amkean pronunciation

I ran 16 yesterday using pretty much the same route as last weekend, except backwards. It was sunny and felt like spring, so everyone and their dog was outside including on the lakes. The 16 miles came after two hours of handball in the morning when I was asked twice if I was American. I missed the practice last week, so I missed some new people. I'll take it as a compliment that they asked if I'm American. It's a compliment because they saw me play and I was competent enough for them so not assume I was brand-new. A German guy said I was good. The problem is that once my competition passes a certain point, I'm useless. I can dominate a mediocre team, be competent against a good team, but I'm ineffective against an excellent team. The reason the "are you American?" question is not really a compliment is because out of the 16 guys at practice yesterday, there were three Americans.

I've also finally started playing soccer in a league. I've known lots of soccer league players around here, but somehow never got on a team. That's the good news. The bad news is that I'm stuck in goal. I've received about five months' worth of decent soccer goalkeeper instruction in my life and haven't played the position since 1991. Then we showed up late for the first game and I was thrust into the goal without touching a soccer ball. It's coming back a little, although I caught a ball in the face last week that went through my hands. Not a hard shot, but a cross, so it was pretty stupid. My cheek is almost healed.

There was a Norwegian at handball and I spoke to him in Norwegian. He said something back, I understand one word, and panicked. I CAN'T UNDERSTAND YOU!!!! I forgot to talk to him about the Olympics.

Once I finished the run, I gave myself permission to do absolutely nothing for the rest of the day because I earned it. There is a problem with this thinking, and "nothing" is an exaggeration. I watched the entire painful, embarrassing Carolina-Duke game. Do you ever experience the cognitive dissonance that occurs when all you hear about is what a great coach someone is, but then you see evidence of subpar coaching? I don't think Roy or Tubby are bad coaches, and I think the truth is probably that coaching is actually more difficult than is understood. You can't argue with national championships won, but the underachievement of my two squads this year is confusing. I also experience this in game time when coaches fail to coach the game well even though they have enormous reputations.

Labels: basketball, handball, running, soccer