 It's been an incredible year for Soccer Boss! Here are some of my favorite and not-so-favorite-but-still-memorable moments! |
| January 1st 2012 Soccer Boss and some of her closest buddies put in a team in the extremely fun Kitsap Cup run by Futbol for Life to benefit orphans in Sierra Leone. Although we had about six people (enough to field a team... without subs) we made it to the final and placed second overall! It was a total blast and would be the last time I played soccer before my back injury. |
 |
January 4th, 2012
The Kitsap Pumas
rang in the new year with a 9-5 win at home against South Sound Shock! Mr. Chad
Bass and I also celebrated our birthdays at the game- thanks for the win
boys!
|
 |
January 26th, 2012
I was finally able
to announce that Tim Ream, the nephew of a dear family friend, had been signed
to Bolton Wanderers. We were thrilled that he would be representing the USA (and the awesome Ream family) in
the English leagues!
|
 |
January 27th, 2012
Madi made a
life-changing trip to the emergency room and was soon diagnosed with a
herniated disk. Life goes on though and a totally stoned FC Basel fan also
blogged about the February 9th announcement that Xherdan Shaqiri
would be leaving Basel for Bayern Munich in the summer transfer window.
|
 |
February 22nd, 2012
FC Basel
celebrated an incredible home victory over the mighty Bayern Munich, the other
FCB. Valentin Stocker's late strike gave Basel the 1-0 lead on aggregate and
the fairy tale continued.
|
 |
February 26th, 2012
Liverpool won the
FA Cup! Which was both awesome (I've been a secondary Red's fan for ten years
now) and terrible (my stepdad, a hardcore Liverpool fan, took it upon himself
to gloat about the victory while I was still treading water in my own pool of
tears following Basel's dismissal at the hands of Bayern). All and all it was a
good day as a Liverpool fan after many months of pure agony.
|
 |
March 4th, 2012
The Kenya Soccer
Project is born! Madi and Lexi skyped with our new connections in Kenya and got
to work organizing a game plan for football club development in Africa.
|
 |
March 5th, 2012
Soccer Boss goes
under the knife! Obviously I made it out OK and was able to pick up blogging
again straight away. Maybe with a slightly less sarcastic tone to my writing...
I was extremely grateful for the amount of soccer on the DVR to keep me company
while I recovered! (photo is of the lively gifts I received from friends and family!)
|
 |
March 13th, 2012
FC Basel's
Champions League campaign came to a cruel and abrupt end with a 7-0 loss to
Bayern Munich in the Allianz Arena. Still not sure how I survived that one, but
I'm assuming the Vicodin helped.
|
 |
March 17th, 2012
Soccer Boss was
devastated to report that Fabrice Muamba had suffered from cardiac arrest on
the pitch for Bolton and was in critical condition. What a year he made 2012
for the world of soccer! He fought back, inspired and is now making dramatic
changes to the game with his incredible story. It was a humbling reminder just
how lucky we are for every moment we are on the pitch in good health.
|
 |
March 31st, 2012
Benjamin Huggel
announced his retirement. I cried.
|
 |
April 10th, 2012
I was happy to
attend, photograph, and report on the Sounders Reserves vs Timbers Reserves
match. What fun! Two of our good friend's clients were on the bench for the
Timbers and it's always exciting seeing some of your favorite Sounders in close
proximity. I love the cozy atmosphere of Starfire as well.
|
 |
April 18th, 2012
Chelsea shocked
Barcelona (and the rest of the footballing world) by securing a victory in the
Champions League! I've always hated Chelsea (don't ask why... it was bred into
me), and I adore Barcelona for their style and finesse so to see it shut down
in such an unorthodox manner was both fascinating and agonizing.
|
 |
April 20th, 2012
"Monchengladbach
Secure Xhaka Agreement" simple title, simple news that all Basel fans saw
coming but for whatever reason, that ridiculously short article would go on to
get the most views of ANY Soccer Boss article to date! Surely that's thanks to
the millions of aspiring "Mrs. Xhaka"s trolling the internet...
either way, I'm not complaining. Thanks for all the hits #GX34! (photo likely responsible for all of the hits...)
|
 |
April 24th, 2012
As FC Basel
youngster Kofi Nimeley so kindly reminded me (2012 was a year of making foreign
frienemies), blue was the color. Chelsea shockingly defeated Barcelona and
advanced to the final. What the f*ck? The next day Bayern Munich followed
Chelsea's lead and defeated Real Madrid in an intense match that went down to
penalty kicks. The Germans kept their cool and Ramos skied his PK, creating a
flow endless opportunities for soccer meme makers all over the world.
|
 |
April 27th, 2012
Pictures came
through from Africa! The official Nehemiah FC crest was drafted and photos of
the men who would later make up the ranks of our team were posted. I was over
the moon!
|
 |
April 29, 2012
FC Basel became
Swiss Champions! FCB were able to clench the title early when it became mathematically
impossible for the other teams to catch up... hehehe :)
|
 |
May 5th, 2012
From the sunny
Hawaiian Islands, Soccer Boss cursed over the slow hotel internet connection to
bring you news of Chelsea defeating Liverpool in the FA Cup final. Blue was once
again the color (and it wouldn't be the last time...). Liverpool then defeated Chelsea that weekend but unfortunately
it got them nothing but points, no shiny trophy.
|
 |
May 13th, 2012
Soccer Boss brought you Man City’s late EPL winning victory from
the airport in Lihue, Hawaii! What a match! I was sad I missed it in real time.
|
 |
May 16th, 2012
FC Basel complete
the Swiss Double! So far it had been a frustrating year for Soccer Boss so the
dominance of Basel was a nice counterbalance for the repeated failures in
physical therapy. The win was an emotional one as FC Basel fans prepared to say
goodbye to their beloved youngsters Xhaka and Shaqiri, the exit of Abraham and
for the retirement of Huggel, Chipperfield and Columba. Yann Sommer secured the
trophy with some creative and entertaining goalkeeping when he put on a display
of hilarious faces that likely would have thrown even the most composed of
penalty takers. Still one of my favorite soccer moments ever :)
|
 |
May 19th, 2012
Chelsea defeat the
mighty Bayern Munich in their home stadium, an impressive achievement for the
club who looked like a sinking ship under Andre Villas-Boas at the beginning of
the season. Surely an awe inspiring moment for soccer spectators all over the
world and a glorious day for Chelsea fans.
|
 |
May 20th, 2012
My season with the
Kitsap Pumas kicked off! What a fun day! I made new friends and started to get
a hang of the whole photography thing. Those guys look at least 100 times
faster when you're looking at them through a minuscule lens.
|
 |
May 22, 2012
I got up early to
cry over the touching goodbye ceremony put on by FC Basel to send off their
exiting players. Let's not think about that.
|
 |
June 2012
Soccer Boss
quickly got tied up with the fast-paced PDL schedule, EURO 2012 and most
importantly, helping pack up the large number of donated shoes we collected for
our club in Kenya! Lexi (my co-president) and I were able to send thirteen
soccer balls and seventeen pairs of cleats to Africa along with tons of old
jerseys. At this point, I also saw a turning point in my recovery process-
things were definitely looking up!
|
 |
July 3rd, 2012
The Kitsap Pumas
secured the first ever Ruffneck trophy! What a great game with a dramatic late
goal from Justin Robbins! I was so glad to be right on the touchline to capture
his celebration and cheer a little myself :)
|
 |
July 15th, 2012
Soccer Boss and
Puma Superfans Alison and Ian made the trip to Portland to cheer on the Pumas
against the Portland Timbers U23s. Unfortunately, the Pumas were defeated by an
unlucky goal that should have been called back due to a hand ball. It was a bit
emotional on the field after that game. The somber faces in the team huddle
broke my heart, but I know that many of those warriors will be back next season
and the retiring Puma legends will always have a place in Puma history.
|
 |
July 18th, 2012
The Sounders
played Chelsea FC in a friendly match and I was able to capture this snap of
Eden Hazard that would later become a meme and a major hit on his google images
search. Sweet :)
|
 |
July 28th, 2012
I was lucky enough
to live out my childhood dream of seeing Liverpool FC play! My mom, stepdad and
I flew to Baltimore, Maryland to watch the Reds play against Tottenham.
Unfortunately for the inhumane temperatures in the stadium, the match was a bit
like watching paint dry but Steven Gerrard is just as memorizing when he's
dragging himself around a stagnant pitch than he is in action at Anfield. I
also enjoyed taking pictures of some of my other EPL heroes!
|
 |
August 6th, 2012
With the Champions
League qualifying and Olympics in full swing I was all tied up! I did have time
to tune into the USA women's dramatic victory against Canada and cheer on the
USA to the final for their rematch against Japan. I never got around to
blogging about the final, as life caught up to me and outside obligations took
over.
|
 |
September 2012
September was a
month of focusing on Kenya. With some help from a complete stranger, we got a
snazzy new website, a twitter account, and a good-looking Facebook page! Our
team was regularly playing in games on the weekend and was starting to make a
name for themselves locally! We also partnered with Redeeming Soles (PLEASE
check out their website!), a fantastic organization
in the Seattle area that takes shoe donations and gives them to the homeless.
Since cleats don't make very functional shoes for anything other than soccer,
we were gifted some 100 pairs of cleats that had been stored by the organization. (Photo with Scott Sowell of Redeeming Soles and Kerry and Steve- family friends responsible for introducing us!)
|
 |
September 11, 2012
Soccer Boss had
been cautiously and quietly anticipating the World Cup Qualifier between
Switzerland and Albania, knowing that it was either going to be a fascinating
display of passion for the beautiful game or a total disaster. Luckily, on the
pitch it was the first of these two. The ethnically Albanian Xherdan Shaqiri
netted Switzerland's first and graciously celebrated with his teammates
(including Xhaka and Behrami, also of Albanian descent). Switzerland went on to
win 2-0. There was a shitstorm, however, it just occurred off the pitch. Some
smartass over at Schweizer Fernsehen decided to make a scene about Xhaka
missing the net (to his credit, it was one of the most horrible misses I've
seen in my years of soccer spectating) claiming he didn't want to score on the
Albanians. It was resolved in much drama that involved several prominent Swiss
footballing figures jumping to Xhaka's defense, him writing a very
(surprisingly?) rational and eloquent open letter to the press. #drama
|
 |
October 2012
October was a
month consumed in school. So much went on in the footballing world it would be
exhausting to talk about all of it. However, young Tony Watt at Celtic gave the
press something to babble about when he helped the Glasgow side defeat
Barcelona. His thoughts on the match ("It was better than losing my
virginity!" - hopefully the lady who was his first wasn't aware of it...)
and the all-around historical meaning made it a very special night for Celtic
and soccer fans all over the world. Except Rangers and Barcelona fans.
|
 |
November 17, 2012
Soccer Boss was
behind the camera yet again as the Pumas kicked off their indoor season with a
charity match against the OC Allstars. The Pumas won and much fun and laughter
was had. I enjoyed mingling with the fantastic characters in that soccer
community!
|
 |
December 1st, 2012
The Pumas then topped off the preseason success with a victory against
the Tumwater Pioneers. What a fun game! And welcome to the league, Pioneers! (Photo is coach and keeper Dustyn Brim with superfan Owen Milbrot)
|
No comments:
Post a Comment