5.15.2007

i heart soccer.

i've always been a fan of soccer. it started back in my youth. i grew up with these boys and they all played soccer. and they were good, and maybe they still are good. i only ever saw derek play, though. he was really good. who knows, maybe he still is.

i also played on a youth soccer league team. although my own personal soccer career came to a screeching halt due to an ankle fracture, my appreciation and love for the sport continued to grow.

then in high school, we were friends with all the boys who played soccer. so we went to the games. we would take our blankets and our sunflower seeds and we cheered our team all the way to the state game. we didn't win. but we had fun. good high school memories.

so, yeah. i like soccer...a lot.

so when the salt lake real came to town, i was there...with these guys. and i have been to quite a few games since. not all of them with these guys, but most. we always have a good time.

this was the first game i went to this year. it was a double header. kansas city wizards and the fiji national team. we weren't going to go because it was raining/snowing. we didn't want to sit in the rain/snow. but we decided to go anyway.

i should have known it was going to be a weird night...especially when he gave me this look. this is derek. he's a bit crazy, but i have to admit, i dig the kid.

and then there was this look. now, beyond the look are the blue, blue skies. they are very deceiving. it wasn't warm, by any means. did i mention that i wore flip flops to this game? i love flip flops, but just not this much. anyway, deceiving blue skies.

this is leonardo the lion. i like to call him leo. i don't really care for mascots. i only took note of this because that kid is awkwardly big for leo to be carrying across the field. creepy. a little. maybe a lot. i don't really care for mascots because they can be creepy like this.

this is the fiji national team. i am sure that they were not excited to be in utah. seeing as how it was snowing in april. did i mention that i wore flip flops? it was quite cold. very, very cold. btw, they are hot. and way more built than their american opponents. i know. i have a thing for polys. let's not talk about it. but i do.

this is our own real salt lake (mostly the second string--most of the first string played against the kansas wizards). i like them. what more can i say? not much. oh, except i love that the little kids escort the players onto the field and that they hold hands and everything. it's really sweet. and i like that there is this national anthem production before every game. okay, that's all i have to say about that.

this is blake. he is the middle child. derek's the youngest and, obviously, matt is the oldest. blake is funny. mostly in a strange way. okay, jk. i like blake. i like them all, actually. this is when it started to get really cold. did i mention that i wore flip flops? i did. my brown ones. they broke today. i love flip flops. even when they break. i will go get more tomorrow. the best part about this picture is derek's creepy eye. i have a picture with blake's creepy eye, but it wasn't from this game, so i didn't include it. another time.

this is matt. matt has had that patch of facial hair for as long as i can remember. my dad has tried to get him to shave it off for years. and there it still is. matt is important. that is why he wears the bluetooth device. no, he wasn't wearing earmuffs. just his phone. he was on that for a good portion of the game. sometimes i thought he was talking to us. he wasn't. he is important. i like matt. one time, we were listening to general conference and they were talking about following examples and learning from other's mistakes...then matt made the brilliant observation that there were people who could just follow the example and then there were people who had to be the example of what not to do. he claimed that we were those people and thus, we were off the hook. we had a duty to fulfill. matt's pretty cool.

i think it must be genetic. like a genetic disorder. i mean, three out of three pictures with this "look." and then the creepy eye. that is the only explanation.

ahh...jeff. dirty jeff. look how trashed dirty jeff was. he was. trashed. but not trashy. dirty jeff is classy. wait, that is an oxymoron. love jeff. good memories of jeff. did i mention that i wore flip flops? jeff brought blankets. i love jeff. even though they were dirty blankets. i wore flip flops and it was cold and he brought blankets.

that there is peter p. in the green. m. peebley is to the right of peter p. unidentified individuals to the left and the right of peter p. and m. peebley. i love the boys from brigham. how can you not? you can't. not love them, that is.

just how cold was it, you ask? it snowed. that's how cold. and they had to get the orange ball out. in april. what? i know. crazy. did i mention that i wore flip flops? i bet the fiji team was not happy about playing in utah. not only was it cold, but they lost. poor fiji. they were hot.
more snow. more orange ball. i heart soccer.

oh, so pretty. except for the fact that it was april and i was wearing flip flops.

and the funniest part of the night...matt was trying to stay dry and, in turn, warm...but the hood was on his butt. and his head was through the arm hole. oh, i love matt.

so, yeah. good times. flip flops and all. and we went to crown burger after. it made up for the cold feet. okay, not really. but i sure do enjoy a crown burger every now and again.

4 comments:

  1. To bad Jane wasn't there cause she is the craziest of all.
    D

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  2. i thought i totally commented before. stupid wishy washy connection. i think that you wrote in short, staccato sentences this time. oddly entertaining, though. aaaaand derek. what can i even say?

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  3. are you having blogger's block like i am? i keep checking, but to no avail. :)

    ReplyDelete