coolmite

as the home of American soccer hooligans. How awesome is that? The East London football club, West Ham United, came to Columbus to play the Crew in a friendly, and a fight broke out in the stands.

I think that’s awesome for many reasons.  Here’s a few:

One: The hooliganism shows that Crew fans are passionate. How many times have you heard about passion in English football in the US? Exactly. None! It’s time that Crew fans treated every match like it was the Buckeyes vs. the Wolverines. I want to see dumped beers and a black eye or two.

Two: This is Columbus–hooliganism won’t get out of hand. This was an isolated skirmish in the stands that was broken up quickly. To me, it sounds like the perfect soccer match fight. It’s not like we have a hooligan firm of 35-100 fans who look for trouble at matches. You’ll have a few overzealous rowdies working their beer muscles, that’s all.

Three: It will have a good spillover to other sports in Columbus. The only other games in town are the Columbus Blue Jackets and the omnipresent Ohio State Buckeyes. Bucks fans are rabid, but pretty docile–again, this IS Columbus. Getting shown up by soccer hooligans would surely leave a bad taste in my mouth if I had season tickets to OSU football games at the ‘Shoe. Maybe OSU fans will step up their game with chants, scarves and the flinging of Budweiser and foam fingers. As long as they keep Buckeye necklaces from flying through the air, everyone will be fine. On the other hand, the Blue Jackets have no identity, such as the Red Wings, who throw octopii on the ice and fists in Joe Louis Arena.  Maybe, the Crew fans can throw a dish from one of Cameron Mitchell’s many restaurants on the opposing team’s heads. I’d opt for something other than swordfish, perhaps a crab cake, which can have good trajectory and can be flung from a clay pigeon launcher fairly easily.  Pull!

My family and I just got back from a fantastic vacation in Myrtle Beach, SC, where we spent a week with my parents and my aunt and uncle. Tom and Stasia Gilbride (My mom’s sister and her husband) own three condo units in an old hotel on the beach. I have to thank them for their immense hospitality. My family had a great time.

It was especially nice, since I have not been on vacation with my parents since 1984. Oh, my brother, Tim, and I had the opportunity in 1988, but we were going to hold our own party while they were out of town. That’s another story–of the perfect crime foiled–for another time. It was nice to spend time with my mom and dad and to let them get to know me again for the first time in many years.

They know me just fine. Mainly from the many visits I’ve had home between 1992 and last week for family get-togethers, holidays, my wedding, the kids’ baptisms, summer fun parties and the like. I haven’t, however, spent prolonged time with them in a very long time. It was good to play in the pool with my dad and my kids and to see my dad act like a grandpa, but really, he was acting like my dad all over again in my youth. I also got the chance to talk to my mom about little things, like how nice it was to spend this much time together and to talk to her the same way I would when I’d come home from being out as a teenager when she’d be coming home from work at Assumption Nursing Home. I really enjoyed the closeness.

My mom said it was nice for her to spend the long time with my kids, to become more familiar. We really only see my parents once or twice a month, so the kids don’t know them the same way that Karyn and I knew our grandparents. Mom was especially happy to see my youngest, Cecelia, learn to recognize her and become comfortable with her. She kept saying to Cece, “look who it is…it’s that crazy lady smiling at me again.” No, Mom. Not crazy. Just someone who is happy to be around family.