Thursday, August 03, 2006
Rained out
My trek to Toyota Park last night to see the Wizards vs. the Fire in a U.S. Open Cup matchup ultimately led to an evening of no soccer. Wicked lightening and then a torrential rain made anything outdoors in Chicago last night impossible. However, I think the fans at Toyota Park and Wrigley Field were the only sad folks around...everyone else was thankful for the 20 degree drop from 95F at 7:00 pm to 75F by 9:00 pm.
I did snap an awkward photo of Chris Armas calling his babysitter to tell her why he wasn't going to be home by 10 p.m. I also saw an injured Josh Wolff chatting on his cell phone with his family in tow. It seems whenever I run across USMNT players in public, they're always on their cell phone. They must think they're famous and need to pull a Lindsay Lohan trick.
One thing I have noticed after standing next to or near Chris Armas, Josh Wolff and Frankie Hejduk in the last two months is that these guys are tiny. I expect them to be marathoner skinny but they're definitely lacking in height as well. Soccer may be the only sport where a lack of size may actually help you with a lower center of gravity...to a point. Maybe our smallish size hurts us internationally. LD, Ben Olsen, DMB, Bobby Convey, Reyna, Dolo, Eddie Lewis...these guys are all skilled but small. More guys like Dempsey and Gooch might help us fend off a few Essienesque tackles in our big international games that could lead to the difference between victory and defeat.
Kudos to the Fire for offering me to exchange my tickets for another Wednesday night game in August. (Bostrom)
