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Alan and I agree to disagree on soccer and scoring

Posted By Jeff McDonald On In sports | 4 Comments

Earlier today, regular WFTC contributor Alan Spoll offered this latest “Bad sports, good sports” post [1], which included his view on scoring – or lack thereof – in soccer matches.

Alan and I will will have to agree to disagree on this one … though I must admit, right from the start, that mine is hardly an impartial view.

You see, I am the father of a keeper. Understandably, there is nothing I would like better than to see my boy emerge from a match with a clean sheet, doing his part to allow absolutely no scores by the other squad.

That’s not to say I’m completely against all scoring … far from it. I absotively want to see our team score a goal – or, even better, just for insurance, two goals – over the other team, and come away with a win.

But then, I’m torn. I’m perfectly content with a one-point win … and the last thing I want to watch is some team running up the score on the other team – hammering the other team’s keeper, hammering some other guy’s kid – in order to accumulate those points that are oh-so-handy at the end of the season, if league officials have to go to the “goals scored” tie-breaker to determine the season’s champion.

In that repect, our squad was blessed this season, winning their league’s championship outright, based solely on their win-loss-draw record. Well done, boys!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m still a neophyte in learning and appreciating the world’s most popular sport. But in the learning process, I have gained a tremendous appreciation for the activity that happens between the goals, for the incredible displays of athleticism, of strength and agility, of tenacity and heart that occur in those moments outside the scores …

It truly IS ‘the beautiful game.’

Jeff McDonald [4]

There's a saying around here, something like, "I wasn't born in Texas, but I got here as fast as I could!" That's me. I'm a 'dang Yankee from back-east' who settled in the Lone Star State after some extended stays in the eastern U.S., and New Mexico. I worked as an archaeologist for a few years before dusting off my second major in English, and embarking on a 25-year career in journalism. Since then, I've embraced the dark side of the force, and now work in PR for a community college in Midland, Texas.

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