Category: Sports (Page 3 of 5)

The Little Things That Bring Me Joy

June 20, 2010 / Katie L. Carroll

Sometimes it’s nice just to think about the little things in life that bring you joy. Here are some of mine:

My favorite tea has a kick-ass name: Black Dragon Pearl (I always want to add “Coming to theaters this summer” after I say it and then do a perfect round-house kick). Plus the tea leaves come packed as balls, which only adds to my amusement.

Thunderstorms never stop being scary/exciting.

When it comes to my indoor co-ed soccer team, the “that’s what she said” joke never gets old…ever!

The spin-cycle on my Scandinavian dryer (maybe we’re somehow related!) sounds like a plane taking off. This one’s a double-edged sword because it can also be annoying…like when I’m trying to watch TV or listen to music, or you know, have a conversation or something…but it’s still pretty cool to have it sound like an airplane is taking off in your laundry room.

When my little niece and nephew say the word “rude,” it sounds like they’re saying “wooed.” And they’re still young enough to always be happy to see me.

My older nephew still likes hanging out with me!

I buy Land O’ Lakes American cheese from the deli and the package is labeled LOL cheese. How could you not smile about that?

I’m always wonderfully surprised at how tasty food is when you grow/pick it yourself.

And this is only a sampling of the little things in my life. It’s interesting how many of them are about food…maybe I’m just hungry. Oh, and in case you were curious, my soccer team won again yesterday (we crushed Danbury 6-1), so we’re in the finals next Saturday.

Watching the 2010 World Cup and Playing Soccer in the Playoffs

June 11, 2010 / Katie L. Carroll

As I sit here watching the second game of the 2010 World Cup (Uruguay vs. France), I can’t help but get caught up in all the excitement. I’m a soccer player myself and a sports fan in general (you may remember some of my posts about Yankees baseball).

(That’s me with the ball! Picture taken by Sir Anonymous…the Great Photographer!)

Let’s face it, despite the U.S.’s reluctance to jump on the bandwagon, soccer is truly a world sport. Sure there’s events like the World Series and the Super Bowl that are highly anticipated in some countries, and there’s the Olympics that celebrates sports on a world stage, but there’s no single sport that captivates the world as the World Cup does.

Earlier today, I think a particular clip from the first game of the Cup (host country South Africa vs. Mexico, which ended in a 1-1 tie) sums up what I’m talking about. When South Africa scored in the 55th minute of the game, Desmond Tutu did a little dance to celebrate with the over 84,000 fans in Soccer City. This is a Nobel Prize winner who has spent his life fighting apartheid, and to see him display his pure joy over a goal was a reminder of how sports allow us all, for a minute, to set aside our differences and just revel in the simpleness of a game.

(Here’s Archbishop Tutu busting a move at the FIFA 2010 World Cup Celebration.)

Tomorrow I’ll be participating in my own quest for a championship when my New Haven team takes on Westport in the quarterfinals of the Southern Connecticut Women’s Soccer League. Then I’ll be watching at the U.S. team takes on England.

Celebrating New York Yankees Style

November 5, 2009 / Katie L. Carroll

Last night (or maybe early this morning) the New York Yankees won their 27th World Series Title. Woohoo! If you know anything about me, you might know I’m a bit of a Yankees fan (that’s me a few years ago at the old Yankee Stadium).

How big of a Yankees fan am I? Well, this year I dressed as Derek Jeter, my favorite current player. I was boycotting having to dress slutty. (Since when did dressing up for Halloween for a woman over the age of 15 mean looking super slutty?) Halloween is about living out your dreams by pretending to be whatever it is you want to be. Well, I’m already sexy, so I don’t have to pretend to be that. And who wants to be slutty?

My Derek Jeter costumer really did fulfill one of my childhood dreams. When I was three, I used to tell everyone I was a boy (identity crisis…maybe?), but my reasoning was perfectly logical. I knew girls didn’t play for the New York Yankees. I wanted to play for the Yankees. Therefore, if I told everyone I was a boy, I would be allowed to play.

And it wasn’t just I wanted to play baseball. Nope, I wanted to play for just one team. I even went so far as to refuse to wear my red baseball cap. Red was Red Sox colors; no way were you gonna catch me in red. I was all about my little navy blue cap.

Some people might wonder why I’m so excited about a baseball team. What is so great about your team winning a championship anyway? The truth is, I’m not sure I really know. I suppose there’s the living-vicariously factor and the excitement of rooting for the best team in the world, but I think it comes back to making connections.

A sports game is a good excuse to get together with your friends (and eat crappy food without feeling too guilty about it) and getting a little rowdy. I love any environment where it’s perfectly acceptable to yell obscenities at the TV. Plus, when you watch or attend a game, there’s a certain camaraderie between all the people watching, even if they’re strangers. If you ask someone about where they were during a certain memorable game, they always have a story, and then you can share your story with them.

Last night I somehow ended up watching the game all by myself (the hubby a Red Sox fan…boo…so he went to bed). Just before the last out, my dad called from Florida (he and my mom are there on vacation). He asked, “You watching the game?” I replied, “What kind of fan do you think I am? Of course I’m watching the game.” I had taken my parents to the airport earlier in the week and my dad had mentioned that he told God that he didn’t care what happened with the NY Giants this year, all he wanted was for the Yankees to win the World Series.

I was really honored that my dad called me for the last out. I had turned the volume on my TV way down and had put the radio on to listen to the end of the game (something my dad does all the time). The TV was a good five seconds behind the radio, so I heard the call before I saw it. I was quick enough to hold the phone up to the radio so my dad could hear John Stirling (the Yankees radio announcer) yell his signature, “Ballgame over! The Yankees win! Theeeeeeee Yankees win!”

Then I heard my mom whooping in the background (she had had a whole three beers!) in celebration. It was the middle of a night on a Wednesday in November, but the Yankees winning the World Series made it a special night. And I got to share a few moments of it with my dad.

Running in the Land of the Midnight Sun

June 16, 2009 / Katie L. Carroll

The summer solstice rolls in on June 21st, ushering in the warmest days of the year (at least for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere). This is the longest day of the year, which when looking at the symbolic meaning of lightness and darkness, means we are truly approaching the high point of the year.

My father once said that the summer solstice always makes him want to jump in a car and follow the sun north to see how long the day will last. My sister and I sort of did this one year. We actually hopped on a plane—not the one we were hoping to get on, but that’s a story for another day—and headed north…first to Seattle (which we weren’t supposed to go to) and then finally to Anchorage, Alaska.

We were there to run the Mayor’s Midnight Sun Marathon (find our results here…look in the 5:06 range). We raised over $11,500 for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, thanks in large part to sponsorship by William B. Meyer, the man and the company.

We have many, many, many stories, adventures, and pictures (which are all from the pre-digital age, so they have to be scanned in before they make it on this blog) from our marathon training and that trip. You may read about it in our memoir Loose Bowels & Butt Chap (see comments). Oh wait, it’s not yet published…okay, it’s not even written yet. This is a good start, though.

Magnetic Poetry: Horse Names Edition

June 2, 2009 / Katie L. Carroll

The running of 135th Kentucky Derby and the 134th Preakness Stakes, got me thinking about how horses get their names. The filly (you go girl!) who won the Preakness, Rachel Alexandra, has a normal enough name, but Mine That Bird is the name of the horse that won the Kentucky Derby. What exactly does Mine That Bird mean? (I feel like it must have some crazy subliminal message, but I just can’t quite figure it out.)

Some other Kentucky Derby winners include Burgoo King, Gallahadion, Tim Tam, and Lil E. Tee. It’s like they throw a bunch of two-year-olds in a room and show them pictures of pretty horseys and whatever comes out of the toddlers’ mouths becomes a horse’s name. (Actually, I take that back…I wouldn’t want to insult my two-year-old nephew, who is actually quite an eloquent speaker.)

In honor of the running of the 141st Belmont Stakes this Saturday, here’s a list of some horse names. Some of them I made up by randomly picking words from my magnetic poetry set and some are actually the names of horses running in the Belmont. Can you guess which is which?

Light Heart
Mr. Hot Stuff (Also a good name for a male stripper.)
Full Rhythm
Chocolate Candy (Very tasty.)
Pickle Fight (I’m so naming my next cat this, just so I can call him P.F. for short…and if he ever gets lost, I can drive down the road shouting “Pickle! Oh, Pickle Fight, where are you!”)
Flying Private (I think I saw this movie in the adults-only section at the movie rental place…not that I ever go into that section!)
Memory
Luv Gov (This sounds like a political scandal in the making.)
Sour Thought Drink (Don’t try to order this at a bar…I promise you it won’t taste good!)
Summer Bird (Call me crazy, but I would’ve thought this name would’ve been better for a parrot.)

Did you guess correctly? See the comments to find out. Oh, and my pick for the Belmont is Mine That Bird because I think his jockey, Calvin Borel, is going for his own kind of Triple Crown.