inspired me are: MLK, Hemingway, Springsteen, Dean Smith, Tiger, Obama, Kelly Slater and a whole host of surfers, Dick Vitale, Hubie Brown, Frank Deford, Jim Nantz, Christopher "Mad Dog" Russo, Brandon Tierney, Steven A. Smith, Jim Rome, Don Imus (I'm a fan of his...perhaps a future post?), the whole WFAN cast, Scott Van Pelt, Herm Edwards--"You play to win the game!," and many coaches and players sure to appear in future blog entries.
  

I hope to Blog using lists like "The Top 10 people I want to write a letter to," and "My Top 10 sports tv personalities and why, etc." Alas, knowing that much of this has been done before, the mainstream sports stuff will be on a macro level (I don't care if the Giants are playing Cover-2 or if they're zone blitzing), but there will be lots of exposure to fringe stuff including Golf and the Golf Courses being played by the pros and by me and you (I love golf course design), Buddy Trips--surf, ski, golf, and much more including plenty of rants.

We'll see how this goes.

"I only know how to play two ways, and that's reckless and abandon."
-Magic Johnson