Day 223: High School Girls Soccer is Rough Business

I never played soccer at a competitive level. As a kid, sure, I kicked that black and white ball around... tried to see how many consecutive bounces on my knee I could do. (The answer: not many.) But my high school never got a girls soccer team until I was a junior. And by that time, I had decided that sports that included balls flying at my face and girls trying to slide tackle me was not my cup of tea. Plus, there's just way too much running. I was more into those non-contact sports like track (sprinter) and softball (really bad second baseman).

But Saturday morning was the Class A girls soccer state championship game between the undeafeted Windham Eagles and the Bangor Rams. A friend of mine has a kid on the Windham team...so naturally, I wanted to show my support (despite my worries about being a jinx.) I'm glad I went. This game was a real nail biter throughout the first 40 minute half. Windham peppered the Bangor goalie with shots—some directly at her, and some that found the crossbar or the football goalpost just behind the goal. Parents in the stands murmured frustrations.

It was obvious from the get-go, Windham was the dominant force in this match-up. I'm not sure Bangor knew what to expect—or if they did, they didn't take the threat seriously. I'm surprised the Windham goal keeper didn't fall asleep with virtually all the action taking place in front of the Bangor net. And I'm positive that the Rams felt lucky to get out of that first half with the score tied at zero. Windham, most likely, felt frustrated. I know the fans sure did.

The second half opened with a quick goal by Windham's Ciera Berthiaume  just 51 seconds into the second half to get the scoring started. The Eagles never looked back and the Rams just couldn't pull their shit together to make a run. Windham, who outshot a sluggish looking Bangor team by what felt like a million to one, ended up winning 3-0 to win their first state soccer title since 1994.

Watching this game made me realize something about soccer: this is a rough game. I admire these girls for their tenacity and resilience—they never seem to give up on the ball no matter where it is and they all take a ball to the face like it's no big deal. There were about two dozen plays in this game that would've forced me into the fetal position. But these girls just get up and chase down the play like they just got hit with a Nerf ball. I saw one girl get hit in the face with a ball—a play that most certainly would've sent me to the emergency room.

Congratulations to the Windham Eagles on their Gold Ball... it was a really fun way to spend a sunny but crisp Saturday morning! (For a complete recap of the game, click on over to the Bangor Daily News.)

Day 98: So I Guess Soccer is Pretty Dangerous

***May contain graphic descriptions of really bad stuff so if violence bothers you, this might not be the post for you.***

I really thought that the whole Aaron Hernandez murder thing would be the most horrifying sports story I would hear about for a long time... and then came Brazilian soccer. This football tale could easily be the plot for a really scary movie—a tale I'm not sure even the sickest mind could make up and there have been some really effed up movie plots over the years.

The story takes place at an amateur Brazilian soccer match a little over a week ago. The characters involved include 20-year-old match referee Otavio da Silva and 31-year-old player Josenir Abreu. The referee (da Silva) issued a red card to the player (Abreu)—a normal soccer occurrence, right? Evidently Abreu took offense to the red card and began arguing with da Silva, refusing to leave the field.

Da Silva became incensed with the arguing and decided to take action in shutting the argumentative player up. The referee reportedly had a knife in his possession and began to repeatedly stab Abreu on the field. The player was pronounced dead when he arrived at the hospital later. Even if the story ends here, it's pretty disturbing, right? To think that a referee, the person who is charged with making sure the rules are being followed, could commit such a heinous act is frightening.

But here's where the story goes from horrifying to downright gruesome. Several spectators—most likely family and friends of the victim—rushed the field in response to the attack and brutally assaulted the referee. It was reported that the attackers stoned da Silva then quartered and decapitated him, subsequently hanging the referee's head on a stake. Huh?

I honestly can't wrap my head around the first crime, let alone the grisly act that followed. I'm sure there will be a lot of soccer players not too thrilled about traveling to Brazil for the 2014 World Cup next summer after this nightmare...