Ronaldo: moving on to his next Armani shoot
Rooney: chillin’ at home
Drogba: nursing his broken arm back to health
Anelka: pouting back in France
Robinho: who’s that again? did you mean ronaldinho?
Messi: did he even play in South Africa? didn’t see him.

The world (especially America) is so focused on individual star power that we’re told we need to be stunned and shocked when excellent teams like Netherlands and Germany eliminate the likes of Robinho and Messi from the World Cup.

Now that the USA’s soccer team is out of the World Cup, what’s been dominating headlines on ESPN and Sportcenter?

“Where will Lebron play next season??” One man. One player. Wherever he and his newly enlarged bank account land, according to the media at least, will be the power of the NBA.

In my humble soccermom opinion, this is a big part of why soccer will never be a mainstream sport in America. And, frankly, I don’t mind.

The “mainstream” sports here in America are riddled with individual over-hyped materialist egomaniacs. The soccer “greats” in other countries are spoiled rotten multi-millionaires who have returned home from South Africa much earlier than anticipated.

To the rest of America: You can stop watching soccer now and resume obsessing over Lebron’s future contract and your fantasy football draft. We soccer folks will get stronger, faster, more fit, and we’ll keep enjoying our (superior) sport without you.

Don’t worry. We’ll warmly welcome you back four years from now, when we’re all watching the action in Brazil.

I was at Target this morning and saw these “Personal Misters” in the dollar bins by the entrance.
(They’re $2.50 instead of $1)
One came home with me, and I tried it out.
It works wonderfully!
So, I went back to Target and bought a few more.

Personally, I get annoyed when I fall in love with something in the “Dollar Bins” at Target, and it turns out to be one of those $2.50 items, but look at what I found on Amazon:

It’s the exact same thing, and they say the MSRP is $29.99!

THIS is the kind I had before, and it’s cumbersome with the little tubes & turn-valve.

I’ve got a feeling that those will be flying out of the dollar bins, so go get some before they’re gone, and your little soccer player will have it in the backpack for those hot tournament days!

This is cool! I love how they break it down in super-slow-mo step by step!

How badly do you want it?

How badly do you want to be a footballer?

Address your weaknesses.
Work on your weaknesses until they become strengths.
Work on your strengths until they become second nature.

If you depend too much on one foot, work on the other.
Are you strong enough?
Are you man enough?
Big and bad enough?
Are you passionate? Or just angry?

Learn to cut out the dumb stuff.

Are you a midfield general or a foot-soldier?
Battle hero or cannon-fodder?
Does the game revolve around you or bypass you?

Can you hit the target? Consistently?

When was your last game?
When’s your next training session?
Can you last ninety minutes? Plus extra time?
Would you take a penalty? Would the coach let you?
Would you score? Consistently?

Can you make the ball do what you want?
Can you finish from five meters?
Twelve meters?
Sixteen meters?
The halfway line?
With a defender on your back?

Are you first in for training? Last out?

Are you fast enough?
They say the first half-meter is in your head. What’s in yours?

Take it to the next level.