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- Dec 22, 2005
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There's an old saying, which I wish I had coined, that the great NHL players have the ability to "go where the puck is going to be."I had the luck to be in the fourth row of the endzone, right behind the camera well, so it was sort of a first row, to see Messi score his goal. I am hardly a soccer fan, but I love tournaments and playoffs in almost any sport. I could not pass up the opportunity to see these great athletes, especially Messi, do what they do best.
Whenever Messi was not part of the action, he was walking around. He was pretty much the only player on the field walking around. What's up with that? Was he hurt? Was he conserving his energy? Was he being a field general? Was he being a prima donna? Was I hallucinating?
I'm sure there is insight to be had.
(For example, I was utterly shocked by the penalty kick. I could not make heads or tails of what the hell just happened right in front of me. I mean, was he joking? Did some Argentinian drug lord threaten his family? Was it some sportsmanship thing where you take a half-hearted (quarter-hearted?) penalty kick if you feel that it was called in error? I had no clue, until I did a little reading and learned the history and strategy.)
Thanks!
Messi's job is kin of along those lines. It's his (only) job to be in position to score, to anticipate what is going to happen and how a play is (or is not) evolving and then be in the right place at the right time to strike for a Goal, which he does quite well and quite often. If he appeared to someone who doesn't watch a lot of soccer to be just "walking around," well, I doubt that would bother him very much.