Nov
5
a winning weekend
Filed under sports, soccer, U of M, Detroit at 9:51 pm | 3 Comments
It was a good weekend for this casual football fan. Not only did both the Wolverines and the Lions achieve victories, but I was able to watch them do so from the comfort of my own home (i.e., they were actually televised in my area).
First, Michigan came from behind to beat Michigan State. After an embarrassing start to the season, the Wolverines have now won 8 in a row (including 6 in the Big Ten), getting them ranked in the top 20 once again. I don’t want to take too much credit, but they haven’t lost a game since my last post on the subject. Coincidence?
Second, the Lions looked like an actual NFL team when they walked all over Denver 44 - 7. I was surprised CBS was showing the game here, but who am I to ask questions? With about 5 minutes to go in the third period, CBS interrupted the announcers mid-sentence and cut over to a tied Minnesota vs. San Diego game … and never switched back. Obviously, the Lions beating up on Denver isn’t quite the same as switching away from a game with actual consequences. Even so, the Lions are more than capable of blowing a comfortable 3rd quarter lead, and the Minnesota/San Diego game ended up not being close at all (35 - 17). Nonetheless, I was happy to see part of a game wherein the Lions looked impressive.
And lest you think I watched football all weekend, we painted our entry way, front hallway, and one kitchen wall this weekend.
Lastly, since we’re talking about “football,” I need to say congrats to the soccer teams at both my high school and college almae matres (is that really the plural of ‘alma mater’?). The East Kentwood High School boys soccer team won the Div. 1 boys state soccer title last week, marking the first time a school from the west side of the state has won. I’d like to think I helped lay the foundation for the soccer program, but who am I kidding. And on the college side, the Calvin College Knights wrapped up the MIAA and are heading to the NCAA tournament once again.
Jun
25
changing seasons
Filed under sports, soccer, tv at 9:31 pm | 5 Comments
Another season of TV shows has passed without too much fanfare, while the NHL and the NBA have crowned their champions for another year.
While my favorite teams had good seasons by most measures, they once again disappointed all of us spoiled Detroit fans that have come to expect nothing but winning it all. (Then again, isn’t that the point of professional sports?)
The soccer season is now in full swing. Unfortunately, most televised games are on ESPN2, a station we don’t currently get. As such, the games I usually end up being able to watch are on Univision. (My lack of Spanish knowledge is only one of the things that makes watching that station amusing.) Sunday’s USA vs. Mexico match for the CONCACAF Gold Cup was such a game. At the conclusion of USA’s come-from-behind victory, a Univision reporter did a brief interview with Landon Donovan, the captain of the US team. To my amazement, the entire interview was done in Spanish, and from what I could tell, he didn’t miss a beat, responding in fluent Spanish. Impressive. Then again, he did grow up in MexiCalifornia. I have no doubt knowing Spanish comes in handy in many of their international games …
As for TV, both 24 and Lost wrapped up with barely memorable finales, though the seasons were certainly enjoyable. We were sad to say good-bye to King of Queens. While it lasted longer than most sitcoms, it never tried to take itself too seriously. Thanks for the laughs, Doug and Carrie.
With the summer lull having begun, we’ve once again renewed our Netflix membership. This is the third summer where we’ve used the membership to fill the gap. Hopefully the year-round Netflixers don’t view us seasonal members as lesser folk. I don’t think we’re alone in using the subscription only during the summer. While we enjoy catching up on some movies here and there, we seem to use the membership mostly for watching TV shows. It so nice being able to burn through a season without the time off between episodes or commercials (not that we watch those with current shows anymore, either). Previous summers have been used to start watching Alias and 24. We’ll see what this summer brings.
Mar
20
for love of the game
Filed under soccer at 8:00 pm | 4 Comments
Our game doesn’t start until 10:00pm tonight. That’s late. We have three games this session with that starting time. Why do I put my body through playing this late … and pay money to do it? Surely it’s the love of the game, right?!
Back in the day the only option for playing indoor soccer in Grand Rapids was at the Woodland Tennis courts on 28th Street. (I think a Spanish league still plays there. If you watch the local Comcast TV station, you’ll see a game on occasion.) Since the tennis courts were primarily used for tennis, and there were a lot of soccer teams that needed a place to play, they scheduled games back to back until all the games were scheduled. That meant we played some games at midnight on Friday nights (and had to get up early to do the paper route on Saturday morning). Keep in mind this was before I was old enough to drive. Yep, my parents had to take me to the games. Surely Micah won’t ever want to do something crazy like that … Talk about raising the parental bar too high. Thanks a lot, Mom and Dad.