May the Second Be With You
Today holds a lot of wonderful things. That sounds cliché, I just mean like May 2 of this year holds a lot of wonderful things. Not anything deeper.
Today is Carmelina Moscato’s 31st birthday. She’s old as shit. She makes me feel young and cool and hip and proud to have woken up like this. Carm is one of those people that everyone knows. I’ve had countless conversations where Carm’s name has come up and I’ve had to text her being like “how the hell do you know so and so?” – her response is usually something like “oh we hung out one time…” Then I’m sitting there thinking, ONE TIME? It seems like she’s known you your whole life.
That’s just the kind of person she is. She can make it seem like you’ve known each other for years when only it was just a few hours at a loud bar with hardly any drinking going on.
That’s Carm. She's amazing.
So Carm, if you’re reading this or if one of your dog friends is reading this out loud to you, Happy Birthday! You deserve the best birthday and don’t forget to buy me a present for your birthday.
Okay.
May 2. What else?
This is the first year I’ve ever paid attention to the Kentucky Derby and it wasn’t really my choice. I got calls and messages from people saying they put money on the No. 1 horse who happened to be named Ocho Ocho Ocho. I always thought one Ocho was enough, guess I was wrong. I’m sure they could have also called the horse 24, but what do I know? Nothing about horses or horse racing that’s for sure. Just that I’m waiting for the race to end so I can post this blog.
If Ocho Ocho Ocho wins – I deserve winnings from anyone who has bet on that horse as a result of knowing me (My Grandmother included)
If Ocho Ocho Ocho loses – it’s because the horse 8 too much before the race.
Okay. Today is also Game Day for the Washington Spirit. The team is in Seattle right now for a 10pm ET kickoff. This means I’ll be up late tonight to watch. (The things I do for them.)
When I watch, I try to keep as many stats as possible while I’m watching, little tiny things that the casual fan might miss like how many times Tori Huster gets a card for no reason at all, or how many times Mark Parsons has to say Christine Nairn’s name before she turns around. I mean I get it, sometimes you don’t hear the coach, but sometimes a thick English accent is impossible to interpret. It sounds like he's saying Naaaan. Like it's Naaaan yo business.
Anyway. I’ll be watching tonight. I’ll be looking for things that my teammates have been working on in training. The things I know they want to get better at and the things our coaches want us to be better at. Sometimes I think it’s more enjoyable to watch the game as a player on the inside because some of the smallest bits of the game can be the most satisfying for a team and for the players.
I know in professional sports results matter most. Wins and loses determine people’s jobs and careers and livelihood. For me, seeing people get an opportunity to display all their hard work on a stage is what matters most. The art of perfecting your craft happens when the world isn’t watching. What the world sees is the product of hours and hours of investment to be someone they’ve always wanted to be and for tonight, a team we’ve wanted to be since the first day of preseason.
What I get to see is our GKs getting hundreds of reps each day so forwards can work on their finishing; Tori hitting extra long balls after training; Nairn working on her shooting all the time; injured players doing extra work to get on the pitch, including Alex Singer who has come back from surgery this year and continues to care for her body like a boss; players offering to do extra work with me to help me get back, which is just the best thing a teammate can do for someone and something that gives me a feeling hard to put into words sometimes. And all the players doing what they need to do to be the best they can be.
When watching the game, and any game really, keep in mind all the work the players have put in and how at the end of the day, they’re just playing a game they love, trying to be a player they’ve always dreamed of being.
They always want to win. Trust me. But improving on the little things is a pretty amazing thing too. And sometimes, that’s the only thing we’re in control of.