While I have been absent from this for quite a while I have not been absent from the sporting events. Since I have written last I have been to one women's cross country race, one women's soccer match, two ice hockey games, one football game, and one field hockey game.
While I have more to say about he second half of those (the ones I attended this weekend.) I will only talk about the first two tonight.
Last Friday, I ditched work early and drove to Dexter for the EMU fall classic. Michigan only participated in the Women's race. I know what most people say, "How can you just watch running?" I guess the only real way to do it is to admire how hard they are pushing themselves. I suppose, also you can try to understand their aptitudes and their drive by their form. That is about all you get. Since running is more of a mental sport than anything else, it's really hard to appreciate it from the outside, especially when you only see flashes of people. I'm glad the races are short because I would have gotten majorly bored. I didn't necessarily cheer for anyone as I did not know anybody's name. Actually, I have mixed feelings about directly cheering for a person when they are in the middle of doing something. I think it goes back to my own neurotic time in cross country. I half hated it mainly because I hate pushing myself. Anyway, sometimes I was not in a good mood on race day, and encouragement had a negative impart on me. Even when I was doing well, encouragement didn't mean much to me. I'm like, "Don't tell me I'm doing well, or I can keep it up. I know how I am doing." It was very annoying. For me cheering is all about uplifting the person's mood and getting them focused. What I needed during the event was just a wall of positive noise. I needed to know that people were behind me. I didn't need to think that people were weighing things on me specifically, but that they supported my team. After the event is when I needed the individual encouragement, to help me recover mentally, and/or enjoy the fruits of it all.
I take that into what kind of a fan I am. At races, I just want to clap for people. They are pushing themselves as hard as they can, and that is all they can think about. They need some energy behind them to keep them going. It is after the events that I dish out the "good jobs." then they start to think and reflect. It is then that you go to remind them that the effort was worth it.
In case you were wondering. It was an non-scoring race, but if it had been, a handful of random girls would have gotten the individual prizes. Michigan State would have been first. Michigan would have been second followed by EMU. Poor Concordia would have been dead last.
I will have one more cross country match of the year when I head to the NCAA regionals in Toledo on the 12th of November.
.
I put these beliefs into effect for the women's soccer match-up against Penn State. I only caught the second half because it was Sunday and I was listening to a sermon. On to the match. Once again, our student section was a disappointment. Maybe, they sat over by the parents.
To be honest, Penn State was the more entertaining team. Why were they so good? Maybe it was because their bench did co-ordinates cheers. Maybe because when they shouted stuff at each other on the field they actually enunciate things. To be honest, I don't know the secret of their success, but they were good. They had amazing ball control and played it in the air when most people would let it drop. They were also fast and had a great ability to collapse on a player. It means that the only way we were going to move the ball, was to pass, let them collapse and free up someone, then pass again. It kind of worked, but we never really got anything going. It was a tough end to a tough season, especially when being shutout by Ohio State two days prior. We have a very young team, so I believe that we will get better, but in order to get better they have to want to keep playing. It was obviously their spirits were quite low at the end of the game. As they did their final jog across the field I did all I could do as a fan. I stood next to the two other students, and the two parents who made it a point to get down the field-level, and I cheered for them anyway. Sometimes you need to be reminded that people care about an appreciated you regardless of the outcome. I think it was one of those times.
The highlight of the game was being nearly taken out by number 8, Tori McCombs. She sped for a ball heading out of bounds and managed to deflect it off a PSU player, before running into the stands. While it was less that she came very close to hitting me as it was that I was just the nearest person to her as her momentum carried her up into the bleachers. (Like I said, we had a disappointing turnout). She was fine and stayed on her feet.
My next update will be tomorrow.
It will include the following items
Old school and slightly formal Yost,
Football bounceback, or so we hope,
And the field hockey final against one of my favorite schools
Next week we start with some new sports,
Rowing, and Men's and Women's swimming and diving.
We will also continue with More ice hockey.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Closer to something
I was fully intending to spend this time berating the Michigan coaching staff for not taking enough risks during the game. There was no way we were going to win that game by being more physical. We just had to be trickier. I feel like I saw too many attempts to run it up the center and not enough short routes and long runs. In retrospect, we did a good job, just not good enough. I will leave it at that. Lets see how the rest of the season plays out. 11 and 1 sounds good to me. Although, Devon Gardener needs to learn not to panic.
On Sunday, I slept until about noon, which meant that I was a little late to the field hockey game. When I showed up, Penn State appeared to have the advantage and we were on the defensive. This totally changed in the second half. We looked like the team that I love watching. Why to I love this team? They are just masters at ball control. The passes are precise to say the least. They can dribble through the defenders. Also, they are experts at stripping the ball from opponents. Also, these ladies are attackers. Penn State could barely get anything going int he second half because we turned everything into an attack. The technical quality of the team and the tenacity is great. There are only a few games left int he season. I strongly recommend you come out.
Now about the atmosphere. I was surprised that so many people were in the stands on Sunday, especially considering that there was a soccer game going on at the same time. It was the biggest crowd I have seen at the game, although it was still mostly made of odds and ends.
Let us discuss the information table. The trivia question was "How many shutouts have the Wolverines posted this year?" that kind of an easy one when the information table has the programs with the records. More importantly, they were doing a silent auction for a pink autographed field hockey stick for their, "Stick it to cancer," day. I wanted that stick (it woudl be a trophy for the events of this year) and I have no problem writing a couple hundred dollars to charity. So, I placed a bid at the end of the game a waited. As expected a girl who had been bugging her mother about the stick came up and bid on it too. They outbid me by ten dollars. I smirked and gave them some grief about it. I could have completely crushed them. I paused for a moment trying to decided to up the bidding, or just go nuclear. It was at that point the girl was mouthing the words "oh, please." I really did not want to deny a young girl what is going to be one of her most prized possessions. I told her "Take it," and walked off. I know it seems like nothing to write home about, but being even slightly nice is completely out of character for me. I just hope I am not loosing my edge.
To make matters worse, when I returned home that evening, my housemate was waiting on the Indy car race. The crash had already happened and we did not yet know the fate of Dan Wheldon. I am not motorsports fan at all, and I have seen Dan Wheldon on TV maybe once before, but there was something about it that really got to me. It's completely out of character, once again, but after the 5 lap salute, my eyes were starting to well up.
Anyway, I find it odd that I would cry over someone I saw on TV once or twice. The truth of the matter is that if there is a name, a family, and a story for someone's death then you would have to be inhuman not to feel something. That is what happened to me.
On a side note, I am sick of people criticizing the masses. The critics get mad because we come out en-mass to mourn the death of one person, yet no-one morns when people die en-mass. I cannot blame people for mourning when they know the person's story. They would have to deny their very selves to not morn. On the other hand, if they sought out to morn every person who ever dies, they would never be able to function. I am talking about an emotional breakdown more than a logistical impossibility. Life is a balancing act we have to feel but we cannot let the feelings overwhelm us. If that means we appear to be hypocrites, then so be it.
On Sunday, I slept until about noon, which meant that I was a little late to the field hockey game. When I showed up, Penn State appeared to have the advantage and we were on the defensive. This totally changed in the second half. We looked like the team that I love watching. Why to I love this team? They are just masters at ball control. The passes are precise to say the least. They can dribble through the defenders. Also, they are experts at stripping the ball from opponents. Also, these ladies are attackers. Penn State could barely get anything going int he second half because we turned everything into an attack. The technical quality of the team and the tenacity is great. There are only a few games left int he season. I strongly recommend you come out.
Now about the atmosphere. I was surprised that so many people were in the stands on Sunday, especially considering that there was a soccer game going on at the same time. It was the biggest crowd I have seen at the game, although it was still mostly made of odds and ends.
Let us discuss the information table. The trivia question was "How many shutouts have the Wolverines posted this year?" that kind of an easy one when the information table has the programs with the records. More importantly, they were doing a silent auction for a pink autographed field hockey stick for their, "Stick it to cancer," day. I wanted that stick (it woudl be a trophy for the events of this year) and I have no problem writing a couple hundred dollars to charity. So, I placed a bid at the end of the game a waited. As expected a girl who had been bugging her mother about the stick came up and bid on it too. They outbid me by ten dollars. I smirked and gave them some grief about it. I could have completely crushed them. I paused for a moment trying to decided to up the bidding, or just go nuclear. It was at that point the girl was mouthing the words "oh, please." I really did not want to deny a young girl what is going to be one of her most prized possessions. I told her "Take it," and walked off. I know it seems like nothing to write home about, but being even slightly nice is completely out of character for me. I just hope I am not loosing my edge.
To make matters worse, when I returned home that evening, my housemate was waiting on the Indy car race. The crash had already happened and we did not yet know the fate of Dan Wheldon. I am not motorsports fan at all, and I have seen Dan Wheldon on TV maybe once before, but there was something about it that really got to me. It's completely out of character, once again, but after the 5 lap salute, my eyes were starting to well up.
Anyway, I find it odd that I would cry over someone I saw on TV once or twice. The truth of the matter is that if there is a name, a family, and a story for someone's death then you would have to be inhuman not to feel something. That is what happened to me.
On a side note, I am sick of people criticizing the masses. The critics get mad because we come out en-mass to mourn the death of one person, yet no-one morns when people die en-mass. I cannot blame people for mourning when they know the person's story. They would have to deny their very selves to not morn. On the other hand, if they sought out to morn every person who ever dies, they would never be able to function. I am talking about an emotional breakdown more than a logistical impossibility. Life is a balancing act we have to feel but we cannot let the feelings overwhelm us. If that means we appear to be hypocrites, then so be it.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Nerves
The great Don Richards may have said something along these lines, "You must prepare like they are going to crush you, but you need to go in there like nothing can touch you."
I have no clue what the Michigan football team has been going through this week, but let me explain why I have been more nervous about this upcoming game than I have about any other game in my life.
Upon hearing the northwestern score I knew we were not invincible. We've been saying that we were overrated for weeks, now but now that is being put to the test. We know we can't go in there and expect an easy win. Over the weekend I thought about several factors. The first is that Michigan State is a very good team this year. The second is that they have had two weeks to prepare exclusively for us. The third, as we all know is that for the past couple of years, we have been on hot streaks until the State game, and then our seasons went downhill. So by the time I got to a computer on Monday, I was thoroughly nervous and wandering how we were preparing. What I got on Monday was reflection of how we could win against Northwestern. I don't need to hear about Northwestern. On Tuesday and Wednesday, I wanted to hear about how our practices were going, still more reflection. This did not inspire confidence in me. We are going to be facing our toughest challenge to date (only because they have more time to prepare than Notre Dame) How are we preparing? Thursday, I hear nothing.
Needless to say I am a ball of nerves. I remember going to the office thinking two things, 1) I was not sure if I was going to get any sleep tonight, and 2) I would need a drink before the end of the day, but that is a different story. Anyway, my attitude changed when I read the dueling columns int h Michigan Daily today. Michigan talks about how State is our rival, but no one really cares. State said that Michigan is arrogant and needs to acknowledge them as an equal.
That got me thinking. Do I consider State a rival? Yes. This game carries a lot of bragging rights, but as the second most loud-mouthed person in my department pointed out (I am number one, in case you were wondering) we are more concerned with winning championships than rivalry games (Except for OSU which will get its own post.) We need to win. We don't beg others to tell us we are as good as them. We simply let our actions show that we are the best. Yes we are arrogant, but that arrogance rests on tangible proof. So no, we are not going to be Voldimort to State's Harry Potter. We will not obsess about defeating them after elevating them to our level. We are simply contenders and we need wins. So now I have the attitude that we will get one tomorrow.
A little analysis:
That being said, they are frightening team this year. I sure hope that we are not preparing for a grind out game. What very well may happen is that State's offense will pull out all of the stops early and they will take a commanding lead (possibly with trick plays). Then they can rely on a trenches game to hold us complacent.
If we are going to win this one, we need to just hammer them with everything we got. If we can turn this into an offensive shootout, I think we can win it, especially, if we can get in there and rattle Curt Cousins a bit.
If we succeed, great, we get some bragging rights and we remain contenders. If we lose, we take the lessons, and push forward. An 11 and 1 season will still get everyone's attention, and put us up front in the championship race next year. Besides, who says we still woudln't win the division?
Also, this weekend, I will be attending the Field Hockey game on Sunday. We are facing off against number 6 Penn State. more to come.
I have no clue what the Michigan football team has been going through this week, but let me explain why I have been more nervous about this upcoming game than I have about any other game in my life.
Upon hearing the northwestern score I knew we were not invincible. We've been saying that we were overrated for weeks, now but now that is being put to the test. We know we can't go in there and expect an easy win. Over the weekend I thought about several factors. The first is that Michigan State is a very good team this year. The second is that they have had two weeks to prepare exclusively for us. The third, as we all know is that for the past couple of years, we have been on hot streaks until the State game, and then our seasons went downhill. So by the time I got to a computer on Monday, I was thoroughly nervous and wandering how we were preparing. What I got on Monday was reflection of how we could win against Northwestern. I don't need to hear about Northwestern. On Tuesday and Wednesday, I wanted to hear about how our practices were going, still more reflection. This did not inspire confidence in me. We are going to be facing our toughest challenge to date (only because they have more time to prepare than Notre Dame) How are we preparing? Thursday, I hear nothing.
Needless to say I am a ball of nerves. I remember going to the office thinking two things, 1) I was not sure if I was going to get any sleep tonight, and 2) I would need a drink before the end of the day, but that is a different story. Anyway, my attitude changed when I read the dueling columns int h Michigan Daily today. Michigan talks about how State is our rival, but no one really cares. State said that Michigan is arrogant and needs to acknowledge them as an equal.
That got me thinking. Do I consider State a rival? Yes. This game carries a lot of bragging rights, but as the second most loud-mouthed person in my department pointed out (I am number one, in case you were wondering) we are more concerned with winning championships than rivalry games (Except for OSU which will get its own post.) We need to win. We don't beg others to tell us we are as good as them. We simply let our actions show that we are the best. Yes we are arrogant, but that arrogance rests on tangible proof. So no, we are not going to be Voldimort to State's Harry Potter. We will not obsess about defeating them after elevating them to our level. We are simply contenders and we need wins. So now I have the attitude that we will get one tomorrow.
A little analysis:
That being said, they are frightening team this year. I sure hope that we are not preparing for a grind out game. What very well may happen is that State's offense will pull out all of the stops early and they will take a commanding lead (possibly with trick plays). Then they can rely on a trenches game to hold us complacent.
If we are going to win this one, we need to just hammer them with everything we got. If we can turn this into an offensive shootout, I think we can win it, especially, if we can get in there and rattle Curt Cousins a bit.
If we succeed, great, we get some bragging rights and we remain contenders. If we lose, we take the lessons, and push forward. An 11 and 1 season will still get everyone's attention, and put us up front in the championship race next year. Besides, who says we still woudln't win the division?
Also, this weekend, I will be attending the Field Hockey game on Sunday. We are facing off against number 6 Penn State. more to come.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
It's been far too long.
My apologies for not updating in over a week. I have only been to one sporting even in the past week. I missed the two hockey games this weekend, due to a school/work related trip to stanford, and I decided to forgo any Stanford sporting events in favor of a trip to Tahoe. I am not a good fan. I didn't even try to watch the football game. I had Dennis "The Hair" Sidharta check the score when we were driving back. For some reason, the ESPN article mixed up the scores, and upon hearing the misinformation that we had lost, I was worried that I was going to loose motor control. This would have been particularly bad because I was motoring at the time.
On the plus side, Tahoe was beautiful, and we turned out to have won.
To make you hate me even more I will not be attending the hockey game this weekend because I am going to a concert in Coldwater. That's right I am going to see "The Blanks" aka, Ted's band from "Scrubs" instead of going to a Hockey game. I know it sounds like I am not a serious hockey fan, but it's just bad timing this past week. I will attend the rest of the home games, and at least one away game.
The one hockey game I did attend last week was against Niagara. I am glad we got our act together a little better than against UOIT. Fewer attempts at being fancy, and more strait good hockey. Altogether a good performance. A 5-0 victory is always fun. We also go ushered into the student section. Apparently, students don't think that a Tuesday is a good day for a hockey game, and they chanted that. I was glad to be in the student section. While I would not say that we were the rowdiest, or the rudest, we were well coordinated and creative. I love a good mob-improve. I can only hope to get a between the students and the glass in the future.
So, my next event, hmm. I might go back to NIU for their homecoming this weekend. They play Western Michigan. For some reason, they crew team is not heading up to the Travers area this weekend.
My next Michigan event, provided that I actually skip town this weekend, would be in a little over a week with one( possibly two) women's soccer games, a cross country meet, and maybe swimming. If I stay I would head to the field hockey game. Then again, I could head to the "Head of the Charles" in Boston. That would qualify me as hard-core status.
Anyway, I will give you fair warning for my next event.
On the plus side, Tahoe was beautiful, and we turned out to have won.
To make you hate me even more I will not be attending the hockey game this weekend because I am going to a concert in Coldwater. That's right I am going to see "The Blanks" aka, Ted's band from "Scrubs" instead of going to a Hockey game. I know it sounds like I am not a serious hockey fan, but it's just bad timing this past week. I will attend the rest of the home games, and at least one away game.
The one hockey game I did attend last week was against Niagara. I am glad we got our act together a little better than against UOIT. Fewer attempts at being fancy, and more strait good hockey. Altogether a good performance. A 5-0 victory is always fun. We also go ushered into the student section. Apparently, students don't think that a Tuesday is a good day for a hockey game, and they chanted that. I was glad to be in the student section. While I would not say that we were the rowdiest, or the rudest, we were well coordinated and creative. I love a good mob-improve. I can only hope to get a between the students and the glass in the future.
So, my next event, hmm. I might go back to NIU for their homecoming this weekend. They play Western Michigan. For some reason, they crew team is not heading up to the Travers area this weekend.
My next Michigan event, provided that I actually skip town this weekend, would be in a little over a week with one( possibly two) women's soccer games, a cross country meet, and maybe swimming. If I stay I would head to the field hockey game. Then again, I could head to the "Head of the Charles" in Boston. That would qualify me as hard-core status.
Anyway, I will give you fair warning for my next event.
Monday, October 3, 2011
What in the world
I regret to inform you that I was unable to attend neither the volleyball game on Friday night nor the field hockey game on Saturday morning. Even more, I regret to inform you that William Francis Michels, father of my good friend from NIU William Tenner Michels, passed away this week, and I returned to Illinois on Friday to attend the wake. I would have preferred to see William again under better circumstances, such as him coming out to the Michigan Minnesota game, since he is one of the most adamant Minnesota fans I know.
So, I was out of town, but the only thing that keeps me from a football game is another football game, and possibly an important even like a wedding. (In case you were wondering, the football game was not the reason I did not stay for the funeral.)
So, of course I was up at 3:30 AM on Saturday, to drive back for the game. I set my alarm for 4:00 AM. The drive was very pleasant, and the entire time I was being passed my my fellow maize and blue faithful. While I returned home in time to catch the second half of the field hockey game. I opted to eat breakfast and rest a bit before the game.
We all know that Minnesota was not going to be the toughest opponent, but we also know that upsets happen in conference play. Going into the game, I was a little nervous. After a few minutes of play, I was shocked. I turned to "The Mad Latvian Slammer" and said, "We secretly replaced Michigan's Coach with Les Miles. Let's see if anyone notices." Seriously, several people made the comment that Al Borges had ripped up his play book for this game. They also introduced me to something I have dubbed, "The diamondback formation." Anyway, this game was a major confidence booster for every aspect of the game. Our offense was clicking on all of the plays, which I am sure will completely mess with all remaining opponents, seeing as we can turn the same setup into a traditional play or some crazy scheme. Our defense was all but perfect. It doesn't mater who you play; a shutout means you are good. I know what you are going to say about us kicking the ball out of bounds and the return coverage, still it was promising. Also, as all true Michigan fans know, the test is in the field goals and three for three is passing with flying colors. To be honest, I have been hoping for a victory like that all year, but I hope every game is not like this. It would get boring. Although we would be ranked #1.
What we were expecting to be another crushing that turned out to not be the case was The ice hockey opener. Let me start by saying our seats are in one of the worst locations in Yost, but that is no reason to complain since there are no bad seats in Yost. It's just not big enough. For those of you who do not know about the hockey system, it varies by country. In America, it pretty much like basketball or football, except that, they can continue playing in school after they are drafted. They are then moved to either a major or minor league pro team. In Canada, they go to Canadian Junior League where they get a very small stipend, but if they stay for four years and do not make it pro then they get a college degree paid for. Honestly, I like that system. It give the good athletes complete concentration on their sport, and it means the ones who are going to go to school, can completely focus on their studies without distraction. What this means to the game is that when the University of Ontario Institute of Technology comes to play Michigan, it should put up about as much resistance as a club team, and judging by the number of penalties they got and how we robbed them of the puck it kind of was. What they did have was a Guy (that's his name) in the net who was on fire. He was nuts. Also, we need to learn the simple rule that fancy setups are nice, but when they don't connect they don't offer second chances like hammering it to the net does. We really need to learn that. So, in a shocking upset, we lost. The thing I liked about the event was that the atmosphere of Yost brought me back to an older time. Also, the fact that this game matter's not and that we don't have to have a perfect record means that we can always look ahead to the next one. It's that classic sports spectator's mentality, that I think has been lost in this era when men do not wear hats.
Finally, there was lacrosse. On a beautiful Sunday afternoon, I took a trip to a nearly empty Michigan Stadium to watch an exhibition lacrosse match. Without any scale reference the stadium felt smaller, but it echoed like a cavern. I briefly thought about moving in there. At least, I would like to spend more beautiful afternoons there without the crowds. I would end up running up and down the bleachers, and through every section entrance. I love exploring stadium. I ran into my friends Brian and Sarah Samuel at the match who thought it would be an awesome thing to watch. Lacrosse is a fun physical game. It's tougher than field hockey, but tamer than ice hockey.
Still it was pretty crazy to see how well they passed and moved. We completely dominated. We got one penalty as opposed to a number where I lost count. We also won 16 to 3, which I guess I very one sided for lacrosse. I know we are supposed to be D1 and they are D3, but we are little more than a club team at this point. I guess the lesson of the weekend is that a good club team can beat a varsity squad. I had my friends take a picture of me in front of the final score, which I have forwarded to my father.
OK, I might go to the hockey game tomorrow night, then I am out of town until Sunday night. To hold you through the weekend, I will give you a picture of a giant inflatable hamster ball race I saw at the women's soccer game last week. I think part of the challenge is not using up all of the oxygen in the ball.
So, I was out of town, but the only thing that keeps me from a football game is another football game, and possibly an important even like a wedding. (In case you were wondering, the football game was not the reason I did not stay for the funeral.)
So, of course I was up at 3:30 AM on Saturday, to drive back for the game. I set my alarm for 4:00 AM. The drive was very pleasant, and the entire time I was being passed my my fellow maize and blue faithful. While I returned home in time to catch the second half of the field hockey game. I opted to eat breakfast and rest a bit before the game.
We all know that Minnesota was not going to be the toughest opponent, but we also know that upsets happen in conference play. Going into the game, I was a little nervous. After a few minutes of play, I was shocked. I turned to "The Mad Latvian Slammer" and said, "We secretly replaced Michigan's Coach with Les Miles. Let's see if anyone notices." Seriously, several people made the comment that Al Borges had ripped up his play book for this game. They also introduced me to something I have dubbed, "The diamondback formation." Anyway, this game was a major confidence booster for every aspect of the game. Our offense was clicking on all of the plays, which I am sure will completely mess with all remaining opponents, seeing as we can turn the same setup into a traditional play or some crazy scheme. Our defense was all but perfect. It doesn't mater who you play; a shutout means you are good. I know what you are going to say about us kicking the ball out of bounds and the return coverage, still it was promising. Also, as all true Michigan fans know, the test is in the field goals and three for three is passing with flying colors. To be honest, I have been hoping for a victory like that all year, but I hope every game is not like this. It would get boring. Although we would be ranked #1.
What we were expecting to be another crushing that turned out to not be the case was The ice hockey opener. Let me start by saying our seats are in one of the worst locations in Yost, but that is no reason to complain since there are no bad seats in Yost. It's just not big enough. For those of you who do not know about the hockey system, it varies by country. In America, it pretty much like basketball or football, except that, they can continue playing in school after they are drafted. They are then moved to either a major or minor league pro team. In Canada, they go to Canadian Junior League where they get a very small stipend, but if they stay for four years and do not make it pro then they get a college degree paid for. Honestly, I like that system. It give the good athletes complete concentration on their sport, and it means the ones who are going to go to school, can completely focus on their studies without distraction. What this means to the game is that when the University of Ontario Institute of Technology comes to play Michigan, it should put up about as much resistance as a club team, and judging by the number of penalties they got and how we robbed them of the puck it kind of was. What they did have was a Guy (that's his name) in the net who was on fire. He was nuts. Also, we need to learn the simple rule that fancy setups are nice, but when they don't connect they don't offer second chances like hammering it to the net does. We really need to learn that. So, in a shocking upset, we lost. The thing I liked about the event was that the atmosphere of Yost brought me back to an older time. Also, the fact that this game matter's not and that we don't have to have a perfect record means that we can always look ahead to the next one. It's that classic sports spectator's mentality, that I think has been lost in this era when men do not wear hats.
Finally, there was lacrosse. On a beautiful Sunday afternoon, I took a trip to a nearly empty Michigan Stadium to watch an exhibition lacrosse match. Without any scale reference the stadium felt smaller, but it echoed like a cavern. I briefly thought about moving in there. At least, I would like to spend more beautiful afternoons there without the crowds. I would end up running up and down the bleachers, and through every section entrance. I love exploring stadium. I ran into my friends Brian and Sarah Samuel at the match who thought it would be an awesome thing to watch. Lacrosse is a fun physical game. It's tougher than field hockey, but tamer than ice hockey.
OK, I might go to the hockey game tomorrow night, then I am out of town until Sunday night. To hold you through the weekend, I will give you a picture of a giant inflatable hamster ball race I saw at the women's soccer game last week. I think part of the challenge is not using up all of the oxygen in the ball.
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