Posts Tagged ‘spectator sports’
Busy, Happy
The first pass through the group stage for each team in the 2026 Men’s World Cup has been completed. Today begins the series of second matches for the groups. For the broadcasters and the fans, there is no rest. I don’t know how a person is supposed to watch each exciting moment and also continue to fulfill their daily responsibilities. Sacrifices need to be made.
I will miss seeing the first game today because I will be driving Cyndie and Elysa to the airport for their flight to Amsterdam, and ultimately, Norway. It’ll be Asher and me managing the ranch for the next 11 days.
We won’t be completely on our own, though. We’ll have the support of our property-guard-snakes keeping watch over the goings on around here.
The bigger of these two knows its way around the shop garage. I spotted it the other day, slithering on the top edge of a stack of cardboard leaning against one wall, about chest height.
That explains the discarded snake skins we frequently find in the vicinity. I sure hope they are controlling the rodent population in the building.
I started scrubbing the wood paneling of the shop/garage yesterday, but had to hold off on sanding it until the rain stops and the wood dries. We have retained the services of a log building expert to repair and reseal areas of both this building and the house, and I will be doing as much of the prep work as possible to reduce the cost of the project.
In addition to that work happening while Cyndie is away, we are expecting a visit from This Old Horse personnel with vaccines for the horses, a farrier appointment, a first-time house-cleaning appointment by a local start-up business out of Ellsworth, and I need to drive Asher to a grooming appointment in Baldwin.
Between all of that, I need to keep up with the usual mowing and, if possible, continue trimming back the vigorous growth encroaching on our grass trail around the north loop and all of the trails through the woods.
The fluttering leaves of the poplar trees down by the road were putting on a show in the breeze between rain showers when I rolled our trash and recycling bins down yesterday evening. There is a pretty healthy expansion of that grove, which we are very happy about.
As I reached the top of the first rise in our driveway and took in the view of the variety of lush trees beyond the barn and hay shed, I felt a deep appreciation for our little forest.
It is always such a striking difference from the months when all the branches are bare after the leaves drop off in the fall. When our trees look happy, it brings me great joy. Despite how muddy it has made the area just beyond the barn overhang, I am grateful that the rain over the last few days appears to be providing the trees with all the hydration they need at this time.
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Split Attention
So much sports to watch now that the 2026 FIFA World Cup tournament is underway. Last night, it was complicated by the concurrent broadcast of the 6th game of the NHL Stanley Cup final series. It is not an easy feat to pay close attention to both at once. At least the Carolina Hurricanes solved that issue in the future with their Cup-winning victory over Vegas.
Of course, the Tour de France bike race will start in July, so my attention will be split again, soon.
I spent the early part of the day using our battery-powered string trimmer to cut the growth beneath the fence line around the back pasture. Precision timing (or mere chance, if I were to be honest) had the trimmer battery drained just in time for me to catch the start of the first World Cup game of the day.
As long as I’ve accomplished something along the lines of property maintenance, I feel justified in lounging around watching athletes entertain me with their team skills for the rest of the day.
It helps that the horses and Asher have been taking care of themselves for the most part, lately. When we came in for lunch, Asher decided he wanted to stay sprawled out in the front yard, enjoying the breeze and keeping watch over his domain.
Mia was showing us that she understands what the shade sail is for. The other three horses demonstrate much less interest, preferring to remain under the overhang. Their loss, I say.
While I was watching sports deep into the evening, Cyndie occupied herself with packing preparations for traveling to Norway with Elysa. They will be celebrating a milestone birthday for E, experiencing the light of the midnight sun, and visiting with Friswold relatives while they are there.
I have warned them that Norway will be playing two matches during their visit, so the people may be a little preoccupied on those days –or I should say nights, given the time difference.
There will be no shortage of things commanding my attention while Cyndie is away. Here’s hoping Asher will remain content to stay within our property boundaries for all the days I am the sole person in charge.
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Watchin’ Hockey
Maybe it’s a carryover from the US Olympic hockey victories a few months ago. The NHL Stanley Cup tournament is underway, and I’m finding myself drawn to not only the games of the Minnesota Wild but also those of any of the other teams, too.
It has me staying up past my bedtime too many nights in a row and leaving me a little bleary-eyed during the day.
Our games have been starting so dang late. Even though it’s the playoffs, when other games go into overtime periods, I tend to give up and shut ‘em off. But I can’t do that if it’s the Wild. What’s a guy to do? I gotta watch, but it sure stings double if we lose in sudden death a couple of hours past my regular sleep time.
Even if we win in late-night OT, there’s all the residual adrenaline making it impossible to fall right to sleep.
It’s interesting to be so fanatical about something that is basically a form of entertainment that means very little in the grand scheme of things that truly matter in life. It’s a little crazy to sacrifice a good night’s sleep over a hockey game.
I’m glad I have the luxury of not needing to show up at a workplace this morning. Still, I shut the game off at midnight last night when my eyes gave out.
I can always watch the replays.
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Watchin’ Basketball
I have trouble understanding how basketball referees decide when contact is a foul and when it isn’t. Last night’s four games of the sweet sixteen round of the NCAA Men’s were fun to watch, despite how often players “walk” with the ball and don’t get whistled for it.
Tonight, I will switch back to watching the Women play, since the lady Gophers are still alive in their tournament, having survived to the sweet sixteen for the first time since 2005. Wish us luck against UCLA.
There was a little competition for space in a chair between Asher and Cyndie yesterday. Not all sports were happening in tournaments. Our grand-nephew, Drew, stopped by for a visit from his dorm at UWRF, and that had Asher all excited and seeking nonstop attention.
Cyndie whipped up some Italian Beef sandwiches for dinner and served some fresh-baked goodies for dessert. Her buttery, super-sweet granola cookies were a big hit. I think I may have exceeded my daily sugar ration simply by looking at them. I ate several of them, just to make sure.
It’s a bad time to be consuming excess calories, since I spend a lot less time being active when there are so many March Madness games on TV, grabbing my entertainment attention. This would be a great case for powering the television with a treadmill. Then the only way I could watch would be by exercising.
In the meantime, my body at rest stays at rest.
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Doing Nothing
For the most part, I spent yesterday doing nothing but watching college basketball tournament games. Up until this week, I had not watched an entire basketball game yet this season. However, it’s March Madness time, so basketball it was, all day long.
Asher did a good job of helping me do nothing but watch multiple channels of overlapping basketball games on television.
I took a short break from the NCAA Men’s tournament to watch the #4-ranked Minnesota Gophers Women’s team win their first round game over Green Bay. That game was a little shaky until the 4th quarter, when the Gophers took over, ultimately winning strongly.
In two brief excursions into the great outdoors, I enjoyed a short walk with the dog and then some quality time cleaning up around the horses. By afternoon, all the ditches were filled with flowing meltwater. That hefty blanket of snow that fell 6 days ago has disintegrated into just a few residual piles.
Today, we plan to take full advantage of the first full day of spring to meet separately with two couples we haven’t seen in a while. We’re having breakfast with George and Anneliese in Hudson and dinner with Barb and Mike in St. Paul. After dinner, the four of us have tickets to see Classic Albums Live for the third time at the Ordway Theater. Tonight, they will be recreating the Eagles album, “Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975).”
Based on the past performances by the Classic Albums Live musicians, I am more than happy to be trading watching some second-round basketball madness for high-quality live rock performances of the music of my youth.
Not that I need reminders that I am getting old.
Watching college basketball today reveals a glaring difference between what referees whistled for traveling or palming the ball violations when I was a kid, compared to the sport these days. This is no longer our daddy’s basketball.
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National Competition
Let the withdrawal begin. After two weeks of non-stop daily broadcasting of Olympic sports events, it is time for life to get back to normal. The NHL season will resume, so I suppose I could turn my attention to the Minnesota Wild [men] or Frost [PWHL women] for hockey entertainment. I see that the US goalie, Conner Hellebuyck, who repeatedly stymied Team Canada, will be returning to play for the Winnipeg Jets. I wonder if that will be awkward for him.
Yesterday’s overtime victory for the Gold Medal in hockey by Team USA was a really big deal for a lot of folks. There were plenty of references to the last time the US won gold in men’s hockey, 46 years ago. As thrilling as this win is for the US, I don’t think it compares to the 1980 Miracle on Ice.
That team was made up of amateurs who needed to defeat the larger, stronger, professional-level USSR team to reach the Gold Medal game, which they eventually won, triumphing over Finland. Now professionals are allowed, and the most competitive teams are filled with players from the NHL and European leagues.
The skills and experience in yesterday’s Gold Medal game were a lot closer to even between the two teams. If there were miracles to be found, they were probably related to the number of times Canadian shots missed an open net or how the puck slid barely wide of the post after deflecting off Hellebuyck’s incredible flailing stick.
Did the US team survive being shorthanded 5-on-3 by their skillful penalty kill, or did Canada fail to execute their power play opportunity?
I don’t mean to take anything away from Team USA and their winning the Gold Medal. It was absolutely thrilling. I have no doubt it will become one of the greatest life-long memories in the lives of all involved. I just don’t think it’s on the same level as what that team in 1980 pulled off.
I’m going to miss the adrenaline of the excitement and anticipation of national team competitions. Good thing I only need to wait 108 days for the 2026 FIFA World Cup soccer tournament to begin.
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Game On!
Sorry, can’t talk right now. The Gold Medal game of Men’s Olympic Hockey between the USA and Canada is on!
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Storm Aftermath
A few days ago, we were putting rain sheets on the horses before the weather switched over to snow and made a mess of things. Cyndie had to battle hours of driving in the miserable conditions, and the horses have been clomping around in a mix of freezing and thawing slop ever since.
Their coverings were a frozen mess, so we pulled them off, and with no further falling precipitation to speak of, let their bare backs breathe. They seem fine with the situation for now, but it has made it nearly impossible to clean up their manure to my usual level of detail.
The conditions have been decidedly spring-like in the way the snow began melting the moment the storm was over. By afternoon in the area in front of the barn where I shoveled, the ground looked as dry as if it had never snowed.
Beyond that space where the snow remains are the tracks I made with multiple passes on the ATV. Instead of plowing over the gravel, I just drove back and forth a few times.
On the driveway where I did have the blade down, the pavement dried right up in minutes.
I’m happy the snow clearing didn’t take a lot of time because that allowed me to stay glued to the broadcasts of Olympic competition. The Gold Medal game in Men’s Hockey between the USA and Canada will be tomorrow morning. I don’t know what to expect, but I won’t be surprised if our luck runs out against such a formidable opponent.
On the other hand, I’m certainly hoping for the fairy tale success to continue for one more game.
When I haven’t been watching hockey or figure skating, the next on-ice competition that I find mesmerizing is curling, even though I know almost nothing about the intricacies of the sport. It seems an unlikely spectator sport to me, but when I stumble upon the stone sliding on the Olympic broadcasts, it interrupts my getting anything else accomplished.
I sure have enjoyed the sports distractions from all the malfeasance underway in our government. I sure wish I could wake up on Monday and find out someone has finally put a stop to it all. That would be even more rewarding than an Olympic Gold Medal.
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Golden Goal
It happened again! This time, it was the Women’s US Hockey Team Defender, Megan Keller, scoring in a 3-on-3 overtime period to win the Gold Medal in the Olympics. And again, if it hadn’t actually happened, I would declare this scene in a movie as too improbable, sappy, and overdone.
If you didn’t see it, there is a video showing the goal from every camera angle that is a work of art. [That clip may be subject to an ad before starting, but trust me, the video is worth the wait.] As I watched this compilation the first time, I found myself giggling each time it showed the players throwing off gloves and heaving sticks skyward in celebration.
The fairy tale of yesterday’s victory by Team USA started well before that spectacular golden goal in overtime and deserves a retelling for those of you who may have missed it. The USA was losing 1-0, with time dwindling in the third period. Before the clock had reached 2 minutes to go in the game, the US coach pulled his Goalie to put a sixth player on the ice for a faceoff in the Canadian end of the rink.
With no goalie protecting the US net, it was do-or-die to control the puck and get shots toward Canada’s goal. The US won possession of the faceoff, and the puck was passed to Laila Edwards near the blue line. Edwards lined up her shot, hesitating just a critical moment for an opening before sending the puck toward the Canadian goalie. Defying odds, US team captain, Hilary Knight, expertly positioned her stick to deflect the puck into the net to tie the score and force the overtime period.
In overtime, the key to providing Megan Keller the chance to ultimately seal the victory came from way back near the US goal, where Forward, Taylor Heise (a member of the Minnesota Frost of the PWHL), served up a well-timed loooong pass up to Keller as Canada was trying to get fresh skaters on the ice.
Megan took it from there, looking cool as a cucumber with a dangle of the puck past the lone defender to bring her in front of the goal, where she flipped a backhand shot with enough confidence that the puck had no choice but to sneak over the goalie’s pad and under her stick-hand blocker to end up in the back of the net.
GOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!
Let the celebration commence.
Seriously, watch that compilation of the winning goal happening over and over from different angles and ultimately in slow motion. If you watch it with sound, the play-by-play announcer is only featured in the first one. All the rest offer the beauty of just the crowd’s reaction, with a rise when Keller outsmarts the defense and then the eruption when the puck ends up in the net.
I’m going to be watching this clip more times than I watched the replay of Quinn Hughes’ overtime goal the day before.
The US Men’s team plays a semifinal against Slovakia this afternoon. I hope my nerves can handle more of this excitement.
In another version of ice and skates, shout out to Alysa Liu for her spectacular skating yesterday!
So much Winter Olympic fun to be had.
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Desired Outcomes
Winning can be so sweet. Yesterday, I was able to enjoy Defenseman Quinn Hughes, of the NHL Minnesota Wild, scoring the winning goal for the USA in the last of the Men’s Hockey quarterfinal games in the Olympics. It was a fairy tale of a finish. If that had been scripted for a Hollywood movie, I would have thought it to be too cliché, over the top, and completely unbelievable.
The color commentary included in this video clip of the goal captures the essence really well, but I can’t help reiterating it here. In a prior shift of the 3-on-3 next-goal-wins overtime period, Quinn Hughes was defended so well by Team Sweden forward, Joel Eriksson Ek (a teammate of Hughes’ on the Wild), that Hughes couldn’t get off a forehand shot. He was held to a weak backhand flick that the Swedish goalie easily saved.
The next time Quinn Hughes was on the ice, the announcer pointed out that Quinn waved off the bench to indicate he wasn’t ready to switch and wanted to remain in the play. Sounds like Hollywood to me.
Then, he maneuvered himself with a quick passing exchange with his teammate, Matt Boldy (also a MN Wild forward), before gliding across the middle as the 3rd teammate, Auston Matthews, floated underneath to give Quinn a chance to position himself for the winning forehand shot.
An absolutely magical finish. That is, for US fans. The view from Sweden must be a lot uglier.
The view out our windows at Wintervale was pretty ugly yesterday for driving. Unfortunately, driving is what Cyndie did for around seven hours as rain turned to a freezing mix and then to all snow, making roads slick and accidents plentiful. She witnessed a dizzying number of cars that had spun out into ditches and medians or crashed in a variety of ways.
Visibility was greatly diminished, and the route she intended became backed up, so she had to go well out of her way to complete her journey, spending 4 hours straight to make her way back home around 8 p.m.
I might have been a little tense watching the hockey game go into overtime, but she was hanging on for dear life. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen her so happy to be home.
We were both extremely happy to have been granted our desired outcomes.
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Relative Something 