You're Doing It Wrong

I thought I should at least check in and tell you that I’m over Germany’s loss to Italy in the semis.

I was really burnt and it pretty much ruined my 4th of July. But we went for a walk at the Fort and saw the gathered masses for the big 4th of July display which made up for it. A little. We saw some live music and ran into a few people we know. Tried to cruise through the Pearson Air Museum which I’m sure is wonderful when there aren’t already a gajillion people crowded in there. Ate a corn dog and rode the Zipper. (Totally kidding, I can’t even look at the zipper without gacking up my last 3 meals.)

If Germany wasn’t in it I was hoping for Portugal since it would have been nice to see them win their first Cup. But France destroyed that fantasy. So now I was in the position of having to watch two teams I couldn’t bear to see lose again in the 3rd place game.

That game was today and it was good for a game that two broken-hearted teams who didn’t really want to play. I still wanted Germany to win, which they did. And it was fun to see Oliver Kahn play although you have to feel a teeny bit bad for Lehman the way the crowd and commentators treated it like the second coming. I love Ollie as much as the next guy but Lehman has done a bust up job this WC. Italy’s first goal was a brilliant play. It was nice that the referee didn’t decide the game. (This is poor reporting because I’m talking about two games in 1 paragraph. Italy made a great goal in the semi-final against Germany on July 4th. Today’s game involved Germany and Portugal.)

Also today is was fun to see Klinsman do his best Bad News Bears and make sure everyone got to play. Also I got to see my favorite referee Toru Kamikawa one more time.

I like France a lot. How can you not love Zidane? And Henry and the rest of the gang as well. That game against Brazil is unforgettable. But I’m going to root for Italy. That Cannavaro is something else. (As a player and to look at although I think he should grow out a big shaggy doo.) And I don’t think anything can get through the Italy defense except possibly their own feet. (yeah USA).

The U.S. press has had a field day with articles about why the US isn’t more into WC soccer. Including the buckethead who wrote that maybe the question was why Europe was so into WC and maybe because they didn’t have any better sports to watch. Isn’t US mentality great that if US doesn’t like it then somehow it isn’t valid?

Plus there are plenty of US people who are soccer freaks. For example, twice we went up to Seattle to see European teams play in exhibition games. Events that sold out in minutes. Portland’s Pioneer Square “the city’s living room” hosted a big screen for the semis and will host the finals for fans to come down and watch the games. They had 5000 people down there.

Bob thought his sounded great and all I could think about was: where will I go to the bathroom? (This is what I thought about the big crowds shown in Berlin and Munich. I’m single-minded about this sort of thing.)

Plus I find that the more people involved with watching the game, the more distracted I am, the more I can’t see and hear what is going on. I like actually seeing the game. There was a picture in the paper and it looked pretty civilized but I still would rather see it in Pam’s living room.

I still have a few photos and stories for you on my Michigan trip. And the garden has all sorts of fun stuff to share. Dahlias. Tomatoes. Little frogs.

Tonight is a perfect night. Clear sky with pretty clouds. A nice breeze. Third place Germany or no, I’m feeling pretty lucky right now.

I don’t know how I can go on living without giving you this link for for 1000 ways to open a beer bottle. German, but important.

Also, I can’t even tell you how high strung I am about Germany’s game tomorrow against Italy. 10 years of my life, soon to be gone. If Germany wins, expect spunky commentary. If not, I’ll be crying in my beer. For days.

The day after we arrived in Cleveland there was an article in the paper that listed the top 5 cities losing population and the top 5 cities gaining population. Ohio was the only state that had two cities in the top 5: Cleveland and Cincinnati.

We had a great trip, and Cleveland does have something to offer but it’s hard not to think that the only thing holding the place together is duct tape and chewing gum. (Other parts are blocked off my massive amounts of orange cones, “the state flower of Ohio” we were told.) I don’t think anything in that city works any better than it has to and people were super nice and eager to be helpful but consistently completely worthless.

Our checked bag didn’t arrive with us and after wrangling that bit at the airport, we took the Red Line into town which was easy and offered a nice view of rusted broken down stuff overgrown with rich green foliage.

When we checked into the hotel we let them know we were missing a bag and we found food and went to bed.

The next morning I watched the USA gets their butts kicked by Ghana and Bob spent almost the entire time on the phone trying to track down the bag. The airline said the delivery people had it. The delivery people said the hotel had it. The hotel said they didn’t have it. Bob went around in circles, with much more patience that I would have had.

Finally, when my game ended, we went downstairs to check again and what do you know, the hotel had the bag. It had been delivered in the middle of the night. It had our name on it. They knew we were looking for it. You’d think they would have tried to get it to us.

We spent some time wandering around downtown and then met a friend of Bob’s from high school who drove us around. We went to University Circle and looked at the Frank Gehry building and walked around enjoying the day. We had great weather, mostly mild, sure-muggy, and a fair amount of rain but nothing we couldn’t handle. While we were there, there were areas of flooding in Ohio but not near us.

On our way back into town we got turned around and ended up driving around East Cleveland which was quite an adventure. My favorite shop was the Bible Shop/Exterminator. I’m not making this up.

We had a wonderful dinner at the Great Lakes Brewing Company and later had ice cream and wandered around a little bit.

The next day we switched to the hotel where the wedding was going to be and then went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I wasn’t knocked out by the whole thing. If you’ve ever been to EMP (Experience Music Project) in Seattle, you’ve more or less seen it AND you’ve seen a Gehry building all at the same time. I think EMP is a little better.

Some great things were the movies. There’s a montage of inductee ceremonies that I loved and another movie about the inductees that’s fantastic.

By the time we were wrapped up there and had some lunch it was time to meet the girls coming into town from the west coast. We all gathered for some cocktails and a fun dinner and then early to bed. We had a big day on Saturday.

I took in the Germany v. Sweden game and then walked around downtown until I met up with Bob. We had a late lunch and then headed back to the hotel to get ready for the big party.

I’m running out of steam here so the quick version is: the ceremony was in the Old Stone Church and a great celebration followed. Everyone was thrilled for the Bride and Groom. Super fun party, yay.

Good thing we’re getting down to the end because these games are taking years off my life. The penalty kicks are so nerve wracking.

I would have been okay with either England or Portugal winning game 59 until Rooney stepped on that guy’s crotch. Come on. Who does that? Ever. But especially in a World Cup game. I don’t think I’ve ever been glad to see a guy get sent off the field and I was glad about this.

Portugal managed to pull it off thanks to a brilliant goal keeper. They all need to go home and do 100 penalty kicks a day. Okay, maybe I should try kicking the ball into the goal myself to see how easy it is. Especially when I’m dead tired. But then that’s their job. They play soccer. What if missed when I was stapling a document because I was tired? Or accidentally put all my mail through the postage machine at the wrong postage rate? Okay, okay. Sometimes you miss the goal. Understood.

In the France v. Brazil game I was leaning towards Brazil. What happened to those guys? France looked fantastic and did Brazil even get a shot on goal? France was barely on my radar after what I thought was a weak showing in group play. Now I can’t wait to see them again. Two great games.

I have to ask: who makes those Red Stripe commercials? Some guy in his garage? They don’t actually pay someone to make those, do they?

Yes and I’m back home and back on the couch. To be honest, I’m relieved there are only six more games.

I’ll tell you about my trip eventually however, today we have other things to discuss. I managed to watch at least a half dozen games while I was on the road and I won’t comment on all of them but I have a few things to say.

RE: Game 41 USA v. Ghana
I am SO disappointed in the way USA played in this World Cup. They had moments where they looked good but they just seemed to hold back all the time like they were getting ready to make a play instead of going and making the play.

They lost because they played badly but they also lost because of Dave O’Brien. Apparently I’m not the only person who thinks Dave O’Brien sucks. And the reason he made USA lose is because he’s filled with negative energy. All he could say were negative things. His negativity infected all the people watching the game who in turn infected the air around them which radiated out into the Universe in one giant negativity wave which hit the players on the field in Germany and they played poorly and lost. He should be publicly flogged and driven to the border.

As I read the article, people complain that he doesn’t seem to have a feel for soccer. I don’t like him because he says stupid things. Continuously. During the entire game. At one point during a 1-1 game, I heard him say that one team was in real trouble. HUH? Isn’t 1-1 essentially how the game started with both teams on an equal footing? I have never told my TV to “SHUT UP” as much as I have the last few weeks.

RE: either game 55 or 56 Australia v. Italy
Australia was ROBBED. They played a fantastic game and if they were going to get beat, it should have been on a fair goal, not a dive. I’m really mad at Italy right now.

Game 57 Germany v. Argentina
Bummer that these teams had to meet at this stage because Germany is one of my favorite teams but Argentina has been playing great in this tournament and I’ve loved watching them. I think some lesser teams are skating through while a really great team has to go home. Very exciting, fantastic game. I jumped up and down and did the soccer dance on the coffee table. Who thought Lehmann had it in him? Also, those South American men aren’t afraid to show their feelings and it absolutely breaks my heart when they show the guys on the field crying.

Game 58 Ukraine v. Italy
Too bad I’m still mad at Italy because they played great and I would have liked to enjoy it more. Have I seen the Ukraine play before? Half the team look like refugees from a 70’s heavy metal band. To me that’s really good. Also don’t you think Artem Ilevskiy looks like Jack Wild?

Two more games tomorrow. Then I have Sunday off and thank goodness because I have chores galore.

Also, if you’re keeping track, I have a half year update on my reading for 2006.