Thoughts while watching soccer

Eventually getting to sleep last night after My Big Day I managed to sleep seven solid hours, waking up in the all pervading fog of a generalised ache.  Minimising movement as I went about the core of my morning routines, realised that was committed to going for my regular Sunday Skate with B (9) and an unknown number of other children.  That set the timelines, as the bus I'd have to catch to get me there at the agreed time left in three hours.

I spent a goodly time fixing up last night's blog posts and writing the post that precedes this one.  Then it was; get breakfast, rest my brain (all the writing I'd done was almost as taxing on my energy, I discovered, as the physical movement I would have otherwise done if not in front of the computer screen), get dressed, get packed, watch a bit of soccer on the telly, and, go.

Watching the soccer (Adelaide United v Wellington Phoenix) I again noticed some degree of simillitude with ice hockey.  In particular, watching Adelaide's system of reset-strike, I found myself critiquing the culminating moves of a couple attacking plays in the same register which I use when watching NHL games.  The thought sequence ended with the view that Adelaide's passing was pretty poor in the scoring zone, consistently a step behind the pace, and some possible corrective strategies that could be used. 

The realisation of the congruence, at some level at least, of the the two sports in turn led to an internal 'compare and contrast' exercise.  Eventually, this thought sequence dissolved into more practical avenues when, blow me down, the soccer commentator made reference to ice hockey!  In this instance, after there had been a minor fracas in the penalty box after the Adelaide goalie had been knocked to the ground, the commentator justified the juvenile nature of the on-camera dispute by claiming that it was 'natural' for sportsmen to act like spoiled brats, 'afterall, in Ice Hockey if you push the goal keeper you'll get a stick in the face.' 

Pretty ignorant comment, really, but the thought was appreciated.