Sunday, September 25, 2005
Good morning everyone! So how was your Saturday? Mine was pretty busy, although it was pretty darn good! It was one of those Saturdays that you do so much it feels like it was a couple days long...boy...I love days like that!
All right...here goes. We woke up pretty darn early for a Saturday. I was up before the alarm clock (about 5:50am) the alarm was set for 6, so I just decided to get up anyways. Well, we got around and left the house and headed up to Walkerton about 6:40 or so. We stopped and grabbed some McD's for breakfast. We got to Walkerton a few minutes before 9, when my little sisters soccer game was supposed to start. I have never went to a soccer game before and I left mystified.
I just don't get the draw of soccer. Maybe it's the fact that I was raised All-American with football, basketball and baseball...but soccer just doesn't seem as exciting. The only thing that I can figure, is that soccer allows everyone that plays to feel like they get in on the action, because they were able to kick the ball away. Maybe that's the case...but it just doesn't seem as fun as the sports that I grew up playing. Yeah, baseball was boring 90% of the time, but every couple of innings you got to bat. I don't know...maybe it's the skill level. Watching the soccer players you can see the different skill levels, but it seems like in soccer, the lower skilled people have more of a chance to stop the skilled players. In basketball a skilled player can dominate over the unskilled...the same holds true in baseball. In football it's not quite as easy since football is so dependent on the team concept. Maybe it's because youth soccer just feels politically correct.
Yes, I said that...a sport feels politically correct. The league that my sister is in is coed, which is totally fine with me. 6th grade boys and girls are pretty much on the same level physically, and it was obvious watching the game. It also feels politically correct, because so many kids play for so long. In baseball you stick your weak kids in right field, and they don't do much. In soccer the weak kids still get to kick the ball and have fun, whereas that same kid playing in right field sits back there and picks grass and is bored. It's also politically correct because it prevents kids from being singled out as not as athletic. In baseball you have a kid bat, that is not very coordinated and he is singled out as not very athletic. In basketball it's obvious when they shoot free throws or shoot and pass. Then in football the unathletic kids never play that much, and then...with the game decided all the 2nd stringers come out of the woodwork. So, am I really in any stance to judge soccer since the extent that I played it was in gym class? Naw...I'm sure that it is fun to play, but as your friendly local political scientists, I am in the position to tell you that I see a lot of politics behind the popularity of soccer in today's society.
Now, that being said, watching soccer wasn't that bad. It was fun, and I got some pictures. Unfortunately, while my camera is 6.1MP, it also only has a 3x zoom. So, some of the pictures turned out a little small...that's ok though. So, for your viewing pleasure here they come. My sister is the one in the purple shorts:
Well, after the game Amanda and I went to say hello to my grandparents. After that, we went back to my house with lunch from Subway. We then took Katie and headed to South Bend to look at animal shelters for dogs. It also gave us something to do. Well, let me just say, that the humane society is disgusting. We were in there for maybe 1 1/2 minutes before we left. The place reeked, and all the dogs looked pitiful. It was like we were walking through death row and all the prisoners knew that their time was about up. It was pretty bad. We also went to a pet rescue place...one of those private kennels that is no kill. That one was a lot better, but we didn't see anything we liked. Interestingly, when we went into where the grown dogs were they recognized us as not being a worker and all the dogs went crazy jumping and barking. They weren't angry, they just wanted attention and a home. It was kind of sad, and reminded me of those scenes in prison movies where the inmates throw crap out of their cell on fire and yell and make a bunch of noise.
Well, after that we went back to Walkerton to my Grandparents for some food. On the way back to Walkerton, we were listening to music and I asked Katie if she had the CD that was playing. She said no, so I ejected it out and gave it to her. Well, I ended up giving her every CD that I had in my car (about 20). Then she said that she needed to get a new CD case, so I then gave her the CD case that I had. Hopefully she enjoys some more music!
We then got back to Walkerton at my grandparents, we ate over there and visited with family. We had a good time, then decided that we would head back to Indy earlier rather than latter so we wouldn't have to drive late. Well, we left and went back to my house to drop Katie off and visit with my family some more. The ND game was on, and luckily it wasn't too close of a game so Dad was able to talk and visit! If it would have been close that would have been a lost cause. After visiting for a while we left for home.
Well, we were enroute to Indy when we decided that we should stop and say hi to C and F, since they were in town and we haven't seen them for awhile. Well, we stopped and visited, then decided that we should go get some dinner and watch a movie (yes, that would be meal #4 for the day). The cleaned up and we headed to the Applebees in Plymouth. We ate some food (I had the appetizer sampler) and visited. After dinner we headed on over the theatre behind Wal-Mart that is only a couple of years old. Well, the movie wasn't playing there, it was playing at the old fashioned one downtown. Well, I haven't been to that theatre since like 95 or 96. We get there, and it just blows my mind that they can still be in business! They charge 6 bucks a ticket, which is about the same that the new theatres in South Bend charge, they only take cash, and the place was kind of dirty. Well, we were there, so we said what the hell. We took our seats and settled in to watch "Flight Plan". Well, after we sat down another couple sat down behind us. The guy kept commenting on everything during the first 10 minutes or so of the movie. I mean that...talking about every little thing "Wow, first class is larger. Jodie Foster looks old. Her kid looks like her. That airport is nice. I wonder what the inflight movie is. The sky is gray." It just went on and on. Amanda gave them some looks and the women with Talker told him to be quiet. Well, I figured that Talker would take a few minutes and would shut up. Boy, was I ever wrong. He kept going and going. I just wanted to sit, in the dumpy theatre, in the 1950's seat, take in the aroma of mildew and watch the damn movie. This yokel kept talking though and I kept getting more and more irate. Well, unfortunately my self-control got the best of me...and I started to feel my eyeballs pulse like they did before I fought back in my youth. Well...when I got to that point I couldn't do anything...because I probably would have gotten in trouble. So, it looks like as I've gotten older, I've developed some self control. I wish that I would have said something early on though, because he was annoying. I also wish that I would have had one of my Surefire flashlights with me...because 60 lumens of light at 4 feet in dark movie theatre would have hurt...and would have shut him up. Ugg...
Well, after that we went back to Walkerton and headed home. I lasted driving for an hour or so, and then Amanda took over. I was really tired, and the gas station in Argos didn't have any coffee...so she took over. I woke up pulling into the apartment.
That was my big day...pretty exciting! Now, it's time to get on with my Sunday! I'll leave you with this truck that we saw in South Bend.
All right...here goes. We woke up pretty darn early for a Saturday. I was up before the alarm clock (about 5:50am) the alarm was set for 6, so I just decided to get up anyways. Well, we got around and left the house and headed up to Walkerton about 6:40 or so. We stopped and grabbed some McD's for breakfast. We got to Walkerton a few minutes before 9, when my little sisters soccer game was supposed to start. I have never went to a soccer game before and I left mystified.
I just don't get the draw of soccer. Maybe it's the fact that I was raised All-American with football, basketball and baseball...but soccer just doesn't seem as exciting. The only thing that I can figure, is that soccer allows everyone that plays to feel like they get in on the action, because they were able to kick the ball away. Maybe that's the case...but it just doesn't seem as fun as the sports that I grew up playing. Yeah, baseball was boring 90% of the time, but every couple of innings you got to bat. I don't know...maybe it's the skill level. Watching the soccer players you can see the different skill levels, but it seems like in soccer, the lower skilled people have more of a chance to stop the skilled players. In basketball a skilled player can dominate over the unskilled...the same holds true in baseball. In football it's not quite as easy since football is so dependent on the team concept. Maybe it's because youth soccer just feels politically correct.
Yes, I said that...a sport feels politically correct. The league that my sister is in is coed, which is totally fine with me. 6th grade boys and girls are pretty much on the same level physically, and it was obvious watching the game. It also feels politically correct, because so many kids play for so long. In baseball you stick your weak kids in right field, and they don't do much. In soccer the weak kids still get to kick the ball and have fun, whereas that same kid playing in right field sits back there and picks grass and is bored. It's also politically correct because it prevents kids from being singled out as not as athletic. In baseball you have a kid bat, that is not very coordinated and he is singled out as not very athletic. In basketball it's obvious when they shoot free throws or shoot and pass. Then in football the unathletic kids never play that much, and then...with the game decided all the 2nd stringers come out of the woodwork. So, am I really in any stance to judge soccer since the extent that I played it was in gym class? Naw...I'm sure that it is fun to play, but as your friendly local political scientists, I am in the position to tell you that I see a lot of politics behind the popularity of soccer in today's society.
Now, that being said, watching soccer wasn't that bad. It was fun, and I got some pictures. Unfortunately, while my camera is 6.1MP, it also only has a 3x zoom. So, some of the pictures turned out a little small...that's ok though. So, for your viewing pleasure here they come. My sister is the one in the purple shorts:
Well, after the game Amanda and I went to say hello to my grandparents. After that, we went back to my house with lunch from Subway. We then took Katie and headed to South Bend to look at animal shelters for dogs. It also gave us something to do. Well, let me just say, that the humane society is disgusting. We were in there for maybe 1 1/2 minutes before we left. The place reeked, and all the dogs looked pitiful. It was like we were walking through death row and all the prisoners knew that their time was about up. It was pretty bad. We also went to a pet rescue place...one of those private kennels that is no kill. That one was a lot better, but we didn't see anything we liked. Interestingly, when we went into where the grown dogs were they recognized us as not being a worker and all the dogs went crazy jumping and barking. They weren't angry, they just wanted attention and a home. It was kind of sad, and reminded me of those scenes in prison movies where the inmates throw crap out of their cell on fire and yell and make a bunch of noise.
Well, after that we went back to Walkerton to my Grandparents for some food. On the way back to Walkerton, we were listening to music and I asked Katie if she had the CD that was playing. She said no, so I ejected it out and gave it to her. Well, I ended up giving her every CD that I had in my car (about 20). Then she said that she needed to get a new CD case, so I then gave her the CD case that I had. Hopefully she enjoys some more music!
We then got back to Walkerton at my grandparents, we ate over there and visited with family. We had a good time, then decided that we would head back to Indy earlier rather than latter so we wouldn't have to drive late. Well, we left and went back to my house to drop Katie off and visit with my family some more. The ND game was on, and luckily it wasn't too close of a game so Dad was able to talk and visit! If it would have been close that would have been a lost cause. After visiting for a while we left for home.
Well, we were enroute to Indy when we decided that we should stop and say hi to C and F, since they were in town and we haven't seen them for awhile. Well, we stopped and visited, then decided that we should go get some dinner and watch a movie (yes, that would be meal #4 for the day). The cleaned up and we headed to the Applebees in Plymouth. We ate some food (I had the appetizer sampler) and visited. After dinner we headed on over the theatre behind Wal-Mart that is only a couple of years old. Well, the movie wasn't playing there, it was playing at the old fashioned one downtown. Well, I haven't been to that theatre since like 95 or 96. We get there, and it just blows my mind that they can still be in business! They charge 6 bucks a ticket, which is about the same that the new theatres in South Bend charge, they only take cash, and the place was kind of dirty. Well, we were there, so we said what the hell. We took our seats and settled in to watch "Flight Plan". Well, after we sat down another couple sat down behind us. The guy kept commenting on everything during the first 10 minutes or so of the movie. I mean that...talking about every little thing "Wow, first class is larger. Jodie Foster looks old. Her kid looks like her. That airport is nice. I wonder what the inflight movie is. The sky is gray." It just went on and on. Amanda gave them some looks and the women with Talker told him to be quiet. Well, I figured that Talker would take a few minutes and would shut up. Boy, was I ever wrong. He kept going and going. I just wanted to sit, in the dumpy theatre, in the 1950's seat, take in the aroma of mildew and watch the damn movie. This yokel kept talking though and I kept getting more and more irate. Well, unfortunately my self-control got the best of me...and I started to feel my eyeballs pulse like they did before I fought back in my youth. Well...when I got to that point I couldn't do anything...because I probably would have gotten in trouble. So, it looks like as I've gotten older, I've developed some self control. I wish that I would have said something early on though, because he was annoying. I also wish that I would have had one of my Surefire flashlights with me...because 60 lumens of light at 4 feet in dark movie theatre would have hurt...and would have shut him up. Ugg...
Well, after that we went back to Walkerton and headed home. I lasted driving for an hour or so, and then Amanda took over. I was really tired, and the gas station in Argos didn't have any coffee...so she took over. I woke up pulling into the apartment.
That was my big day...pretty exciting! Now, it's time to get on with my Sunday! I'll leave you with this truck that we saw in South Bend.
