i converted my passions from american football to soccer in 2002 when i started dating tom. it was a summer of transformation; years of nebraska football were wiped away by endless hours of the world cup with the blake family, then going out to arrowhead to watch the kc wizards do their thing. even my husker-father has accepted this new life of soccer. the football legacy will probably not be continued in this family. my brother quickly converted to futball when he moved to europe so many years ago; my sister's husband was a soccer player in high school; and let's face it, none of our children will have the size for the nfl. but the mls, that's another story.
so we're at the wizards game saturday night, hoping for a big victory against chivas usa, the worst team not only in their conference, but in the league. to my total devastation, davy arnaud is not starting. the over-paid, under-producing josh wolf, however, takes his place on the pitch as always. we look terrible the first half (wolf showing none of his so-called "skill") and only score one goal because our defender jimmy conrad (assisted by the fantastic and very stylish sasha victorine) steps up to show the forwards "that you can score-it's OK." our head-up-his-bum coach bob gansler finally takes out wolf and replaces him with the beloved davy arnaud in the 69th minute, and what does the boy do? he takes a great ball, fakes to his right then hits it with his left for a perfect far post goal. but like a gentleman, he celebrates in style, and lets the goal tell gansler who's worth starting.
we ended up winning 3-0, with victorine again stepping up, not with his red shoes but with his head and taking a goal for himself. i definitely have my favorites - the ones that perform like major league soccer players always filter themselves to the top. when you make the maximum salary and can't put a ball on frame (ehhum, josh wolf) you need more practice. not more playing time. it sounds like i'm bitter and a little part of me is. they're my new team. anyway, get out there and see for yourself. but if davy arnaud isn't playing, go home.
