Soccer: The end of summer means playing vs. watching

Wow! What a weekend of great football and – oh by the way - what a difference a few days off from blogging will do to your numbers!

The great football I’m talking about was a long way from the Camp Nou or Old Trafford – in fact, the pitch where I spent hours watching some fantastic football was about 15 miles from my house. I spent both Saturday and Sunday at an Academy tournament, as a player parent and a field marshal, and the quality of play as well as the atmosphere was fantastic. The down side? Well, all this time at the park left me practically zero time to watch any professional football and even less time to write about it.

So while I was watching the kids battle it out, I missed Manchester United vs. Portsmouth in the Community Shield and I missed all of the US Olympic matches.

But here’s the thing – unless it’s a major and I mean major tournament (i.e., only the World Cup), the order of precedence for me in terms of the sport I love is:
1. Playing
2. Watching the kids play (although 1 and 2 are about tied now as I get older and slower)
3. Watching televised soccer