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Soccer Banter

Newtown: An Empty Field of Dreams

12/21/2012

3 Comments

 
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Last Friday morning I was sitting in the women’s soccer office at Quinnipiac University when our men’s coach, Eric Da Costa, stuck his head in the door and told me to turn on the news.  I looked at the television screen and was sick to my stomach to read of a shooting in an elementary school in Newtown, Conn. not too far from our Mount Carmel campus.   

I, like the rest of the country, spent most of the day watching the various news channels and listening to every update intently.  As the major news outlets began to have their on-air personalities broadcast from the scene most used the same backdrop, the school’s soccer field.  The more I watched, the more I began to focus on the field.

The field was empty.  The goals stood idle.  There were no children playing.  No goals being scored.  No goals being celebrated.  No goals being saved.  No shouting.  No cheers.  No arguments.  A field more often associated with fun provided the backdrop for the reporting of an event that was pure evil.

Adam Lanza walked through the front entryway of Sandy Hook Elementary School at approximately 9:30 a.m.  Ten minutes later he had murdered six staff members and 20 students all ages six or seven.  He then took the coward’s way out and turned his gun on himself.  



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In just over 10 short minutes Lanzo ended the lives of 26 innocent people and shattered the lives of every one of their families.  The adults will never again coach a soccer game.  They will never again watch their sons, daughters, grandchildren, nieces or nephews play a game.  They will never see them score a goal.  Never see them play in high school.  Never see them graduate nor see them play in college.

The 20 children will never again set foot on the Sandy Hook soccer field.  They will never again kick a ball for fun.  They will never again play the beautiful game.  They will never celebrate a state championship like the Newtown High School girls’ team did last month.  They are players lost to the game forever.  The game has lost future administrators, coaches and fans.  The game has lost 20 future parents and with them a generation of Newtown soccer players will never be born.

I look at my four young children, three of whom are in elementary school and my wife, a kindergarten teacher, and I think of the soccer memories we have created in our short time together as a family.  I feel sad for the 26 victims that they will never have the opportunity to create the same memories. 

They will never travel to tournaments in San Antonio or Seattle and visit The Alamo or Mount Rainier respectively.  They will never travel to an elite tournament in Florida and visit Disney World or Universal Studios.  They will never travel to London to watch an English Premier League game or to Gillette Stadium to watch the United States men play Spain.  They will never have the chance to escort the United States Women’s Olympic team out at Rentschler Field against Germany.



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Adam Lanza murdered 26 innocent people.  He took away their lives and with them he took away their dreams, their aspirations, and the hopes their families had for them.  He took away their potential. 

We will never find out if Daniel, Dylan, Chase, Jesse, James, Jack, Noah or Benjamin could have been the next Landon Donovan or Clint Dempsey. 

We will never find out if Charlotte, Olivia, Josephine, Ana, Madeline, Catherine, Grace, Emilie, Caroline, Jessica, Avielle, or Allison could have been the next Alex Morgan or Abby Wambach.

Rachel, Dawn, Anne Marie, Lauren, Mary and Victoria will never see their 20 students grow up and become the adults they were shaping them to be.    

I come back to the empty soccer field beside the Sandy Hook Elementary School.  The goals stood idle.  There were no children playing.  No goals being scored.  No goals being celebrated.  No goals being saved.  No shouting.  No cheers.  No arguments. 

The game was moved.  God is now refereeing a 10 v 10 match in Heaven with six fans cheering them on. 
  

3 Comments

Extra Time with Dave Clarke

12/12/2012

0 Comments

 
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Football has the habit of putting you in your place when you least expect it.  With one minute left in the game at Goodison Park, Spurs fans were celebrating a great win at Everton and going level on points with Chelsea.  A few minutes later they stood in disbelief as they somehow managed to lose by conceding two goals in injury time and questions were once again being asked of their team and manager.  Football also has the habit of raising your spirits when you are down.  Thank you Bradford City!

After 16 successful years at Arsenal, Arsene Wenger has earned the right to leave the club when he feels it is time to move on.  Whether Arsenal’s fans and its board will now give him that time is another question.  Pressure is building on the Frenchman and the 5-2 win against the 10 men of Spurs painted over a lot of cracks in his side. 

There are many in the English media who dismiss the Europa Cup as a Mickey Mouse competition.  The last 32 of this year’s competition will feature the likes of Tottenham, Chelsea, Liverpool, Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid, Lyon, Lazio, Bayer Leverkusen, Ajax, and Benfica.  That is an impressive list of accomplished clubs and not quite the second rate cup it is made out to be.



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I was in Ireland recently and it was interesting to see the stranglehold the game has on the Irish public.  Leeds United still have a massive presence in the country and generate interest and coverage that belongs to a Premier League team.  It was also interesting to see that six EPL shirts – Man United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Man City, and Spurs - were on sale in every sports and department store. 

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers recently asked, if Gareth Bale was Uruguayan, would he come in for more criticism when supposedly diving to win fouls.  Funny thing Brendan, I have asked similar questions in the past.  If Steven Gerrard wasn’t English would he come in for more criticism when he dives to win penalties, or would he be considered world class?

Yes, Celtic can outspend almost every team combined in Scottish football, but it is still refreshing to see them qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League while oligarch clubs Man City and Chelsea were eliminated.  The fact that City and Chelsea are the reigning English and European champions respectively adds to the satisfaction.  A big spending club will most likely win the cup, but Celtic have shown that astute scouting and shrewd purchases can help them compete with the big spending clubs.  



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While Celtic were celebrating their European qualification, Scotland’s newest club Rangers were celebrating a victory of sorts.  The club formerly known as Rangers won its big tax case against Her Majesty’s Revenues and Customs.  Rangers’ fans have flooded the airwaves, newspapers, and forums celebrating the fact they did not cheat and demanding some sort of retribution against all those experts who they feel contributed to the club’s demise.  Can I remind Rangers fans, oldco or newco, that their club was put into administration, then receivership, and closed down because it failed to pay its small tax case.  They have not yet been cleared of cheating because the Scottish Football Association has not yet ruled on the old club’s use of Employee Benefit Trusts.  EBTs are not illegal, but under football rules, a club cannot use them in the manner Rangers are alleged to have done.  If proven guilty then oldco Rangers will have titles and cups stricken from their history.

Player for player Manchester City have a better squad and team than Manchester United.  Therefore, it is impressive that United now lead City by six points courtesy of their 3-2 win at the Etihad Stadium.  Roberto Mancini is coming in for a lot of criticism about his team selection and tactics in the Manchester derby.  However, one thing that has been overlooked is the lack of local born players in the City team.  United had more players in their squad who grew up United fans and who you could say play for the shirt.  How many City players can claim the same?



0 Comments

    Dave Clarke

    Head Women's Soccer Coach at Quinnipiac University and US National Staff Coach who received a Masters in Journalism from QU.  A Spurs and Celtic supporter.


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