My 1^st Pro Soccer Game – 9 thoughts

Saturday, I went to a Sporting KC Soccer game, my first pro soccer game, and it was fun. I grew up watching Dick Butkus, who killed ducks with an elbow shiver when he was retired. He played football. Soccer, European Football, I thought could be violent. It was different. I had to adjust though because of the following 9 things.

1. It’s always family day. Maybe it’s the venue, the vibe, but KC has a fun and safe space. Tons of families and everyone was polite. I grew up watching the Blackhawks on Maddison, and the Bears at Soldier Field. Fights could break out on the ice, on the field or in the stands. We had to stuff my little brother, Johnny the only child, under the seats during a spectator brawl in a 1976 Blackhawks game. You would weave a blanket of cuss words about the referees' grandchildren progeny. Dad would be disappointed if we didn’t yell for our team like that, just don’t tell mm. Heck, mothers are at these soccer games. I wanted to yell at Gareth Bale, a Welsh soccer player for the loathed LA, not galaxy, opponents like “Even the sheep in Cardiff aren’t scared of you.” Or “A man Bun does not make you a man.” Best I could do without offending anyone was “Your mother wears combat boots.” Which, in 1978, was pretty meaningful, not a smart fashion choice like today.
   
   
2. Flopping Players. Soccer players flop more than a school of drunken porpoises in a kiddie pool. Guys go down at the potential of a touch. They make LeBron look like Barishnikov. Not only is it annoying, but it obfuscates when guys are actually hurt. There was a head on collision that knocked both men out. That was no flop, it was real contact.
   
   
3. Refs don’t wear stripes. They wear dayglow orange. They were allowed work release from the
   KC Hank Stram Correctional Facility and had to keep their work clothes on.
   
   
4. Consistent Calls. This could be 3A, but the refereeing was not consistent. Famous Baseball umpire, Nestor Chylak, may have had a strange inside left strike zone, but it was always consistent. As a newbie, I figured I’d struggle, but when fans would notice, I felt comforted when fans were just as confused.
   
   
5. Perpetual Clock. These kids are athletes. They are constantly moving. The clock never stops, no time outs for anything. Just play until the work release team in Dayglow Orange tells you to stop. My first player I became a fan of was Logan Nbende, I called him “Cool Breeze” he was getting the ball, perpetually running, showing little emotion, just seemed to be in all the right places. Then there was #7 Johnny Russel, definitely a hockey player in soccer player clothes. He essentially beat the crap out the guy trying to take the ball from him in the offensive side corner. I need a pint with that boy, it would be fun. Finally, “Zito Hellas!” to my Greek Brother #27 Tzonis.
   
   
   
6. We lost our goalie because of a cheap shot. A lot of hockey references here, like shouldn’t that area by the goal be like the crease, and shouldn’t we have had a benches clearing brawl with blood in the soil, and it’s soccer. Everyone was way too polite. Then, like hockey, the put the new goalie and isolate him, poor guy never had a chance.
   
   
7. Yellow Card System. Not sure what constitutes a yellow card, but I like it! It’s “You’ve been a bad, bad, boy card, and we are going to call your mother right now!” Then they get a card for being a total dork too often and get thrown out. YES! I think a 5-minute time-out for the player…in a penalty box without a replacement could amp scoring too. Also, Substitutes wear ugly tank tops to remind everyone they are not good enough to start. That seemed kind of mean spirited to me.
   
   
8. Offsides. Finally, thank you Matt, somebody explained offsides. I actually watched the side ump in relation to the ball. I understood offsides, like icing, it helped. Still would have liked a blue line but I get it now.
   
   
   
9. The People! Everyone I came across was super, super nice. The young ladies that sold me my t-shirt, scarf and soccer ball were great. I now am building KC Sporting nook in my basement. I just need autographs on the ball to go with my Bears, Blackhawks and yes, Hank Stram era signed memorabilia.
   

6 Will Smith Oscar Fight Thoughts

 

6 Will Smith Oscar Fight Thoughts

1. Jada Pinkett Smith can stand up for herself.
   I like her. I think she’s an intelligent, beautiful actress and, yes, I have watched her show the Red Table. She is strong. Arguably, she could have landed a better punch. Bottom line, it was her fight, not her husband’s. She was obviously upset, but she doesn’t need Will Smith fighting her fights.
   
   
2. Will Smith sucker slapped/punched Chris Rock.
   Please don’t justify a cheap shot. It still failed. The fact it happened on an international stage, on what should be the happiest night of Will Smith’s life, makes it even worse. Additionally, Chris Rock is the smaller man, didn’t take up boxing to support an acting role and wasn’t protected. The fact that Chris Rock has an iron jaw came in handy as he didn’t go down.
   
   
3. Chris Rock is a comedian.
   He is paid to take those shots. Regina Hall felt up men on stage, alluded to Jada Pinkett Smith’s entanglements, and people kind of laughed and no action. Imagine if Chris Rock had done that joke. He is an edgy comedian.  Whether he knew about her alopecia, understood the brewing anger after taking shots at Smiths’ in the past, or he simply misread the audience, he gets paid to say that type of stuff. He can certainly be more caustic and funnier. The Oscars was a swing and a whiff.
   
   
4. Will Smith just reinforced a horrible stereotype.
   I turned to my bride Alexis and good friend Trudi and said as much right when the incident happened. My friend Cullen is right about the reinforcement of the angry black men stereotype. Broadcaster Stephen A Smith said it best “..he just stained the greatest moment of his career. You cannot do that S$&@!!Especially as a BLACK MAN, in that position, to ANOTHER BLACK MAN(@chrisrock) on THAT STAGE.”
   Toxic Masculinity, standing up for your wife, or immaturity, regardless there is no justification. It is a stain on Will Smith. Chris Rock will be membered for telling a bad joke then getting sucker punched. It will be part of his monologue by the end of the week.
   
   
5. Spin Machine:
   The commentators all talked about how Denzel Washington and Tyler Perry comforted, or settled down, Will Smith. What we didn’t see was Will Smith’s publicist talking to him at the commercial break. Damage control, spin the image, recovery, and comfort, were the topics of that short conversation. My point is that the Smiths’ have a very crafted image. From open marriage, to entanglements, to TMI from the Red Table they have put themselves in full public view. They are insulated and privileged people. Equating a debatable bad joke as an excuse to protect your family is entitlement. I’m sorry, kick the ass of the guy in the entanglement with your wife, not the comedian. Smith apologized to the Academy, but not Rock. The apology is as hollow as the pipeline in North Dakota.
   
   
6. WWJD – What would Jimmy do?
   My friend Sally made me think, “What would I have done in the same situation?” Great question. Someone makes a joke at my wife’s expense. The joke is public, not funny, and insulting. If I were in my 20s, maybe I launch at Defcon 1. Otherwise, I wait. My first thought was; I would pull the person aside and say “WTF, let’s go outside or go right now. Either way we settle this now.” Then I started to think, if the joke was at Alexis, she is a strong woman who doesn’t take shit. I would have let her say something from the chair and stopped her from rushing the stage. In the end, it is her fight, I am support

6 Reasons Putin Doesn't Care

 Jimmy Dee Greek Is Upset!!

Zero, wrong, godless, ignorant and we shouldn’t be surprised. The naked aggression of Vladimir Putin into the Ukraine is horrific and expected. Here are 6 reasons why:

1) Putin is soulless:  He said he found God a while back. Well, it’s safe to say, Vlad lost him. What God fearing person, or person of any faith, acts like Vlad, a ruthless killer. The head of the Russian Church, Patriarch Kyril, is just his lacky. (A tough pill for me to swallow as I am an Orthodox Christian.) The church is a tool for Vlad to control the faithful, and Kyril is simply an enabler. Vlad’s soul is darker than my coffee, and that’s saying something.

2) Putin was head of the KGB. Putin was a member of the KGB (now the FSB which I think stands for Friendlier Soviet Beatings), the soulless secret police for 80 years in Russia. We think he cares about feelings, trigger warnings, or humanity? He craves absolute power over whatever he thinks belongs to him. That means Ukraine!

3) The war is too slow: Speed is not an issue. It’s westerners projecting how they think Putin should feel. Back to rule 1, he’s soulless, doesn’t care how many people will die, whether they are Russian or Ukraine. 

4) Vlad is scared of no country: The West has ceded everything to him since the year 2000. Chechnya, Georgia, Crimea and now Ukraine. NATO did nothing. The world said, “You’re mean, stop that!” and Putin moved forward. He was the head of the freaking KGB. No one has stood up to him. He's routinely tried to poison heads of state who don’t agree with him. The west’s response?  Crickets. Official memos of censure and condemnation do not count. At least not to Vlad. The world is outraged, and we will impose economic sanctions. The US sanctions won’t start till June of 2022. Ouch, but he won’t care. People are expendable in Putin’s war. Russia will, at whatever cost, destroy. Sanctions will hurt the Oligarchs, but they have no leverage over Vlad. His biggest disappointment is that he can no longer get a McDonald’s McBorscht Half Kilo-Burger with Tvorog. He will improvise.

5) The BOMB is in play. If Vlad drops the bomb tomorrow, what will be the Western response. Will we invade Russia? No. Will the West nuke Russia back? No. Will we impose sanctions? Yes, and Vlad will still not be able to get a contraband McBorscht Half Kilo-Burger with Tvorog. He knows there are no repercussions to his actions.

6) Who will stand against Vlad? Rhetoric, sanctions and clever memes are good for morale, but they do not beat boots on the ground. Poland is justifiably freaking out because they border Ukraine. What’s to stop Vlad from going south. Until NATO and the European Union put troops on the border, enforce a no-fly zone and put up a buffer, then Vlad marches on. I don’t like using Hitler comparisons, but here, it is apropos. The West appeased Hitler until half of Europe was gone. We are doing that now. Ask Poland what they think.