When I arrived to teach my class today, my students were all congregated in the hallway. It was a couple of minutes before we were scheduled to begin, and the previous class still hadn't left. This is not unusual, but since there's a fifteen-minute break between classes I don't sweat it. There's plenty of time for me to get set up.
Well, today was different. Class time came, and the other group was still in the room. through the window on the door, it was clear that they were doing class presentations, and as today is the last day of classes, I decided to cut them some slack. After five minutes, though, it was time to put an end to things, because it was getting ridiculous. We needed to have class, too.
I knocked and stuck my head in the door, announcing, "I'm sorry to interrupt, but my class needs this room." Some of you may not believe me, but I was quite polite about it. I totally channelled my "diplomatic" brother, assuming that they simply had lost track of time. Well, I was wrong. The other instructor came over to the door and said, "We came in here because our classroom is not available. Is there another room you could take your class to?" At this point, I got a little angry (I still wasn't rude, though--you can ask my students), and I told her, "No." Inside, I thought (but did not say), "We've been in this room every Tuesday this semester. What makes you think we should go somewhere else? Get out!" Then she had the gall to say, "We'll be done in five minutes." Remember, class was already supposed to begin five minutes ago. Luckily, her students had already begun leaving, so disaster was averted.
I'm still shaking my head fifteen hours later. At least I got a good laugh with my students after the other group left. They couldn't believe it either.
"Bienvenidos a Miami"
I think that it's only fair to warn you up front that this is going to be a pretty long entry about our trip to Miami Beach. You might want to make yourself comfortable. It's been a busy few days and I have a lot to say (you may judge for yourself whether any of it is worth reading).
In order to prepare for our trip, we downloaded the pilot of 'Miami Vice' from iTunes. I hadn't seen the show for a very long time, and I don't think Plainbellied had ever seen it. I thought it would be fun to find some of the places where they filmed and re-enact scenes, like when Crockett told his partner's wife that he had been killed. Luckily, there was not time for that on this trip.
You may have already read Plainbellied's blog about the drive down, so I'm not going to repeat what she has already said. I will just point out that I generally prefer Mapquest directions, because they tend to send you on a shorter route than other services, and they actually get the time right. Once, I checked it against Google Maps, and Google wanted to send us about 100 miles out of our way (Google does have a better interface, though). I used Mapquest again this time, and we arrived at the door of our hotel within five minutes of the time it had predicted. Making good time is very important to me, and this made me feel pretty good.
It turns out that we made a really good decision on the hotel. Instead of a dive, we stayed in a renovated Art Deco hotel right on Ocean Drive, across the street from the beach. It was a little away from the clubs, so where we were was pretty quiet at night, thank goodness. The room was small, but it was clean, and it had a really nice shower. Normally I hate hotel showers, but I actually felt clean coming out of this one. It had nice marble tile, so it really was nice. That was the best part of the room, though. Mostly, it reminded me of almost every hotel I had stayed at in Spain, which is to say that it had tile floors, adequate beds, and nothing else. The only noticeable difference from a Spanish hotel was the price. My goodness. It should be illegal to charge that much for a tiny hotel room. I'm lucky it was for a conference and my department is footing part of the bill. Otherwise, there is no way we could have done it.
We went to the beach both mornings we were there, and Her Nibs liked it a lot. She wouldn't put her feet in the water by herself, but she would ride the waves with me if I held her. We didn't go very far in, since I'm afraid of sharks, but the water was clear and warm. It was fun. I don't usually like the beach, but since we went early, the sun still wasn't shining, and there weren't crowds. Actually, I saw a guy wake up after a night on the beach when the water started licking his feet. I thought that only happened in the movies. It actually took him a while to realize the water was at his feet. I think he had a good time the night before.
The conference itself was pretty good. The first session I had wanted to go to was cancelled, so I had a chance to catch up with some of the other people there, some of whom I hadn't seen for several years. My session, in the afternoon, was well attended, but unfortunately the other two panelists had more "interesting" topics than I did, so no one bothered to ask me any questions or make comments about my work. Luckily, a few people spoke with me later and I got a few helpful comments. If they hadn't it would have kind of ruined the conference for me, because the whole point is to get input on your work (well, and "network" with people in your discipline). The sessions on Saturday were pretty good, too.
Friday night we went out to dinner, and we found a nice Spanish restaurant just down the street from where the conference was. It is run by an actual Spanish family, and the chef, along with much of the waitstaff, is from Spain as well. Good Spanish food is tough to find in this country, and we were really lucky. When we walked in, it felt Spanish, with tile that looked as though it had come straight from Seville. When the waiters switched to Spanish, they spoke with Madrid accents, and it reminded us of our time there. It also reminded us of a time when we went to a restaurant in Seville with my parents during the Feria de Abril. Everyone was at the fair, so we were almost the only ones in the restaurant. There were like three waiters just for us. The same thing happened in Miami. Because of Her Nibs, we eat early, so we were the first ones in the restaurant. They were all so friendly, and the service was great. The food was even better. We got a sampler of appetizers, so we each got some tortilla española, jamón serrano on bruschetta, and croquetas de jamón. Then Plainbellied got a barbecue pork tenderloin and I got paella valenciana.* Her Nibs nibbled on a salad (salad is her favorite food right now). We got gelato afterward, and I'm sure Plainbellied will tell all about that.
As we walked back to the hotel (the long way), a guy came up to us with a huge snake and asked if we wanted to pet it. Her Nibs was really scared, so the guy asked me if I wanted to hold it. I resisted, but he put it around my neck anyway, and then Her Nibs touched it and laughed. Well, I'm not stupid, and I know that when something like this happens they're going to ask for money. I'm thinking he'll ask for five bucks or something like that as a "donation." But he said, "I take Polaroid pictures of you with the snake for a donation of 20 dollars." He actually said it with a straight face. I know Polaroid makes its money on film, but 20 bucks for a single photo? Not on your life. I turned him down and he move on to the next sucker. It was almost as weird as the time a girl wearing a clown nose (and no makeup) got right up in my face as I walked home one night in Madrid and said, "Oooooooooooooo" while doing some strange dance. Of course, it also reminded me of Hulk Hogan's "24-inch pythons."
The trip was really great, but I should add a couple of caveats. I'm not sure I would have liked it so much if I had just gone there to hang out. I'm not a beach person. An hour in the morning is enough for me, because there were no crowds and the sun wasn't shining. I burn easily, so the beach is not for me. I think I was lucky to have a conference to go to, so I really only had to fill short periods of time with stuff to do, mostly the mornings and dinner time. I'm not into partying either, so most of what the beach has to offer isn't really my style. Also, if I had to pay for the whole thing myself, it would have been too expensive.
Even so, it took the bad taste of my last Miami trip out of my mouth. Maybe there'll be another conference there sometime.
*Tortilla española is basically a potato omelet. Jamón serrano is a Spanish cured ham, kind of like prosciutto but better (second only to jamón ibérico, which is incredible), and Croquetas de jamón are kind of like savory hush puppies with bits of jamón serrano in them. What they called paella valenciana was really paella mixta, which has both chicken and seafood in it. Paella valenciana should have rabbit and spanish chorizo in it, and maybe chicken, but no seafood. I've never had good paella at a restaurant in the US before. It was absolutely great.
In order to prepare for our trip, we downloaded the pilot of 'Miami Vice' from iTunes. I hadn't seen the show for a very long time, and I don't think Plainbellied had ever seen it. I thought it would be fun to find some of the places where they filmed and re-enact scenes, like when Crockett told his partner's wife that he had been killed. Luckily, there was not time for that on this trip.
You may have already read Plainbellied's blog about the drive down, so I'm not going to repeat what she has already said. I will just point out that I generally prefer Mapquest directions, because they tend to send you on a shorter route than other services, and they actually get the time right. Once, I checked it against Google Maps, and Google wanted to send us about 100 miles out of our way (Google does have a better interface, though). I used Mapquest again this time, and we arrived at the door of our hotel within five minutes of the time it had predicted. Making good time is very important to me, and this made me feel pretty good.
It turns out that we made a really good decision on the hotel. Instead of a dive, we stayed in a renovated Art Deco hotel right on Ocean Drive, across the street from the beach. It was a little away from the clubs, so where we were was pretty quiet at night, thank goodness. The room was small, but it was clean, and it had a really nice shower. Normally I hate hotel showers, but I actually felt clean coming out of this one. It had nice marble tile, so it really was nice. That was the best part of the room, though. Mostly, it reminded me of almost every hotel I had stayed at in Spain, which is to say that it had tile floors, adequate beds, and nothing else. The only noticeable difference from a Spanish hotel was the price. My goodness. It should be illegal to charge that much for a tiny hotel room. I'm lucky it was for a conference and my department is footing part of the bill. Otherwise, there is no way we could have done it.
We went to the beach both mornings we were there, and Her Nibs liked it a lot. She wouldn't put her feet in the water by herself, but she would ride the waves with me if I held her. We didn't go very far in, since I'm afraid of sharks, but the water was clear and warm. It was fun. I don't usually like the beach, but since we went early, the sun still wasn't shining, and there weren't crowds. Actually, I saw a guy wake up after a night on the beach when the water started licking his feet. I thought that only happened in the movies. It actually took him a while to realize the water was at his feet. I think he had a good time the night before.
The conference itself was pretty good. The first session I had wanted to go to was cancelled, so I had a chance to catch up with some of the other people there, some of whom I hadn't seen for several years. My session, in the afternoon, was well attended, but unfortunately the other two panelists had more "interesting" topics than I did, so no one bothered to ask me any questions or make comments about my work. Luckily, a few people spoke with me later and I got a few helpful comments. If they hadn't it would have kind of ruined the conference for me, because the whole point is to get input on your work (well, and "network" with people in your discipline). The sessions on Saturday were pretty good, too.
Friday night we went out to dinner, and we found a nice Spanish restaurant just down the street from where the conference was. It is run by an actual Spanish family, and the chef, along with much of the waitstaff, is from Spain as well. Good Spanish food is tough to find in this country, and we were really lucky. When we walked in, it felt Spanish, with tile that looked as though it had come straight from Seville. When the waiters switched to Spanish, they spoke with Madrid accents, and it reminded us of our time there. It also reminded us of a time when we went to a restaurant in Seville with my parents during the Feria de Abril. Everyone was at the fair, so we were almost the only ones in the restaurant. There were like three waiters just for us. The same thing happened in Miami. Because of Her Nibs, we eat early, so we were the first ones in the restaurant. They were all so friendly, and the service was great. The food was even better. We got a sampler of appetizers, so we each got some tortilla española, jamón serrano on bruschetta, and croquetas de jamón. Then Plainbellied got a barbecue pork tenderloin and I got paella valenciana.* Her Nibs nibbled on a salad (salad is her favorite food right now). We got gelato afterward, and I'm sure Plainbellied will tell all about that.
As we walked back to the hotel (the long way), a guy came up to us with a huge snake and asked if we wanted to pet it. Her Nibs was really scared, so the guy asked me if I wanted to hold it. I resisted, but he put it around my neck anyway, and then Her Nibs touched it and laughed. Well, I'm not stupid, and I know that when something like this happens they're going to ask for money. I'm thinking he'll ask for five bucks or something like that as a "donation." But he said, "I take Polaroid pictures of you with the snake for a donation of 20 dollars." He actually said it with a straight face. I know Polaroid makes its money on film, but 20 bucks for a single photo? Not on your life. I turned him down and he move on to the next sucker. It was almost as weird as the time a girl wearing a clown nose (and no makeup) got right up in my face as I walked home one night in Madrid and said, "Oooooooooooooo" while doing some strange dance. Of course, it also reminded me of Hulk Hogan's "24-inch pythons."
The trip was really great, but I should add a couple of caveats. I'm not sure I would have liked it so much if I had just gone there to hang out. I'm not a beach person. An hour in the morning is enough for me, because there were no crowds and the sun wasn't shining. I burn easily, so the beach is not for me. I think I was lucky to have a conference to go to, so I really only had to fill short periods of time with stuff to do, mostly the mornings and dinner time. I'm not into partying either, so most of what the beach has to offer isn't really my style. Also, if I had to pay for the whole thing myself, it would have been too expensive.
Even so, it took the bad taste of my last Miami trip out of my mouth. Maybe there'll be another conference there sometime.
*Tortilla española is basically a potato omelet. Jamón serrano is a Spanish cured ham, kind of like prosciutto but better (second only to jamón ibérico, which is incredible), and Croquetas de jamón are kind of like savory hush puppies with bits of jamón serrano in them. What they called paella valenciana was really paella mixta, which has both chicken and seafood in it. Paella valenciana should have rabbit and spanish chorizo in it, and maybe chicken, but no seafood. I've never had good paella at a restaurant in the US before. It was absolutely great.
SoBe
As Plainbellied mentioned, we're off to Miami Beach this weekend so I can attend a conference. Finding a hotel was the most recent adventure. A few years ago we went to Miami to get our visas for Spain, and it was a rather unpleasant experience. The highlight was getting room service at the Fairfield Inn (only time we've ever done room service). This time, though, we're going to stay in South Beach (SoBe), which is within walking distance of the conference site. I've heard lots of good things about it, but what people don't tell you is how expensive it is. I learned that in order to get decent accommodations there, it is required to sign away one's firstborn child.
I know Plainbellied covered this in her post, but I'd like to give my perspective on our search for hotel accommodations. I jumped on the first "reasonable" rate I found without clearly thinking it through because the conference hotel rate seemed excessive (from someone who never wants to pay more than 60 dollars a night). Last night, when I went looking for directions, etc., I discovered that people passionately despise the hotel I had booked. I've stayed in dives before, so I was prepared for the worst, and if I were going alone it would have been all right. However, since Plainbellied and Her Nibs are coming, I had second thoughts. As you can see from Plainbellied's description, there were some serious problems with the other place. I can tell the difference between a crank who simply didn't like the hotel and serious problems. Since multiple reviewers kept bringing up the same issues, it raised a major red flag. Instead of gutting it out, we decided to swallow our pride and chalk up the one-night cancellation penalty to a "learning experience."
There are still a few minor issues about the new place, but it looks to be sanitary, safe, and friendly (if possibly a bit loud). Apart from a few of the usual crusty reviewers, most people really like it. As long as we're not looking for luxury accommodations, it should be all right. And since it's one of the old Art Deco hotels, it will at least be interesting to look at.
We'll definitely give a solid write-up about the trip when we return. I'm still a bit intimidated by Miami, but hopefully things will turn out for the best.
I know Plainbellied covered this in her post, but I'd like to give my perspective on our search for hotel accommodations. I jumped on the first "reasonable" rate I found without clearly thinking it through because the conference hotel rate seemed excessive (from someone who never wants to pay more than 60 dollars a night). Last night, when I went looking for directions, etc., I discovered that people passionately despise the hotel I had booked. I've stayed in dives before, so I was prepared for the worst, and if I were going alone it would have been all right. However, since Plainbellied and Her Nibs are coming, I had second thoughts. As you can see from Plainbellied's description, there were some serious problems with the other place. I can tell the difference between a crank who simply didn't like the hotel and serious problems. Since multiple reviewers kept bringing up the same issues, it raised a major red flag. Instead of gutting it out, we decided to swallow our pride and chalk up the one-night cancellation penalty to a "learning experience."
There are still a few minor issues about the new place, but it looks to be sanitary, safe, and friendly (if possibly a bit loud). Apart from a few of the usual crusty reviewers, most people really like it. As long as we're not looking for luxury accommodations, it should be all right. And since it's one of the old Art Deco hotels, it will at least be interesting to look at.
We'll definitely give a solid write-up about the trip when we return. I'm still a bit intimidated by Miami, but hopefully things will turn out for the best.
Startling New Study
I like to read The Onion online. As a parent, I found this recent article to be one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time. I hope you enjoy it.
Who's Drinking the Kool-Aid Now?
Apparently, Kirsten Dunst has a high opinion of herself. Here's the short version. There is talk that Sam Raimi won't make the next Spiderman movie, and that Kirsten Dunst and Tobey Mcguire might not be in it. Dunst thinks that this is "disrespectful" to her and that "audiences aren't stupid. It'd be a big flop without me, Tobey, or Sam."
What do I think? I kind of liked the first two movies. I like a lot of comic-book type films (they're a guilty pleasure). Overall, though, I think the Spiderman movies would have been better without Mcguire and Dunst. I like what Raimi has done, but neither of the lead actors has done a particularly memorable job. Mcguire is OK, but I don't really like his delivery very much. I'm at the point now where I don't actually care if I see the next movie. I've liked the story lines, but the acting is problematic.
Dunst, in particular, has really been terrible. If they dropped her from the films, I would actually be more likely to see it. Take the second film, for example. Dunst's character, Mary Jane, is supposed to be some wonderful actress. But the scenes they show of her onstage in "The Importance of Being Earnest" are terrible. Add to that her bad teeth, and you have the makings of a disaster. Don't get me wrong, I thought that Dunst was solid in "Drop Dead Gorgeous," but I think she's had the same experience as a lot of other actresses. She gets into some serious films and somehow thinks she's a serious actress.
I think it's awfully pretentious of her to think she's somehow indispensable. Somebody needs to give her a reality check.
What do I think? I kind of liked the first two movies. I like a lot of comic-book type films (they're a guilty pleasure). Overall, though, I think the Spiderman movies would have been better without Mcguire and Dunst. I like what Raimi has done, but neither of the lead actors has done a particularly memorable job. Mcguire is OK, but I don't really like his delivery very much. I'm at the point now where I don't actually care if I see the next movie. I've liked the story lines, but the acting is problematic.
Dunst, in particular, has really been terrible. If they dropped her from the films, I would actually be more likely to see it. Take the second film, for example. Dunst's character, Mary Jane, is supposed to be some wonderful actress. But the scenes they show of her onstage in "The Importance of Being Earnest" are terrible. Add to that her bad teeth, and you have the makings of a disaster. Don't get me wrong, I thought that Dunst was solid in "Drop Dead Gorgeous," but I think she's had the same experience as a lot of other actresses. She gets into some serious films and somehow thinks she's a serious actress.
I think it's awfully pretentious of her to think she's somehow indispensable. Somebody needs to give her a reality check.
Maverick and Goose at the Airshow
Plainbellied and I have made a concerted effort to be more connected to the community where we live. There are a number of things we either didn't know about or simply never went to before. We started with the camping trip we took recently. Since then, we found a nice little pizza place in town that everyone else already seemed to know about and a fifties-style diner in a town about twenty minutes north (that other people already knew as well).
Last weekend, we took another leap and went to the airshow that came to town. Let me give a little background to this. When I was a kid, I had a friend whose family invited me to do things with them occasionally. They took me to a Patriots game against the Jets once and professional wrestling another time (back when it was real). :) Well, at one point they invited me to an airshow. I must have been about ten years old at the time. The problem with the airshow was that they planned to go on a Sunday, which is problematic for religious reasons. While I understand my parents' reasons now, I was very upset at the time. To top it all off, my friends who went came to school the next day to tell me all about their helicopter ride at the airshow.
I have been jealous ever since, and I never got to an airshow until now. We were unable to go a year and a half ago for some reason, so this time we decided that we would go no matter what. We took Her Nibs and our friend Don't Mess with Texas came along, too, after Plainbellied's game. It was a great time. We saw biplanes doing things that should be against the law (of gravity--ha ha ha). They brought out an F-18 fighter jet, and it was absolutely crazy what that thing was capable of. Other than high-speed maneuvers, it actually stayed in the air at under 100 MPH, and it weighs 40,000 lbs. Later they had an F-16 and a wing-walker as well, but watching the F-18 alone was worth the price of admission.
To top it all off, we got to go up in a helicopter. Plainbellied's father flew helicopters in Vietnam, so she's always wanted to go up in one, too. We made sure to take Her Nibs, who had a great time. Plainbellied went in a different helicopter than Her Nibs and I, and hers did some crazy stunts with her in it. I kind of wish I had gotten to go in that one, but I had my ride. I'll probably never get to do it again, and it was totally worth it.
Even though we had a great time, we quickly learned that we were airshow neophytes. It turns out that they don't actually provide seating at these things. I expected bleachers or something, but when we got there everyone else had brought camping chairs. There was also only limited shade. Most people had gotten there early and staked out positions under the wings of airplanes. Luckily, Don't Mess with Texas brought some SPF 50 and we got only very mild sunburns. We also realized immediately that we should have brought the camera.
We also learned that airshows are really loud. Her Nibs got very adept at covering her ears. Jets make a ton of noise, and since we were really close to the runway it was more than I had ever experienced. Every time the F-18 turned away from us, we got a roar from the engines. Anyway, it was an incredible afternoon. We all wanted to immediately rent Top Gun. Luckily, none of us had the energy to follow through on that.
Next up: we're taking a trip to Miami Beach so I can go to a conference. Since I had to get a hotel anyway, we thought we'd make a family trip of it. Should be fun.
Last weekend, we took another leap and went to the airshow that came to town. Let me give a little background to this. When I was a kid, I had a friend whose family invited me to do things with them occasionally. They took me to a Patriots game against the Jets once and professional wrestling another time (back when it was real). :) Well, at one point they invited me to an airshow. I must have been about ten years old at the time. The problem with the airshow was that they planned to go on a Sunday, which is problematic for religious reasons. While I understand my parents' reasons now, I was very upset at the time. To top it all off, my friends who went came to school the next day to tell me all about their helicopter ride at the airshow.
I have been jealous ever since, and I never got to an airshow until now. We were unable to go a year and a half ago for some reason, so this time we decided that we would go no matter what. We took Her Nibs and our friend Don't Mess with Texas came along, too, after Plainbellied's game. It was a great time. We saw biplanes doing things that should be against the law (of gravity--ha ha ha). They brought out an F-18 fighter jet, and it was absolutely crazy what that thing was capable of. Other than high-speed maneuvers, it actually stayed in the air at under 100 MPH, and it weighs 40,000 lbs. Later they had an F-16 and a wing-walker as well, but watching the F-18 alone was worth the price of admission.
To top it all off, we got to go up in a helicopter. Plainbellied's father flew helicopters in Vietnam, so she's always wanted to go up in one, too. We made sure to take Her Nibs, who had a great time. Plainbellied went in a different helicopter than Her Nibs and I, and hers did some crazy stunts with her in it. I kind of wish I had gotten to go in that one, but I had my ride. I'll probably never get to do it again, and it was totally worth it.
Even though we had a great time, we quickly learned that we were airshow neophytes. It turns out that they don't actually provide seating at these things. I expected bleachers or something, but when we got there everyone else had brought camping chairs. There was also only limited shade. Most people had gotten there early and staked out positions under the wings of airplanes. Luckily, Don't Mess with Texas brought some SPF 50 and we got only very mild sunburns. We also realized immediately that we should have brought the camera.
We also learned that airshows are really loud. Her Nibs got very adept at covering her ears. Jets make a ton of noise, and since we were really close to the runway it was more than I had ever experienced. Every time the F-18 turned away from us, we got a roar from the engines. Anyway, it was an incredible afternoon. We all wanted to immediately rent Top Gun. Luckily, none of us had the energy to follow through on that.
Next up: we're taking a trip to Miami Beach so I can go to a conference. Since I had to get a hotel anyway, we thought we'd make a family trip of it. Should be fun.
Playoff Time
Plainbellied asked me to write a piece on her game this weekend, because she would prefer that I give my "disinterested" take on it (quotes used for irony). Plainbellied's team lost, 2-0, which most likely means that they are now out of the playoffs for good. About the only highlight of the game for the good guys was Plainbellied in goal. Even though the other team scored twice, the problems lay with the defense, not the keeper. In case you think I'm just showing favoritism, I should point out that I played soccer for years--defense. One fundamental issue Plainbellied's team had was that the defense tended to bunch up and chase the ball, leaving opposing players open to take shots. Plainbellied did the best she could, but they kept shooting, and a couple got past. On offense, Orange Crush simply couldn't shoot. They had a few opportunities, but they missed the goal. Anyway, it was frustrating to watch.
Highlights of the game
One sequence in the second half where Plainbellied's defense completely abandoned her and she had to come out of the goal. She blocked three hard shots in quick succession, leading the crowd (me) to scream, "Nice!!" at the top of its lungs. She had a few other great saves, but that stands out more than any other.
The ref didn't seem to understand what his whistle was for. He tended to wait about thirty seconds to blow it after a foul was committed. I don't think he really knew what he was doing. Seriously, the players got to the point where they had to tell him to blow it when the ball went out of bounds and such. The other team started yelling, "Play the whistle!" because one never could tell if he planned to blow it at all. Absolutely amazing.
One of the opposing players is a friend of ours, and after her team's first game, she complained about how violent the other team played. She even had a scratch across her face to prove it. Well, yesterday, she took on the enforcer role. It was ironic. On one play, she totally tripped one of Plainbellied's teammates who was just about to break a big run past the defense. I screamed, "OOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH!" really loudly, expressing my displeasure. Probably she should have gotten a red card for the tackle, which seemed pretty malicious. She made two more tackles just like it. One of them sent a player off with a possible ankle sprain. I give her a big thumbs down for her Wayne Rooney imitation (on the link, scroll down to "Disciplinary issues").
Plainbellied's team only had one sub, so when one person went down, neither team had subs. So in the second half, the ref actually called a water break. I couldn't believe it. They only play 25-minute halves. He actually called a water break??!!!
Finally, I got to play the hero. I mentioned that Rooney, Jr. had injured another player. Well, no one had any ice to put on her ankle (it was so hot the ice in their water coolers was melted). Plainbellied asked me, "Don't we have an ice pack in the car first-aid kit?" In fact, we did. Plainbellied deserves the credit for remembering it, but I was the one who ran the 100 yards to the car and brought it back. Of course, one of Plainbellied's teammates is married to a doctor, who happened to be there and could check out the ankle, but I got the ice pack, dang it! That should count for something.
Highlights of the game
One sequence in the second half where Plainbellied's defense completely abandoned her and she had to come out of the goal. She blocked three hard shots in quick succession, leading the crowd (me) to scream, "Nice!!" at the top of its lungs. She had a few other great saves, but that stands out more than any other.
The ref didn't seem to understand what his whistle was for. He tended to wait about thirty seconds to blow it after a foul was committed. I don't think he really knew what he was doing. Seriously, the players got to the point where they had to tell him to blow it when the ball went out of bounds and such. The other team started yelling, "Play the whistle!" because one never could tell if he planned to blow it at all. Absolutely amazing.
One of the opposing players is a friend of ours, and after her team's first game, she complained about how violent the other team played. She even had a scratch across her face to prove it. Well, yesterday, she took on the enforcer role. It was ironic. On one play, she totally tripped one of Plainbellied's teammates who was just about to break a big run past the defense. I screamed, "OOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH!" really loudly, expressing my displeasure. Probably she should have gotten a red card for the tackle, which seemed pretty malicious. She made two more tackles just like it. One of them sent a player off with a possible ankle sprain. I give her a big thumbs down for her Wayne Rooney imitation (on the link, scroll down to "Disciplinary issues").
Plainbellied's team only had one sub, so when one person went down, neither team had subs. So in the second half, the ref actually called a water break. I couldn't believe it. They only play 25-minute halves. He actually called a water break??!!!
Finally, I got to play the hero. I mentioned that Rooney, Jr. had injured another player. Well, no one had any ice to put on her ankle (it was so hot the ice in their water coolers was melted). Plainbellied asked me, "Don't we have an ice pack in the car first-aid kit?" In fact, we did. Plainbellied deserves the credit for remembering it, but I was the one who ran the 100 yards to the car and brought it back. Of course, one of Plainbellied's teammates is married to a doctor, who happened to be there and could check out the ankle, but I got the ice pack, dang it! That should count for something.
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