Life Changes

One of my greatest moments in soccer occurred in the spring of 2008. I was the captain of my club soccer team, Rampage F.C., and we were invited to participate in one of the biggest college showcase tournaments in Southern California known as the Surf Cup. As captain of the team, my coach continuously required perfection and leadership which put a lot of stress on my shoulders. In order to prepare the team, my co-captain and I called extra practices for our team every Friday night, missing nearly all our high school football games. It really upset a lot of players, including myself, that we missed out on a lot of our high school experiences.

However, hard work does pay off. By the end of the tournament we became the Surf Cup champions. Woohoo!! It was definitely a tough bracket playing teams from all over including Canada, Washington, Michigan, etc. With this championship under our belts, a lot of my teammates started to be looked at by many college coaches. I have two teammates attending Cal State Northridge, a Division 1 soccer school. As for myself, I was scouted by a school named Vassar all the way out in the east coast. I went to visit the coach for a second time and received a private tour of the school. Unfortunately, I decided against it because the school just wasn’t for me. I do not regret my decision to attend Long Beach but I continuously wonder how my life would have changed if I had chosen to attend Vassar instead.

Catch me if you can!

It is definitely a sight to attend your first futbol game inside a major stadium. I’m sure there were some first time fans out there at the friendly game between Brazil and Argentina. An all time classic game between two powerhouse teams. However, there was one over zealous fan during the game who decided to go for a little run. He thought it would be a good idea to run straight through the field as the players were still playing. Fortunately, he was not one of the naked runners that come through every once in a while. So all those first time fans did not get to see too interesting of a show. 

That is something I hope to be able to do one day before I die. Some time during the span of my life, I would love to just run through a major soccer game in a big stadium. I’m sure anyone who has done it before must know it has to be a major rush of adrenaline. I don’t think I will be one of the streakers, but I would like to do something just as spontaneous and just as crazy. For all you people out there who have made a bucket list, I suggest putting this running event at the top. I think it would be hilarious to get a whole group of people in on the run and have multiple people run through the field. That way, when security comes, they have to spread out and try to catch all of us as opposed to focusing on one person. 

An Octopus that could tell the future

I’m sure we have all seen one of the many movies of Air Bud or possibly the fainting goats on youtube. Here is an interesting topic that I recently learned about myself. Apparently, over the course of this previous world cup, there was an octopus that pre-determined the outcome of every match correctly. A psychic octopus named Paul! There are many talented animals I have heard about all over the world but this particular talent is a particular favorite of mine. If you are a bookie taking bets for world cup soccer games, I strongly suggest buying a psychic octopus like Paul.

Unfortunately, Paul the octopus died on October 26, 2010 at the age of two and a half. Paul was located at the Sea Life aquarium in Oberhausen, Germany. His unique gift came from deciding which treat he liked better. Paul’s handlers placed shells and various goodies inside two glass tanks; one with one flag of a country and the other with the corresponding country’s team. Paul the octopus would float down and choose the first box he saw fit. Surprisingly, every time Paul chose the first box, his prediction of which team would emerge victorious came true.