Why I Oughta...

There are a few more vintage felt pennants from my childhood that my folks saved and gave to me when they moved out of our longtime home in Frankfort.  I've posted about a few so far: First was the University of Illinois Fighting Illini Football Rose Bowl '84 pennant . Then just a few days ago, I posted this awesome vintage Epcot Center 1982 pennant with Spaceship Earth and Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy in their rainbow spacesuits . Today's post is about a pair of pennants that I remember very well.  Both of these were on my bedroom wall. First - at the top of the post - is a Chicago Sting pennant that is primarily black and yellow with the words 'Chicago' and "Sting' in white.  So, is the bee - he's black and white.  Turns out, his name was "Stanley Sting ".  This has the MISL logo on the tip. Here's the confirmation of Stanley Sting's name via a Google Search: Thanks , Google.   The second item for this post -...

One of the kids is playing soccer this Fall and the practices have started.  So, I have plenty of time to hang out in the clover and look for one of these lucky guys.  The kids were unimpressed when I brought it home to show off. 

The last time I posted a #TBT photo of my youth soccer team it was the core group of guys that I played with for almost ten years .  Today's photo is of the same team, technically.  But it isn't all of the core boys.  There are some guys like Tom, Loran, John, Ted, Matt, Chris and Russ in here, but we supplemented with a few older/different guys from what I can best describe as a 'different soccer dimension'.  They were skilled players, but from a different club scene. This photo is from either my seventh or eighth grade years, so I was 13 or 14 years old and I had the pouty teen thing down, right? We're playing in Ireland in 1991 or 1992 and you can see the sign in the back reads Pike Rovers Football Club .  We were representing the USA in some fashion (not officially), but we were wearing French National jerseys because they were pretty close to what the US Men's National Team were wearing at the time - but the US ones had the colors only on one should...

With my parents cleaning out their place in Michigan, I have recently come across a few photos.  One of them was the Dan Hampton picture I posted back at the beginning of August .  And above, is another one featuring my long-time soccer teammates and coach Mike Mural.  From the looks of it, we won a trophy of sorts? And, I was wearing two pairs of shorts?  Was *that* a thing? Some of these guys I still see and stay in touch with, while others have faded away.  Oddly, I lived with two of these guys in college?!?  But, I still can name every one of them in the photo. There were a few others (Russ, Ted, Tom) that are missing, but...this is the core of the crew that I spent likely thousands of hours with practicing, traveling and playing.   And having the time of my life.  I can only hope that my kids find a group or tribe that they, too, can grow up with and learn the joys of playing team sports together.

Spotted this font and logo treatment for "Mister Fantasy" on the side of the vending machine that was spitting out Italian Serie A Soccer balls in the main Plaza in Cortona. Looks familiar, doesn't it?

That right there is a foam-ish miniature soccer ball.  And it came out of a vending machine.  In Cortona, Italy.  Yeah...kinda neat.  No gumballs.  No chiclets.  But a soccer ball. This one is from SSC Napoli - which is a club out of Naples that plays in the top league in Italy, but we tried the machine a few times and got other teams like AC Milan and Roma. We have a ball-crazy boy in our house these days so this was a perfect fit for us during our visit. But, it has me wondering if this is a chicken-or-the-egg-thing?  Meaning...are they soccer ...errr....sorry football crazy as kids because they love it or is the culture make them football-crazy because it is pushed at them like with these vending machines? Either way, the Boy was happy!

I swear I had a strong flashback as I was working to put shin guards and long socks on the Babe over the weekend as she got ready for her indoor soccer practice.  She seems to like playing, but isn't too terribly aggressive when it comes to getting to the ball and winning 50/50 balls and the like.    But the jersey?  She loves the jersey. I spent a good part of my childhood in shin guards and loved everything about it.  But I really loved indoor soccer in particular.  The noise, the pace, the turf, the anticipation of waiting for your team's 'turn' to go behind the boards.  The team stuff was where I spent most of my time and I had a strong nucleus of a team that stuck together for almost our entire childhood.  Loved it all.  Hoping I get one of these kids to dig in and find a team they want to be part of.

I'm clearly a day late here, but have to tell you that I was so excited to watch the euphoria that the Womens' team wore all over their faces and play on Sunday night.  I was texting Nat and the girls all throughout the game.  #PlayLikeaGirl But, yesterday I found out little nugget - via Oskee Wow Wow Today - that makes me like the outcome even more:  Head Coach Jill Ellis is a former member of the Fighting Illini family.  She coached the womens' team in their inaugural season back in 1997. Go Illini.  Congrats to Coach Ellis and whole team.