Germany 4 England 1
They played like dopey wankers. They were old, they were fat, they were slow, they were a bit too full of themselves as individual stars to play together as a team, and in the end, they were sent packing back to England by a younger, quicker German squad. Sure, Lampard got cheated out of a goal that would have equalized the match in the first half. But nothing in England’s play throughout this match and most of the World Cup gave any indication of team that could win, when necessary, at any cost. They had talent, but not the right talent. They had stars, but as well as Rooney, Terry, Lampard, Garrard and the rest play for their Premier League clubs, putting them together on the same team was not going to get the job done. They were star-crossed from the get go….from the John Terry/Wayne Bridge drama ahead of the World Cup to Wayne Rooney’s petulance on the pitch. And even though they showed some heart on occasion, they really honestly played like a bunch of dopey wankers.
England might have been served just as well or better if they’d sent an NPower League 1 team out there….the Milton Keynes Dons, or Dagenham & Redbridge. Heh. They might as well have…at least there would have been more team spirit.
But….it takes more than just team spirit to win…
USA 1 Ghana 2
It happened in 2006, and again, yesterday at Rustenberg. History seemed to repeat itself, albeit in a different way for different reasons. But at the end of 120 minutes of football, the result was still the same. Knocked-out by Ghana. Yes, THAT Ghana. Well…it was a deserved win on their part. Ghana was a lot crisper with their passing, and they were better able to capitalize on our mistakes. We made less mistakes than Ghana, but they made us pay for them. Ricardo Clark and Carlos Bocanegra got their lunch money stolen from them. At the end of the day, we let Ghana off the hook, and they got us dead to rights with sharper play on the pitch.
Overall, we did a lot more with a lower level of talent than England did. The difference is that through thick or thin, we played together as a team with more spirit than any of the big name teams out there. It’s a shame we didn’t get to move on to the semi-finals which we sure expected to do. In the end, we did it to ourselves with a few momentary defensive lapses….that, and not capitalizing on our offensive opportunities.
I wished I could have teleported to a bar in Ljubljana, Slovenia for this match. But I am, after all, trapped in my own little cosmos. So it was THE FIREHOUSE in Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin. And the end result was still the same. America is home, Slovenia is home, and England is home….and I will have another beer, and raise it in toast to our own little cosmos, swirling out there amongst the planets….swirling around the sun.
I promised that I would not forget about last Sunday’s Iowa Corn Indy 250 from Iowa Speedway in Newton Iowa. The race was won by the intrepid Tony Kanaan, who finally scores one for Andretti Autosport. His soon to be erstwhile team-mate, Danica Patrick finished in 10th and then headed off to Loudon, New Hampshire to save NASCAR. Her effort at salvation was derailed 8 laps into the race, somewhat ironically, by Morgan Shepherd in the RACING WITH JESUS #89 Chevrolet sponsored by DealTaker.com who got loose and spun her into the wall in turn 1 . Danica eventually finished 30th, 5 laps down. And thus, salvation awaits the onrushing march of time. It’s a slow train comin’, coming down the line…. But pretty soon, the lights will fire up the darkness of the night, and that lonesome whistle will blow.
The only problem will be that the train will be 4 hours and 27 minutes late.
We all have our own little cosmos. And that probably is the saddest thing in the world. We believe and believe and believe and in the end we are crushed, for the most part, left dangling from a thing thread of disbelief.
It would be nice if it was naught that way, if all our positive thinking and hard work would ALWAYS pay off like a loose slot machine. It would be a pretty thing if we could get people to do everything we want them to do. The world, however, tends to have a different sense of beauty…and aesthetic that can be closer to ugliness. Many times, skill can only get you so far. Then the road is fraught with danger….and it becomes more a matter of how you think about reality in an emotional sense. So it more a matter of how you handle that…how positive you remain, how dedicated and loyal and true to your beliefs you when everything goes careening off the cliff, into the fog and the vale of despair. If you keep on trucking’ after that, keep all 18 wheels on the road, you will arrive at somewhere good at some point in time.
So everyone, you, me, that ugly guy you see in the mirror every morning, that rapacious and paranoid boss you have to deal with on an unnecessarily continuous basis…they all have their own little cosmos where sometimes, the planets don’t always revolve around the Sun, or when they do, it’s ofttimes in retrograde motion. To be honest, other than my poetic and anthropological curiosity, I really don’t to know what sick fucking cosmos y’all inhabit. Y’all get a glimpse of mine here of course…more than you need or WANT to know…but if you’ve read this far, it’s your lookout.
Despite what worthless shite is cast my way, I try, despite all logic and reason to the contrary, to keep a positive approach, a determination to rise above. It’s not easy, and lately it’s been harder than you could imagine. But I will not waver from my resolve.
However, Jimmie Johnson’s second win in a row today in the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at Loudon almost leaves me in despair. Kurt Busch passed him after the final restart, nudged Johnson aside and took off like a raped ape and held the lead….but his old tires would not hold the lead long enough to to win. So Johnson passed him, went on to win, and though spared the polish Victory Lap of Miller LITE on ice, I would have preferred that result to the result that actually occurred. I wish I could teleport to the aforementioned bar in Ljubljana, Slovenia. But…the results again would still remain the same. *flail* USA 1 Ghana 2. Jimmie Johnson wins. Danica Patrick has naught saved NASCAR. England’s lads are a bunch of dopey wankers. And in this way I fall a little bit further and deeper into my own little cosmos, drowning in a pool of light.