First Soccer

In an attempt to find a little more to do, Marc and I decided we would attend the practice with the Adelaide University Whites, one of the school soccer clubs.  The Whites are really just another team under the Adelaide University Sports Association, which in total are The Blacks.  SCUBA is run under the same umbrella organization.  I had originally been on the mailing list for The Blacks (the soccer team) but the Whites were closer, and that's what Marc had signed on for.  The Whites fancy themselves better than The Blacks.  I'm not really sure about the Reds and the Blues.

Practice started with more running and calisthenics than I ever made the Webbies do but practice turned out not so bad.  Competitive and fun, it was a good work out.  But games will probably conflict with diving.  I'll have to decide what to do about that.  The 45 minute walk to and from practice though is a killer.

More importantly we scored some free tickets to see the Adelaide United play in their first match of the Asian Cup.  I believe they played a Korean team.  The Steelers in any case.  Tickets were general admission and we had found some decent seats.  The kids and lady behind us provided much entertainment throughout the game, welcome or not.

The game was sloppy, the refs inconsistent, the Koreans were whiners and the fans were brutal.  Never have I heard an entire stadium boo a player for the full length of his injury.  Yes they were embellished, and were some pretty questionable calls at times.  But never had I heard a 10 year old tell a man in seeming agony, kicking his legs while holding whatever part of his body, that he was having seizures.  Or dying, or something about a happy ending.  Any man caught walking off the field after the stretcher was called out by the referee was given a wholehearted boo for the remainder of his time on the field with possession of the ball.  Any player from the United benefiting from a similar miracle cure by magic spray had obviously actually been hit. 

In the end, Adelaide was victorious having scored right before half on a very lucky goal that admittedly came after a commendable effort by the outside mid.  All in all, worth the 2 stamps on my bus ticket.