Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Our Narnia

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Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Legions of Air Buds


Now, I have two dogs. The one is sweet, kind, cuddly, and a little on the chubby side (but for those of you who have chubby dogs out there, you know its an endearing quality). He is a really great dog, but my family has accepted early on that he will not be the next Air Bud.

For those of you who missed the essential childhood experience of watching Air Bud, it’s about an athletic golden retriever who goes out for the soccer team, football team, baseball team… you get the point (they made a LOT of sequels, being quite the blockbuster hit. I’m still confused why it didn’t win an Oscar).

My other dog, though not a golden retriever and definitely not as well trained, might as well be Air Bud’s long lost twin (or maybe adoptive cousin, I’m not sure which). My dog Maggie seems to find energy when no one else in the house has any, bringing us tennis balls that we honestly couldn’t care less about, though we pretend to as to not break her little heart. Maggie likes tennis balls, footballs, golf balls, you name it; She’s called it her friend and chewed it up all in the same hour. When I’m in my backyard practicing my soccer skills (which should happen more often than it does), Maggie feels like she has to be apart of the “good time” I’m having. She takes the ball with her teeth and runs with it until she realizes I’m not chasing her.

I’m sure to some of you out there this story sounds vaguely familiar. There’s something almost creepy about how dogs can literally never take their eyes off the ball (I’m sure it’s magic, but since I haven’t gotten my owl yet I can only guess it is). But what’s the point? Other than getting frustrated and having a no-longer-usable, chewed-up soccer ball, football, golf ball, etc. And no, I’m not suggesting that you try and bring your dog to practice (although I have to admit, when our coach said we needed more players I immediately thought of my dog). The point is that those of you who have your own personal Air Bud residing in your house, feel free to use them. Try dribbling around them, making passes while they’re pressuring you, even trying to out run them to the ball. It’ll be good practice, and you’ll make your own Air Bud very happy. For those of you with cats or Chihuahuas… sorry, you’re out of luck.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Pre-Game Praying

Before I go on with this entry, I just want to make it clear that I am not trying to convert anyone. If I were, this blog would surely be called Goo in the Convent or Crusader Goo. But seeing as that it is not called either of those names, I assure you I’m doing nothing of the sort. Because this blog is called The Silent I in Team (for those of you who didn’t know, though I hope you would. It’s written right above this, you see), this blog is obviously, blatantly, self-centeredly, fabulously about me.

So, before soccer games (and sprints that really scare me), I quickly cross myself and pray. Nothing too needy, for I wouldn’t want to take an important prayer from someone who really needed it (although I’m not sure that’s how God works. Of course, I wouldn’t know). I usually pray for courage or strength (but don’t think I’m too profound, because I also sing Eminem’s very explicit rap songs while running my ladders and pyramids).

This normally helps calm my nerves, because most of the time, talking helps me with the pre-game/ pre-sprint jitters. Yes, I could probably talk to my teammates instead. And after the game or sprints, I generally do. But beforehand, I tend to talk more than I should. When I’m nervous, I ask a lot of questions at a very fast pace, and often annoy whoever I’m talking to rather quickly. (By the way, this also applies to my track season, as well as my soccer season.) But if I say a prayer, I tend to a) talk less, because I’m not getting an immediate response and b) don’t annoy who I’m talking to (because I don’t think even the most annoying of people could annoy God. Or else, it’d be really hard to, anyways).

For me, praying is what gets me focused and prepares me for what I’m about to do. Whether it be praying or stretching or jumping or singing Eminem songs, you should do whatever calms your nerves.

Friday, August 12, 2011

School is starting in a week or so for many of you, and with the K Mart commercials there to constantly remind you, how can anyone forget. In roughly a week, we will have to go back to long days of class and longer nights of practice and homework (or rather, practice then dinner then shower then facebook then stumbleupon.com then more facebook and then maybe, just maybe, some homework). And it doesn't seem like there's much to look forward to now that late August is here. (The Green Day song, Wake Me Up When September Ends has always confused me. Why do they want it to be October? And wouldn't you rather wake up when May ends, when school let's out? But this is besides the point.)

The point is that although the end of August looks bleak, there are a few things that you as a high school athlete have to look forward to. For example, pre-season is almost over! You survived! All those sprints you ran and crunches you crunched and push ups you pushed are starting to have a purpose. Which brings me to my next point... you'll finally start playing games! You're starting to remember why you were practicing in the first place. Why you were conditioning. Why you were interrupting you're lazy days by the pool to go soak in the heat from the nice turf fields (which is another issue entirely). I love packing my uniform in my bag before heading off to school, pumping myself up throughout the day, counting down to 3:15 (even though it makes that slow, boring, last class of the day go by that much slower). We practice to play games. And we play games because we like playing them. And so even if homework has gotten you down (my summer reading not quite done...), the idea of classes and quizes and tests and grades and G.P.A.s and SATs has you feeling a little sad, remember that at least your season is finally here, it's finally game day and you're ready to play.

And for those of you who play winter or spring sports... you'll survive. You always do.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

The Battle Between Turf and Grass

The on-going battle between turf and grass has been heating up as more and more turf fields are being built. Now, not only professional athletes get to feel the extra cushion from the little black ‘turflets’, but both colleges and high schools are also installing the plastic green grass in between their bleachers. Both turf and grass have their strengths and weaknesses. Turf doesn’t need to be cut, supplies athletes with a soft, even surface to play on, and doesn’t get plucked away by cleats (unlike grass, that seems to ‘disappear’ in the commonly-used areas of the field). Both hurt when you fall, although turf doesn’t normally stain your jersey. And both flood.

However, you can’t get around the fact that Turf isn’t real. I used to joke around with my friends about how our grandchildren will one day call grass synthetic turf instead of calling turf synthetic grass. But now, I’m starting to think that this might actually happen. The radical-thinking, kind-of-sort-of-really-crazy side of me is screaming, FIRST SYNTHETIC GRASS, THEN SYNTHETIC PETS, THEN SYNTHETIC PEOPLE! THE WORLD IS GOING TO BE TAKEN OVER BY ROBOTS! (Of course, I would never say this in public, only on the Internet…) But then, I quickly calm myself down and stop screaming inside my head.

Turf is now not only being used for athletics, but also for everyday landscaping. Someday, I predict there’ll be more ‘turflets’ than there is dirt, and more green plastic shreds than there are blades of grass. However, because I blog about high school sports, I’ll resist from pretending to know anything about modern landscaping.

From my perspective as a soccer player, each surface gives you a completely different game. Grass is less predictable regarding how the ball is going to bounce off of the ground, and Turf makes for a faster paced game (because of how the ball rolls faster). Most players have mixed feelings regarding the battle; neither side is generally favored. Between the turf and the grass, it generally comes down to hand-to-hand combat, angry squabbles on the playground and heated arguments at the dinner table. Which is better, turf or grass? Friendships have been ruined and families have been divided. Which side are you on?

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

The Fish Trick

I don’t know if any of you have ever been fed candy by your coaches at halftime, but if you have, you’ll know about the fish trick. The fish trick is when your coach gives you Swedish Fish in the middle of a game, hoping to spark your energy by giving you a sugar rush. Being me, I would be the last person to argue. Candy in between halves? I’m all in! But, I’ve found it hard to believe that a little red, gummy fish can make much of a difference in the second half of my soccer games. So curiosity may have killed the cat, but it left me perfectly fine. I searched for my answer on the Internet (the all-knowing, all-powerful. Mac stores? Giant shrines to today’s new best friend, the Internet. Of course, this is beside the point. And since I am no technology expert, I won’t pretend to know any more about it).

Now, typing ‘the fish trick’ into the search bar on Google didn’t do much. I guess not many people call it that (especially because I just made up that nickname for the purposes of this blog. It was a short title, you know? More appealing than Why Do Some Coaches Feed Their Athletes Candy in the Middle of their Games? Plus, that was much too long. Let me know if you can think of anything better).

From my reliable source, Yahoo! Answers, I discovered that the sugar in candy does give you a quick energy boost in the middle of a game. But it also depends on how much candy you eat. Does one little red gummy do the trick? And a sugar rush, as told by Yahoo! Answers, will roughly last from a half hour to an hour, depending on how much you eat. Now I’m assuming that one little red fishy will have you on the shorter end of that range, but even if I didn’t assume that, would you want to take the risk? Crashing from a sugar rush makes you instantly exhausted and sluggish.

Soccer games are split into two 45-minute halves. If you’re lucky, the crash wouldn’t hit you until after the game. But there’s a fair chance that it could zip away all of your energy and leave you melting away in the middle of the field sometime during the second half. (Well, I don’t think it’s that dramatic. But you will suddenly feel tired.)

For those of you who have never heard of the fish trick before, because your coaches haven’t fallen for it’s pseudo magical powers like some of mine have, than you’re in luck. No risk! But for those of you who are ever offered the little red fishy, feel free to decline. For those of you who took my advice (yay!), but are still looking for energy and want to avoid the forsaken ‘crash’, what do you do? Is there no hope? Well, don’t fear, because there is. Gatorade replenishes your electrolytes without giving you that crash that can be detrimental to the last few minutes of your game, the minutes that really count. And they’ve even created this new Gatorade Series that has five million different parts, a goop, a drink, and a shake. So how could they not know what they’re talking about? They do, I assure you they do. Why do you think so many athletes endorse their product? (Well, obviously because they get paid millions of dollars if they simply say they drink the stuff. But still, they must think it works if they’re willing to endorse it, right?) So the moral of the story is… say NO to the little red fishy, but drink the multicolored, electrolyte-packed Gatorade ocean that he swims in.