Day 116: Soccer Fever – Belgium vs. Panama

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 116: Soccer Fever – Belgium vs. Panama

There are two things that bring people together … a disaster and an international sporting event. If you’re feeling a little feverish, not to worry, you’re not the only one, millions of others share your fever, soccer fever that is.

People who usually don’t follow soccer, now sit glued to their television, computer monitor or handheld device to see 22 men run around after a ball. I know, it doesn’t sound very exciting, but for some reason it is.

Those who can’t watch the match, life or televised, still keep track of the score via life updates on FIFA’s website. I’m one of those people. I prefer not to watch a live match because whoever I support loses. And not just in soccer, in all kinds of competitions. Whether it’s an Olympic event, American Idol, a beauty pageant, or an award ceremony, my favorites never ever win.

Take Belgium vs. Panama for instance. Being from Belgium I took a special interest in the Red Devils, but in the first half of the game, Belgium did nothing. There was a lot of running around and kicking the ball back and forth, but nothing qualified as exciting.

The second half I couldn’t watch because I had things to do. And that’s when it happened … the players were barely back on the field when Mertens scored a goal. Having finally woken up, Laluka decided to follow suit and planted a ball in Panama’s net too. So happy was the crowd that he decided he gave them an encore. Final score 3 – 0.

Safe to say, I won’t be watching Belgium’s next match. I’ll keep an eye on the score, but watching the match itself … no way, the men do far better when I’m not around.

Anything you can do, I can do better

Give that man a handkerchief

Stand back, I got this

Brother, this is not the time to dance

I believe I can fly

That's my leg man, not a chair

Does it look any better from down there?

www.connymanero.weebly.com

Would you survive it?

Do you play the lottery? Have you ever considered what you would do should you win and win big? I’ve thought about it many times and my first concern would be … surviving the shock.

Continue reading at:

http://connymanero.weebly.com/blog/would-you-survive-it

Ping Pong

A few days ago I wrote about bigballs vs. little balls  and ended with the promise that I would report back on the ping pong situation.

Last night we took a crack at it and … well, it didn’t exactly go well. For a second there I wasn’t clear whether we played ping pong or racquetball.

Seriously, both being novices at the game, the ball went all over the place, bouncing on the floor, ricocheting off the walls and even taking a swipe at the chandelier.

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Does positive thinking work?

I got an email the other day from a friend who said that I should think positive.  She might not know it, but I’m the wrong person to say that to.

It’s not that I’m a pessimist, on the contrary, I do nothing but positive thinking, but the forces that be have other ideas.

Take work for instance.  There are times that I sent a resume merely hoping for the best, but other times I think “This has to be the one.  This has my name written all over it.”  The majority of those resumes remain unanswered.

Occasionally I get an interview and that’s when it gets tricky.  With some interviews, I just know that it was a waste of time, but every now and then the position I was interviewed for just fitted like a glove.  That’s when I really go off the rails, stating “This is it.  This has got to be it.”  And nothing.

Next up, lottery.  I play twice a week and I always think positive.  If I didn’t, I wouldn’t play, right?  Every Friday and every Saturday I get excited, thinking that this is my lucky day.

Every time I dream of a luxury condo, with a Lamborghini in the garage, plenty of jewelry in the safe and pots of money in the bank. 

Not that I would forget my friends, I would share my good fortune.  Unfortunately for them and for me, the jackpot has eluded me.

Finally, bowling.  Whenever I head to the bowling alley, I feel full of beans.  At the start of every game, I fully intend to make a big fat 200.  (All bowlers dream of shooting a 300, but let’s keep it real).  Occasionally I do shoot a 200+, but only very occasionally and my score remains under 220.

So let nobody preach to me about thinking positive.  If my optimism followed me, I would have a well paying job, be able to quit that job because I would win the Lotto jackpot, and then have plenty of time to practice my bowling in pursuit of that elusive 300 game.

Do bowling balls have a mind of their own?

Anyone who has ever played ten-pin bowling has, at one time or another, wondered if that ball has a mind of its own.

There are times that the ball seems attracted to the pins and smoothly knocks them down.  Other times he leaves some standing.  Sometimes a single pin, sometimes more than one, and sometimes – heaven forbid – a dreaded split.

If not a strike or a spare is made, is it the fault of the bowler, the ball or the pins? 

Expert bowlers make it seem so easy.  They take a swing, put the ball down and it curves nicely toward the pocket.  You try and do that … and prepare for frustration.

Honestly, in everyday life some people are perfectly well behaved, but let them pick up a bowling ball and suddenly they use language that would make a sailor blush.  They swear at the pins, curse the ball and occasionally give themselves every name under the sun for making such a stupid mistake.

Where lays the secret in making that perfect game?  What does a bowler need to do to score those elusive 300 points?  Experts will say it’s about consistency.  Putting the ball down, twelve times in a row, in same spot, with the same power. 

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’ve been doing that – or at least trying to do that – for years and years and I can tell you, it’s not working. 

Occasionally, when the bowling gods smile down on me, my ball veers nicely toward the pocket of the pins and boem … strike!  Most of the time though the bowling gods frown or look elsewhere and my ball goes straight, or veers off to a place where he’s not supposed to be. 

Then again, maybe it’s just as well that I don’t make a 300.  A few years ago a man did just that and never made it off the lane.  When he knocked that last set of pins down and realised he had made a perfect score, he had a heart attack and died.  What a way to go …

Still, we try.  Before every game we have high hopes.  When we start a game off with a strike, we smile.  Two strikes in a row makes that smile grow even bigger.  Three strikes gives us illusions of grandeur and we can see that 300 in the distance.  Is this is?  Is this the time when it’s going to happen?

What goes through a bowlers mind when he has scored eleven strikes and lines up for the twelved time?  How does he feel when the last set of pins fall and the scoreboard flashes 300?

If it ever happens – and a 911 call is not needed – I’ll let you know.

We might move ...

Parents who buy their child a drum set or another musical instrument often live to regret it as their quiet life is suddenly filled with noise.  If the child can play, great, but if he can’t, the noise of the instrument can rapidly become ear torture.

I made a mistake too.  I bought my son a bowling ball for his birthday (a C-(System) ulti-max) and if I had known then what I know now … I might have thought twice before making that purchase.

While playing with his old bowling ball, we were more or less competitive equals.  Sure he won more games than I did, but every now and then I managed to snatch one or two games from him.

With the new bowling ball, that equality has gone out the window.  Today he scored: 190 – 224 – 222 – 214 – 189 - 231.  There’s no way I can compete with that.

However, that’s not all.  Before he would make a couple of strikes per game, but the majority of a ten-pin bowling game would be made up of two tries, often resulting in a spare.  This would give me the chance to sit down for a moment, catch my breath and rest my weary legs.

Not anymore.  With this new ball, Dieter made strike after strike after strike, giving me no rest whatsoever.  I would sit down, he would make a strike and hup, it would be my turn again.  In the end I didn’t even bother sitting down anymore.

We have definitely broken our record in bowling alley attendance this week.

It started on Tuesday (Dieter’s birthday) when we went to pick up the bowling ball.  After drilling we wanted to play a few games, but with two leagues playing there were no lanes available.

So we went home and returned to the bowling alley two hours later when the league would have finished.  That was two visits in one day.

On Friday we had league bowling.

Today, Saturday, we went practising. 

Tomorrow friends are picking us up for some friendly competition.

By my count that is five bowling alley visits in one week.  We might as well move and go and live there.