Calcio

10:16 PM, GMT+1

Well, I played a little futbol/calcio/soccer with the Italians today. And you know what... it was damn fun.

Most of them are pretty good, but I was able to hold my own. They told me I did pretty well afterwards, but maybe they just didn't want to tell me I sucked.

Italians are very organized about their pickup games. They have pennies and positions. Well, two of them, at least-- offense and defense. I was on defense. And I got to mark the two fastest guys on their team.

I missed three shots... my first one was embarrassing. It hit the top crossbar when the goalie was on the floor. My second shot was a header off of a corner kick that went inches wide of the right goalpost. My last one was left-footed, and passed over the top of the crossbar by inches as well.

The compliments I was getting from the Italians after the game was that I was "powerful". Now I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. It could be the equivalent of calling me a big ugly brute.

I had the chance to speak with one of the Italians after the game. He used to get paid to play. Apparently, he played in whatever league comes after Serie C. Which is still pretty good. Anyway. They play every Sunday, and I'm really tired. Hopefully I earned a little respect today. If I didn't, well, next Sunday's gonna be a long one.