Translation Please

I figured out a new use for Google Translate today. Obviously, many people have probably done this before, but I finally thought about doing it this way. Power soccer is obviously a worldwide event. There are major organized leagues in several different countries, but as you might know, the 2007 World Cup was held in Japan. That is pretty excellent and a great place to hold the tournament, but that also meant that much of the information about the tournament on the official website was written in Japanese. Finally, I realized that Google Translate could do the job for me. I was a little disappointed because grammatically it did not make sense when Google translated it, but it was still very cool that I at least could understand the overall theme of what they were talking about. It is very cool how technology can do things like that for us. I didn't need to pull out my old Japanese to English dictionary which I don't have nor have I ever had. I was able to pretend I was a lot smarter than I was, and that is definitely a good thing. Just kidding, but I was excited when it finally dawned on me that I could do this. Incredibly basic, but it was something that I never thought about before.

Photo by Leo-seta on Flickr

Happy New Year!

So, 2010 is almost done. 2011 starts tomorrow, and it is going to be a big year for the power soccer community. Why will it be so big? The second World Cup is being held this time in Paris. Even though the Paralympics decided not to include power soccer on their roster of events yet, it is great that there is still an international competition that promotes the highest level of play and competition. However, I think that there are other reasons why it will be such a great year for power soccer. It seems like the USPSA is extraordinarily growth focused right now, so I think that we are only going to get more teams and more activity here in America. Although I'm not 100% sure of what is happening in other countries, I would bet that they have a similar scenario to what we have. It seems like once the sport gets going, more teams just keep growing. Therefore, it should be a good year here and abroad. For our team, it should also be a good year as we are growing and learning more and more. Happy New Year to my readers, and see you next year!

Photo by Ed Yourdon on Flickr

World Cup Predictions

Another round of the World Cup begins today as Uruguay and Ghana will face off first and the Netherlands and Brazil will follow. As much as it would be fun to see all four South American teams move on since I guess we would know what continent dominates soccer, I have to say that I am a Dutch fan. However, I feel like they will have their hands full with Brazil. Brazil seemed to be extremely athletic, but hopefully the Netherlands will be able to overcome. I'm not sure how to call the other game, but I would have to give Uruguay a slight upper hand. Ghana looked really good against Team USA, but Team USA also did not play in that game. Therefore, I'm not really sure how much they will be able to turn it on against Uruguay.

I think that now would be a good time to put out my predictions for the quarterfinals that might be totally and completely wrong since I'm not the greatest soccer analyst ever. However, my predictions are: Uruguay, the Netherlands, Argentina, and Spain. I'm not a fan of Spain, but I think they will be able to take Paraguay. I'm sorry I did not remember to write fiction until I finished, so that will be tomorrow!
Photo by thetorpedodog on Flickr

Goalie Stops

I was thinking about power soccer again as usual. However, this time I was thinking about the role of the goalkeeper. I don't think that I would like to be goalie; I don't think I have the right mindset for it. The goalie cannot be afraid to dive in and make some contact. I see myself as more of a finesse player who would rather go around people than go through people. Nevertheless, I was thinking about the power soccer goalies while I was watching the World Cup because unlike in South Africa, we cannot pick up the ball. This means that the goalie needs to be able to do more than pick up the ball and drop kick it. I think they really need the support from the teammates to have open passing lanes. I know that during our last match, I jumped a goal kick from the other team and then proceeded to score. It is difficult to get those passing lanes but the rest of the team needs to find them in order to help the keeper. Clearing the ball from goal is really a team effort, so I hope we are able to get this together to defend our goal and not give up easy goals.

Photo by Ed Yourdon on Flickr

Good Shots Needed

I was thinking about Japan as they lost earlier today. They had very few good opportunities whereas Paraguay was consistently putting pressure on goal. However, despite all the pressure that they were putting on goal, they had just as much success as Japan did. It is one thing to have opportunities, but it is another to convert. I know this from my own power soccer experience as well. When we played in New Hampshire last month, I did score a number of goals. However, I also sent several shots wide. Ideally, every shot should be a shot on goal. To improve on that, every shot on goal should be to an area away from the goalie. Of course, this is incredibly idealistic because we take shots we shouldn't take. The idea is to get quality shots, not just a high number of shots.

This is my challenge then to myself, my power soccer teammates, or any athlete in general. If you have a great shot that will very likely go in, by all means take it. However, if the shot is doubtful or a teammate has a better shot, don't be afraid of the pass. Nobody would criticize you for tallying an assist as opposed to a goal.

Photo by Miguel Vera on Flickr

Best Matches So Far

Again, nice to see the Phillies pull out a win while actually bringing some offense. However, there is a bigger story to write about today. How about the World Cup so far? Unfortunately, I haven't gotten to watch as much as I would like to, but it's still been quite the event so far. First off, we saw the United States and England battle to a 1-1 tie in a match that might be an indication of American improvement. Then, we saw Brazil almost get upended by North Korea in a 2-1 match that at least surprised me. North Korea has not been to the World Cup finals since 1966 whereas Brazil is always a force to be reckoned with on every level of the competition. Finally, yesterday was the biggest surprise of all as the Swiss took down Spain 1-0. Spain was the favorite entering the tournament for many people after winning Europe, but somehow they let this one slip by. It's kind of funny to look at the Group H standings right now and see that Spain is behind everyone (Chile, Switzerland, and Honduras). Whatever, I'm sure they will make a comeback and put this one little bump behind them, but congratulations to the Swiss on playing the game of the tournament so far.
Photo by ianlord on Flickr

Future Plan

How many of you know what you're going to do in 2018? Well, Japan knows what they won't be doing. According to the BBC, Japan has dropped its bid to host the World Cup in 2018 leaving six nations in the running for the honor of spending millions of dollars to improve their facilities. I understand why it's done, but it is kind of funny that you need to pay to have someone invade your country. If I go to a friend's house, presumably they do not they pay me to be there (unless of course they want to get rid of me). Right now, the United States remains in the running to host an event that I bet we will be expected to do well in and then all of a sudden fall apart and disappoint like they always do. Of course, I'm open to being proven wrong, but I think I need to see it to believe it. Just in case you're wondering, the six nations/groups still in the running are the USA, the UK, Russia, Australia, Belgium/Netherlands, and Spain/Portugal. Personally, as much as I would like to see the World Cup in America, but I feel like it would do better in a place where soccer is the culturally dominant sport. If I had to make my prediction, I would bet that the UK wins the bid simply because there are so many great venues as well as the culture to back it up. However, I don't even know what's going to happen tomorrow, so I might be being a bit bold in predicting 2018.

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