…Continued from the previous post.

In an imaginary sequel to Field of Dreams, a soccer-playing counterpart to Shoeless Joe Jackson might have said to Kevin Costner “Is this heaven?” To which Costner would have replied, “No, it’s Santa Barbara in December.”

Quite honestly, I don’t know how anyone manages to graduate from UC Santa Barbara. I’m not sure I could have made it across campus to a single class without being enticed off course. So I wondered how the NCAA could expect the soccer teams from Akron and Louisville to concentrate for the 90 minutes needed to determine our national champion.

Fortunately collegians are made of tougher stuff these days though, and not once do I recall anyone drifting away from play in the College Cup final to check out the surf. Even more impressive – a crowd of almost 10,000 fans suppressed the urge to wander as well.
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A year ago it would have been different.

On a December Sunday morning back then, if I were given the option of:  (1) a 5-hour round trip drive to watch a soccer game; or (2) a day consisting of a couch, a remote and a full slate of NFL games, the beer and Cheesy Poofs would have won over the sunshine and fresh air in a landslide.

But on this particular December Sunday morning, it was quite the opposite. Somewhat distressingly, the NFL holds little in the way of enjoyment for me ever since about Week Three of the season, when I was mathematically eliminated from contention in the Demon Deacon Fantasy Football League.

Once I stopped fretting over whether Anquan Boldin was getting enough touches, I realized…I don’t much care about the football action that takes place increasingly sporadically among the steady onslaught of commercials. I know, I know – I’m aware that my U.S. citizenship is at stake for having said that out loud.
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…Continued from the previous post.

So there I was, having traveled the treacherous terrain of the 405 freeway deep into an urban jungle of education. I was on a mission:  To discover and document the differences between men’s and women’s collegiate soccer. Fortunately for me, the perfect combination of circumstances had aligned to create a pristine living laboratory.

It was that rarest of species in its natural habitat – the double-header. The women of UCLA vs. Pepperdine in the opener and the UCLA men vs. Washington in the nightcap. We explored my preliminary findings on the women’s game in yesterday’s post, so let us return to the wilds of Drake Stadium, where the men are about to take the field…
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Let me start this off with a warning – don’t try this at home. I’m a trained Sports Fan working under controlled conditions. Less experienced spectators have crashed and burned attempting what I recently set out to do:  Watch 180 consecutive minutes of soccer – a doubleheader. On purpose.

First I have to fess up a bit. This is the point in any discussion of soccer that I normally trot out my best soccer jokes – the ones involving No-Doze, finally finding a cure for insomnia, blah blah blah. But my heart isn’t in it this time. See, I’ve actually come to like soccer.

No, I’m not going to go all “Beautiful Game” and poetry in motion on you. And other than a World Cup game involving the U.S., it would never cross my mind to turn on the television and search for a soccer game. But in person…it’s not half-bad.
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We were running late. As it always does, time had flown by during pre-game drinks with old friend June and new friend Dan and I was contentedly resigned to the fact that we were going to miss the opening kick off of the Major League Soccer game between the Seattle Sounders and FC Dallas.

But as we veered off Alaskan Way heading toward Qwest Field, there magically appeared a parking space. On the street. And since it was Sunday – free. We snagged it and headed around the corner toward the stadium – only to find that around the corner was the stadium. Which put us inside gazing at the green expanse of XBOX Pitch comfortably ahead of kick off. Dumb luck or user-friendly environment?
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