The Daily Muddle

Vicky Cristina Barcelona - Woody Allen doing what Woody Allen does best - make you contemplate life decisions

Hey folks – I just watched Vicky Cristina Barcelona and couldn’t resist a quick recommendation post.  It’s another great great Woody Allen film filled with Woody Allen “life” questions and Woody Allen quick whit.  From the narrating throughout (which I have recently realized I really enjoy in films), fantastic music, and the spectacular Spanish setting the film was only a quarter old before I knew I loved it and once it was over I easily concluded it was one of the best I had seen in awhile.  I think I can finally say that I need to go on a Woody Allen movie binge soon.  Everything I’ve ever seen of his I have thoroughly enjoyed and Vicky Cristina Barcelona is no different.  Anyways – if you have 90 free minutes sometime soon I can’t recommend this film enough.

I really don’t have much to say about this (it really speaks for itself and you can come to your own conclusions) except for the fact that you need to read it….all of it.  This email comes from a Scituate (suburb of Boston) soccer coach of a girls under 8 team.  He apparently works at Eaton Vance.  He apparently should try to keep that job because he does not have a chance in hell of coaching this team after sending this email to the parents of the girls on his soon to be former team.  Enjoy:

Congratulations on being selected for Team 7 (forest green shirts) of the Scituate Soccer Club!  My name is [you don't really need to know] and I have been fortunate enough to be selected to coach what I know will be a wonderful group of young ladies.  [Assistant 1] will also be coaching and I expect the ever popular [Assistant 2] to return to the sidelines.  Our first game will be Saturday April 4 at 10:00AM.  There will be a half hour of skills followed by a 1 hour game, so total time will be 1.5 hours.  All games will be played on the fields in the front of the High School.  Each player will be required to wear shin guards and cleats are recommended but not required.  A ball will be provided to each player at the first meeting, and each player should bring the ball to games and practices.  There is no set practice time allotted for the U8 teams, but I will convene with the coaches to determine the best time and place.  If there are cancellations due to rain, all notices will be posted via the Scituate Soccer Club website, no calls will be made (though I will try to send an email).  Attached is the Schedule and Code of Conduct.  After listening to the head of the referees drone on for about 30 minutes on the dangers of jewelry (time which I will never get back), no player will be allowed to play with pierced ears, hairclips, etc.   We used to tape the earrings, but that practice is no longer acceptable.  Please let me know if your child has any health issues that I need to be aware of.  My home phone is XXXXX, my cell number is XXXXX, and I check my email frequently.  According to my wife, my emails get too wordy, so for those of you read too slowly, are easily offended, or are too busy, you can stop here.  For the others……

OK, here’s the real deal:  Team 7 will be called Green Death.  We will only acknowledge “Team 7″ for scheduling and disciplinary purposes.  Green Death has had a long and colorful history, and I fully expect every player and parent to be on board with the team.  This is not a team, but a family (some say cult), that you belong to forever.  We play fair at all times, but we play tough and physical soccer.  We have some returning players who know the deal; for the others, I only expect 110% at every game and practice.  We do not cater to superstars, but prefer the gritty determination of journeymen who bring their lunch pail to work every week, chase every ball and dig in corners like a Michael Vick pit bull.   Unless there is an issue concerning the health of my players or inside info on the opposition, you probably don’t need to talk to me.  Coach [Assistant 1] has been designated “good guy” this year.

Some say soccer at this age is about fun and I completely agree.  However, I believe winning is fun and losing is for losers.  Ergo, we will strive for the “W” in each game.  While we may not win every game (excuse me, I just got a little nauseated) I expect us to fight for every loose ball and play every shift as if it were the finals of the World Cup.  While I spent a good Saturday morning listening to the legal liability BS, which included a 30 minute dissertation on how we need to baby the kids and especially the refs, I was disgusted.  The kids will run, they will fall, get bumps, bruises and even bleed a little.  Big deal, it’s good for them (but I do hope the other team is the one bleeding).  If the refs can’t handle a little criticism, then they should turn in their whistle.  The sooner they figure out how to make a decision and live with the consequences the better.  My heckling of the refs is actually helping them develop as people.  The political correctness police are not welcome on my sidelines.  America’s youth is becoming fat, lazy and non-competitive because competition is viewed as “bad”.  I argue that competition is good and is important to the evolution of our species and our survival in what has become an increasingly competitive global economy and dangerous world.  Second place trophies are nothing to be proud of as they serve only as a reminder that you missed your goal; their only useful purpose is as an inspiration to do that next set of reps.  Do you go to a job interview and not care about winning?  Don’t animals eat what they kill (and yes, someone actually kills the meat we eat too – it isn’t grown in plastic wrap)?  And speaking of meat, I expect that the ladies be put on a diet of fish, undercooked red meat and lots of veggies.  No junk food.  Protein shakes are encouraged, and while blood doping and HGH use is frowned upon, there is no testing policy. And at the risk of stating the obvious, blue slushies are for winners.

These are my views and not necessarily the views of the league (but they should be).  I recognize that my school of thought may be an ideological shift from conventional norms.  But it is imperative that we all fight the good fight, get involved now and resist the urge to become sweat-xedo-wearing yuppies who sit on the sidelines in their LL Bean chairs sipping mocha-latte-half-caf-chinos while discussing reality TV and home decorating with other feeble-minded folks.  I want to hear cheering, I want to hear encouragement, I want to get the team pumped up at each and every game and know they are playing for something.

Lastly, we are all cognizant of the soft bigotry that expects women and especially little girls, to be dainty and submissive; I wholeheartedly reject such drivel.  My overarching goal is develop ladies who are confident and fearless, who will stand up for their beliefs and challenge the status quo.  Girls who will kick ass and take names on the field, off the field and throughout their lives.  I want these girls to be winners in the game of life.   Who’s with me?

Go Green Death!

From almost being in the NIT to the Sweet 16

So the first and second rounds of the Men’s NCAA Tournament have come to a conclusion and I know many who would argue that most of the fun is now over.  I would certainly be in that boat.  If you can remember, awhile back one of my first posts was on the Top 5 Sporting Events people look forward to each year.  The Men’s NCAA Tournament was a staple of many people’s lists – more specifically the 1st and 2nd rounds.  So I thought it appropriate to write a little follow-up post.  Overall, the first and second rounds were a lot of fun – Thursday was a little on the blah side, but Friday through Sunday were great.  Both Friday (Ohio St. vs. Siena & Wisconsin vs. Florida St) and Saturday night (Gonzaga vs. W. Kentucky & Duke vs. Texas) were great games that capped off great days of basketball.  Last night was a little less exciting, but the Marquette vs. Missouri & Michigan St. vs. USC games provided some nice Sunday afternoon drama.  It seems that over the past several years a 13 seed has managed its way into the 2nd round and Cleveland St. did just that by beating Wake Forest pretty handily.  I’d have to say that the Ohio St. vs. Siena game Friday night was my favorite of the weekend, but you could make an argument for numerous others.

After doing pretty horrendous in the first round with my picks I made a second round comeback by getting all 16 second round games correct (I think this is the first time ever I have had the entire Sweet 16 correct).  The funny thing is – I didn’t watch any college basketball or do any pre-tournament research before making my picks.  I usually get a little crazy between the time the bracket comes out and Thursday morning, but due to my school schedule and the much more important fantasy baseball draft that occured on Saturday I just didn’t have the time to put effort into the bracket.  I probably filled it out in less than 15 minutes hoping for the best….and what has transpired?  I’m doing much better than when I actually think I know something about it all.

Just a couple other musings from the weekend – if you’re into golf, how amazing were the Master’s commercials this weekend?  Every time I hear the music and Jim Nance saying, “A tradition unlike any other” I get goosebumps and entirely too giddy.  I cannot wait for April 8th.  How annoying are truck commercials – especially these ones with Howie Long.  Why don’t they just come out and say what they’re basically saying, “my manhood is bigger than yours because I drive a Chevy” or whatever truck he is promoting.  Seriously – does driving a horrendously big pickup truck make you more of man?!?  These commercials are driving me crazy!  Let’s see…what else – I had my fantasy baseball draft this weekend and I really wanted to write a post about it, but I can’t think of an angle that anyone would care about (do you care that I drafted Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder in the 1st and 2nd rounds?  No, you don’t, so I’m not going to write about it).  All in all I think it went well though and I thoroughly look forward to the beginning of the baseball season.

That’s it – a little housecleaning post.  How is everyone doing in their brackets….anything particular happen over the 1st and 2nd rounds that you’re extremely excited/disgusted about?  Which team looked the best to you?  Thoughts on the Masters….stupid truck commercials?  We all saw the same 14 commercials over and over this weekend….any other ones extremely annoying or good?

Really really quick post today because I need to study for my Job Analysis midterm, but it was brought to my attention by my friend Brinley (who dove at Union and who’s brother now attends and swims there) that the DIII National Swimming Championships are being televised via the internets!  I opened it up and saw my coach on the deck (he’s wearing a t-shirt with a big U on the back of it), which was totally thrilling!

Anyways, check it out!  Division III National Swimming Championships.

If you’ve visited The Daily Muddle before you know that I’ve referenced my friend Zach’s two websites quite a bit.  Well, I’m here today to do it again.  His most recent post regarding Apple’s new iPod Shuffle is just great.  Zach has long been opposed to the war on buttons and I’ve agreed with him every step of the way.  Buttons are not bad (especially when there is no reason not to have them on a device like the new Shuffle – why does eliminating buttons on the device make it better?  It doesn’t).  Thanks to Zach I thoroughly enjoyed the below video brought to you by The Onion.  I think it sums up my argument that buttons make you more efficient and removing buttons from devices may make them sleeker and more sexy, but who cares when the device doesn’t actually help you do anything?  It’s ironic that devices (especially mobile devices) were created to make the workforce more efficient, but then they remove the part of the product that makes you most efficient – huh?

Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard

Side note – Take a look at today’s Onion feature article.  As a history buff, I found this to be absolutely hilarious.

Redcoat Holdouts Still Fighting American Revolution

Have you thought about giving Facebook the ax?  Because I have.  A lot.  Let’s start with my Facebook story to give you some background.  At first I abstained from Facebook when it was released my senior year of college thinking it was just a fad and that it didn’t have any real benefits (more on this in a second).  I didn’t sign up to the chagrin of many and I didn’t sign up for awhile.  It wasn’t until September of last year that I took the plunge.  It obviously wasn’t a fad, I had been out of school for awhile and was hoping to get in touch with some old friends, all the cool kids were doing it – it just seemed that it was time….no more reason to hold out.  So I signed up and you know what – I really really liked it.  I got in touch with some old friends, posted a few pictures, checked up on a few people (I mean…it’s Facebook) and for awhile it was great.  It was doing exactly what I wanted it to do.

The problem came after a few months when more and more of my life was making its way onto Facebook.  See at first, I thought I could control what was put on Facebook about me.  I soon realized that I didn’t.  Sure, I can control all the settings of who can view my profile and so forth, but that’s not gonna stop people from posting pictures of me, commenting on these pictures, and writing on my wall.  I go out….you know what happens when you go out….people take pictures…then people put those pictures on Facebook.  I have no control over this and I don’t like it….at all.  It’s not that anything bad has been posted about me, but it’s the potential that down the line something will be posted (that probably isn’t even meant to be harmful) that I really don’t want on there.  Coinciding with this, Facebook seems a little intrusive for me.  I mean, there is a reason the term “Facebook Stalking” exists.  I don’t really understand why people feel the need to divulge scores of private information about themselves that should only be privy to a small amount of their closest friends and family.  And don’t even get me started on the “In a Relationship” or “________ is now single” updates or people who decide to have a conversation via posting on each other’s walls for the whole world to see.

I guess where I am really struggling is that I’m failing to see what Facebook brings to my life.  At first it was great.  It did exactly what I wanted it to – I got in touch with old friends and reminicsed about the old times.  This was fantastic.  But you know what?  I don’t do that anymore – I caught up with old friends…..I have their phone numbers and email addresses and that’s all I need now.  I rarely go on anymore and when I do get the occasional email that I’ve been tagged in a photo or someone has written on my wall….I don’t get excited…I cringe at what the possibilities are.

It isn’t all bad – I mean – I think there are a few redeeming qualities to Facebook.  The potential that Facebook has to connect people cannot be denied.  Breaking down barriers with who can communicate with who is something that has to be supported and cultivated.  The potential for people halfway across the world to find out that they do in fact have many of the same interests is something that could bring everyone closer together (this isn’t a post about that though).  Unfortunately, at this point in the game, Facebook isn’t really being used for this.  It’s being used for more shallow purposes, shall we say.

Maybe I am being too pessimistic or too concerned about it all, but even if I am…..I’m still struggling with why Facebook benefits me.  I think most people would consider themselves busy individuals and I’m not sure time spent on Facebook checking up on others is time well spent.  So if in the future you see me disappear from Facebook….well now you know why.  Maybe I’ll join again in 5 years and catch up with some friends, but after a few months I fear I’d be having the same reservations.  I’d love to hear your opinions….does anyone agree with me?  Disagree?  Think I’m crazy?  Not want to be my friend anymore (in real life or online)?

**UPDATE**

Thanks to Emily (don’t you just love the irony of that link…because I do) Bill Simmons discusses the Facebook/Twitter topic today in his mailbag.  Enjoy.

Q: Can you think of the sports equivalent of the spouses of buddies whose Facebook friend-request you accepted who constantly update their status on the topic of taking care of their kids? Like “Jenn is watching her little ones nap” and “Sarah is playing ‘Bob the Builder’ with her kids! Yay!” As a 28-year-old unmarried man, it’s not that I don’t appreciate females or motherhood, it’s just that I don’t care. For the same reason that I don’t update my status with “Kully just put on jock itch cream.”
– Kully, Guangzhou, China

SG: Wouldn’t the sports equivalent be like ending up with an undesirable throw-in for an NBA trade (aka Marcus Banks)? The more interesting angle for me is how Twitter and Facebook reflect where our writing is going thanks to the Internet. In 15 years, writing went from “reflecting on what happened and putting together some coherent thoughts” to “reflecting on what happened as quickly as possible” to “reflecting on what’s happening as it’s happening” to “here are my half-baked thoughts about absolutely anything and I’m not even going to attempt to entertain you,” or as I like to call it, Twitter/Facebook Syndrome. Do my friends REALLY CARE if I send out an update, “Bill is flying on an airplane finishing a mailbag right now?” (Which is true, by the way.) I just don’t think they would. I certainly wouldn’t. That’s why I refuse to use Twitter.

As for Facebook, I don’t mind getting status updates and snapshots of what my friends’ lives are like — even if “Bob the Builder” is prominently involved — as long as they aren’t posting 10 times a day or writing something uncomfortable about their spouse/boyfriend like “(Girl’s name) is … trying to remember the last time she looked at her husband without wanting to punch him in the face” or “(Girl’s name) is … just going to keep eating, it’s not like I have sex anymore.” Keep me out of your personal business, please. Other than that, the comedy of status updates can be off the charts. Like my college classmate who sends out status updates so overwhelmingly mundane and weird that my buddies and I forward them to each other, then add fake responses like, “(Guy’s name) … snapped and killed a drifter tonight” and “(Guy’s name) … would hang myself if the ceilings in my apartment weren’t too short.” It kills us. We can’t get enough of it. We have been doing it for four solid months. And really, that’s what Facebook is all about — looking at photos of your friend’s kids or any reunion or party, making fun of people you never liked and searching for old hook-ups and deciding whether you regret the hook-up or not. That’s really it. All in all, I like Facebook.