Monday's Meatloaf - of forecasts and pansies

As the calendar turns...February rain brings more March showers. Prophetic right? Stand back, I'm just warming up.

Soccer? In the RAIN?!?

Let me forewarn you Reader that this prose has the word soccer in it. For my non-Westernized friends visiting today that is a word that means futbol here in the USA, or in other words the game y'all go and watch before the rioting. The rest of you either recognize it as a sport or cast a self-righteous smirk at its mere mention. Either way, the meaning of this rambling goes well beyond that.


You see, I have fond memories of playing soccer as a kid and teenager. The best of which were in the rain, which made it acceptable to come home with muddy socks and a severe case of the sniffles. You could slide better when the pitch^* was wet and overall the game just had a controlled chaos feeling to it. It was awesome.


Fast forward to 2012 and the club my daughter belongs to closes the field when it rains. Closing the fields means no practice, no games...no fun. Furthermore it means no dribbling, passing and further development of skills. Sure, the admins need to protect the fields from too many cleats when the grass is wet and vulnerable. But don't we also need to give the youngsters a chance to learn the game under all of the elements Mother Nature can throw at them? Don't we have a greater responsibility to raise our kids to be able to overcome the odds?


How's it going to reflect on America in the years ahead when we send our Olympic teams to compete for futbol GOLD, it begins to rain and suddenly our strikers turn tail and head to the locker room? In the words of King Julian, we go from physically fit to just a bunch of pansies!!
* pitch - part of soccer nomenclature meaning field, or area designed for competition


Today's Ingredients

• We're transitioning from regular season to tourney time on the hardwoods. The women fell to South Carolina in Nashville while the men ended the regular season on a high note for Senior Day.
• Martin Van Dawgin looks at the Hoop Dawgs draw in New Orleans.
• sUGA falling finds the recent positive quotes about Isaiah Crowell refreshing, and hopes the trend continues this Fall.
• Blutarsky takes a look at some opening quotes from Auburn's future defensive coordinator new secondary coach.
• If you are one of the complete idiots that thinks it's ok to boo at Sanford "because you paid for that seat and you're just booing the coaches and by God it's you're right!!"...please, please read the words that Streit has typed.
• What happens when gators get über organized in the swamp? They gag on their own juice.
• With Super Tuesday upon us, now for some links with a political fare...As the chickens' AD polls constituents, Tyler helps read between the lines.
• Suddenly dissatisfied with our current SEC leadership? Expansion starting to leave a very real and sour taste? Don't worry, CCRider is ready to take over as SEC Commish. UPDATE: and he's pulled in a familiar looking endorsement.
• Looking for a way to get involved in sports, but you're not athletic? How about with a Marketing or IT background at Guide to Career Education.
• Lastly, in honor of Dr. Seuss' recent birthday..."In my world everyone's a pony. And they eat rainbows and poop butterflies." - Katie in Horton Hears a Who

Now back to the weather...

No cloud, no practice

And putting Katie's general life outlook aside, life isn't always filled with sunshine. When storm clouds approach the clock doesn't stop. Life goes on. And if life goes on the game must go on. Just as we can't let Glenn Burns scare us into buying up every carton of milk at Kroger at the very mention of "snow", we also can't let a little rain drive our kids indoors to sit in front of the rain streaked window wondering how many goals they were going to score before the clouds began to cool and water droplets began to form and subsequently begin their descent towards Earth. More specifically the soccer fields.


Did Mia Hamm's team take their ball and go home whenever it started to rain?


Isn't it bad enough that we already have a large hordes of human drivers (in the Atlanta area at least) that can no more drive safely and with sound logic when it rains than they can split the atom with a Gillette razor and a 10^th grade chemistry book? How's my little girl going to make the Olympic team if she gets the afternoon off whenever it gets cloudy? Hell, they even canceled practices Thursday when it was 70 degrees and sunny! She used her cleats to help aerate the yard instead of learning to leg tackle without losing her hair bow. It's ridiculous. If I wanted to raise a house full of wimpy fair weather kids I woulda gone to school in the Athletically Challenged Conference.


Next thing you know we'll cancel birthday parties because of fire hazards. Ugh. Here's your fork Reader. And an umbrella in case it clouds up. Enjoy your Monday.


Bernie