the beautiful game, and the not-so-beautiful game

[rone]

The first All-African Amputee Football Tournament is taking place in Sierra Leone.  I'd love to see some of those games.  Those guys can be forgiven if they manage to miss a clean shot at goal; these guys, however, have no excuse for playing like they're missing a leg.  There are at least a few stars in there; i recognized Rudi Völler and Cristiano Ronaldo among the agonized head-clutchers.  As Gregg "TMQ" Easterbrook would write, "We're all professionals here."

As for those of us who aren't professionals, Crossfire lost last night to FC Red Storm, 9-6.  It was the first game in which i felt we could have won; we had no men substitutes, and they didn't sub out for a woman in the first half.  So they didn't last long to start the second half, and we gave up a bunch of goals.  They started subbing, and we managed to come back to 8-6 before giving up the final goal.  The ref scolded me after i threw myself across the path of a breaking attacker who was chasing the ball; i tried to grab the ball, but couldn't quite get a hold of it as the attacker tripped over me.  Anyway, we played a hell of a game.  We'll win one soon.