A lot of life lessons can be found in the game of soccer. In the last couple of weeks, both of my sons’ seasons have hit critical mass. Anytime not at work is now spent either at a field or driving to/from one. Our laundry loads skew heavily towards jerseys and compression shorts, and my car smells like Gatorade.
It’s great.
As we navigate back to normal, it’s been fascinating to watch play out in real-time at the park. Every municipality and/or school district seems to have different rules, but everyone takes it in stride. There have been no protests, no “mask holes,” and no one trying to game the system.
That’s certainly not to say every parent is okay with every procedure. I think we simply recognize that the kids getting to play is paramount, and this is what has to be done to make that happen. And no one wants to be the one that wrecks it for everyone else.
While that’s happening in the stands, something similar is happening on the field. I’ve noticed that both boys—and their teammates—recognize they’re part of a larger program. It’s not just about them like it was when they were younger; it’s now more about the role they play, and how that individual effort improves the collective.
If you’ve noticed Common Good being a recurring theme of late, trust your judgment.
As progress comes in fits and starts to America, we’d do well to stop embracing tribal identity and instead return to shared sacrifice and unity. The era of petty governance and cruelty being the point is so 2020. Our path forward isn’t on Facebook (or OAN); it’s on most soccer fields anywhere in the nation. If 15-16 yr. olds can pull it off, so can we.
On to the good stuff:
Continuing the soccer-as-life theme, stats in the game have long focused solely on the ball. That’s never really reflected the totality of the game, with much of it happening off the ball. 538 came out with a great piece about how advances in technology are enabling a much more complete tracking of matches.
“Contextual” or “augmented” event data like StatsBomb 360 combines traditional human-logged events with off-ball positions captured by computer vision, allowing analysts to measure things they could previously only guess at. For example, coaches often want to know whether a pass broke a defensive line, which requires the locations of players who never touched the ball. The new data may even make it possible to evaluate a player’s choices. “You can essentially say, ‘Hey, I think this passing lane was open, and this player decided to do this instead,’” said Devin Pleuler, head of analytics for Toronto FC. “So for the first time, you can make a real, solid guess at player decision-making.”
Here’s Forward Madison’s home stadium. Today they announced that they’ll be able to again play at home. Last year, the team had to play their home games ~70 miles away. Being able to bike to games instead of hitting the interstate makes me irrationally happy.
From the president of FMFC’s supporters’ association:
“For some, bringing soccer back to Breese is a bright light at the end of what’s felt like a very long, dark tunnel. We know we’re not out of the woods yet, but we can’t wait to be back.”
If stadium-based artwork is your thing, check out the work of London-based Steven Stewart. He’s set out to create prints of every ground. Not just top leagues, but all leagues. It’s beautiful stuff, and you can see if he’s already created your home field here.
Note: That’s not an affiliate link- I just love what he’s doing is fantastic, and think you might too.
This is the all-time best World Cup song. I’ll take no further questions.
Fun Fact: The guy holding the “EN-GER-LAND” sign is none other than Keith Allen, father of musician Lily Allen, and actor Alfie.
Here are my Top 5 songs of the week (neither Allen made the cut).
Terry Barr again weaves current events and music together masterfully with the latest edition of his American Crisis Playlist Series.
Don’t think you know much about classical music? If you watched cartoons as a kid, you might know more than you think.
As more and more of us are getting vaccinated, a strange thing started happening on my social media feeds. I kept seeing pictures of upper arms with “All we need is a shot in the arm” as the caption. I knew the words, but couldn’t quite place the song they are from. It was driving me mad until I finally asked someone. Now I can’t get it out of my head.
S.W. Lauden wrote about his own experience here.
From his article:
“…Instead I was once again reminded of just how much this past year has changed us as individuals and as a society. It is anybody’s guess how those changes will play out down the road, so all we can do is move forward.
And, who knows? It might mean something totally different the next time I listen. That’s the thing about great songs, they change meaning over time—coming to meet us where we are in our lives at that moment.”
After a year of living together apart, seeing a common (literal) refrain emerge has been a delight. The song itself? Give it a listen.
The more of us that get our shots in the arm, the more travel rebounds. TSA daily checkpoint numbers have been over 1M since March 11th, and show no signs of slowing down. That’s good news. And while we’re a long way from last year’s bottom of just over 87,000 (April 14th, 2020), we’re still at a fraction of 2019 numbers.
With most international travel still on hold, people are flocking to places like national parks, and airports in the mountain west (and Florida) have largely recovered volume-wise.
San Francisco may be seeing a fraction of normal travelers, but in places like Bozeman, recovery is almost complete.
When we’re finally able to dust off our passports and cross the ocean again, it will most likely be on a twin-engine jet. The time for 4-engine aircraft like the 747 and A340 was largely winding down. COVID only accelerated their demise. We take twin-engine transoceanic flying for granted (or did before the world stopped), but it’s a relatively new phenomenon.
It might be easy to think that one of the Big 3 in the US or a carrier like Lufthansa or British Airways kicked things off, but it was a much smaller carrier that revolutionized international flying.
The halcyon days of flight attendant fashion may be over, but tomorrow’s horizons are just as exciting.
As we head into a summer of healing & regeneration, we’d be wise to take note of another line from “Shot in the Arm”
”What you once were isn't what you want to be any more”
Do we want to continue the angst and polarization of the last 4 years, or do we want to use it to forge a better tomorrow? The data seems to be pointing to the latter, with Infrastructure and Recovery bills proving highly popular.
…And we can look to the fields to find our way.
”It's like everything in football - and life. You need to look, you need to think, you need to move, you need to find space, you need to help others. It's very simple in the end. “
—Johann Cruyff
Thanks for being here,
Kevin—
Extra Time:
*A Venn diagram of dad jokes, memes, and science is my kind of intersection.
*All good things must come to an end.
What caught your attention this week? Get your shot yet? Have a favorite stadium? I’d love to hear from you! I read every comment/email. You can also connect with me on Twitter.
YES!! I'm obsessed with Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, especially Maksim Mrvica's rendition!