on-side
It was mid ’98 the first time I really noticed the World Cup, because my life was falling to pieces. I hinged my sanity on that midnight ball as it scratched across the silent screen. In the dead of night, there I lay in that faraway house we moved to, as quiet elephants to their graveyard. I remember sleeplessly breathing the tension, weathering the attacks and building slowly my defenses. Waiting for first light so I could safely go to sleep. France98 was very dramatic stuff. And I didn’t even understand the offside rule.
By mid 2002 life was shiny and yellow. Korea-Japan afforded the southern hemisphere a rare luxury in terms of saturation viewing, and thusly we proceeded. The first games I watched were up at the farm at Cowra. I will NEVER forget, 20 minutes before I was due to get her to the church, finding the bride with a spade in hand, just finishing off a quick bit of farm work before her wedding. She didn’t quite see why I was so amused, as she slipped into her dress and, in one sweeping manouevre, redeployed the beads of forehead sweat to secure her bridal tresses in place. After the hitching, the kids were charged with updating the bride and groom on the scores, until such time as it was decorous for them to squat in front of the telly with the rest of us. Terrific stuff, and back home again I watched all the knockout games with relish, barbeques and lots of squealing. I still didn’t understand the offside rule, despite many explanations.
Now it’s 2006, and somewhere along the line an Australian team has been thrown into the mix, tres tres excite-tron. Midnight alarm calls, vast battles under extreme conditions, and much interpretive refereeing. I particularly like the ‘three yellow cards’ technique as exemplified by the English specimen this morning. Very creative, truly inspired.
And finally I understand the offside rule, thanks to an article entitled ‘offside rule explained for women’. It was a whole yarn about shoe shopping, and standing in a queue, and forgetting your purse. Sounds far fetched, but it totally did the trick.
By mid 2002 life was shiny and yellow. Korea-Japan afforded the southern hemisphere a rare luxury in terms of saturation viewing, and thusly we proceeded. The first games I watched were up at the farm at Cowra. I will NEVER forget, 20 minutes before I was due to get her to the church, finding the bride with a spade in hand, just finishing off a quick bit of farm work before her wedding. She didn’t quite see why I was so amused, as she slipped into her dress and, in one sweeping manouevre, redeployed the beads of forehead sweat to secure her bridal tresses in place. After the hitching, the kids were charged with updating the bride and groom on the scores, until such time as it was decorous for them to squat in front of the telly with the rest of us. Terrific stuff, and back home again I watched all the knockout games with relish, barbeques and lots of squealing. I still didn’t understand the offside rule, despite many explanations.
Now it’s 2006, and somewhere along the line an Australian team has been thrown into the mix, tres tres excite-tron. Midnight alarm calls, vast battles under extreme conditions, and much interpretive refereeing. I particularly like the ‘three yellow cards’ technique as exemplified by the English specimen this morning. Very creative, truly inspired.
And finally I understand the offside rule, thanks to an article entitled ‘offside rule explained for women’. It was a whole yarn about shoe shopping, and standing in a queue, and forgetting your purse. Sounds far fetched, but it totally did the trick.
Labels: recollections
posted by cardboardy @ 1:05 pm
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