Dave Eggers On Why Americans Are Adverse To Soccer
Our continued indifference to the sport worshiped around the world can be easily explained in two parts. First, as a nation of loony but determined inventors, we prefer things we thought of ourselves. The most popular sports in America are those we conceived and developed on our own: football, baseball, basketball. If we can claim at least part of the credit for something, as with tennis or the radio, we are willing to be passively interested. But we did not invent soccer, and so we are suspicious of it.
The second and greatest, by far, obstacle to the popularity of the World Cup, and of professional soccer in general, is the element of flopping. Americans may generally be arrogant, but there is one stance I … stand behind, and that is the intense loathing of penalty-fakers. There are few examples of American sports where flopping is part of the game, much less accepted as such. Things are too complicated and dangerous in football to do much faking. Baseball? It’s not possible, really—you can’t fake getting hit by a baseball, and it’s impossible to fake catching one. The only one of the big three sports that has a flop factor is basketball, where players can and do occasionally exaggerate a foul against them, but get this: The biggest flopper in the NBA is not an American at all. He’s Argentinian! (Manu Ginobili, a phony to end all phonies, but otherwise a very good player.)
But flopping in soccer is a problem. Flopping is essentially a combination of acting, lying, begging, and cheating, and these four behaviors make for an unappealing mix. The sheer theatricality of flopping is distasteful, as is the slow-motion way the chicanery unfolds. First there will be some incidental contact, and then there will be a long moment—enough to allow you to go and wash the car and return—after the contact and before the flopper decides to flop. When you’ve returned from washing the car and around the time you’re making yourself a mini-bagel grilled cheese, the flopper will be leaping forward, his mouth Munch-wide and oval, bracing himself for contact with the earth beneath him. But this is just the beginning. Go and do the grocery shopping and perhaps open a new money-market account at the bank, and when you return, our flopper will still be on the ground, holding his shin, his head thrown back in mock-agony. It’s disgusting, all of it, particularly because, just as all of this fakery takes a good deal of time and melodrama to put over, the next step is so fast that special cameras are needed to capture it. Once the referees have decided either to issue a penalty or not to our Fakey McChumpland, he will jump up, suddenly and spectacularly uninjured—excelsior!—and will kick the ball over to his teammate and move on.
From Slate.
Here’s our little girl at 21 weeks. She’s already singing or talking.
Easter & New Life
Happy (almost) Easter everyone!
Easter is the time we celebrate life - as Christians it’s the time we celebrate the gift of eternal life through Jesus’ victory over satan, sin, and death. It is when we celebrate the exchange of life for death and freedom for sin. It’s fitting then that we make this announcement at Easter time.
We’re twelve and a half weeks pregnant! As many of you know, when we came home from Mongolia last July we were pregnant, but unfortunately the pregnancy ended shortly after we arrived. We’re thankful that God is faithful and answered prayer and gave us another baby. We got to hear the heart beat this week and know that it is due around October first.
As things progress we’ll post pictures and updates for you.
Around us, Kim’s brother also just had his second, a girl. And, in my department of 12 guys at work, there are 5 pregnant couples. There’s a lot of life to be thankful for celebrated this Easter.
Thank you for your love, support, and prayers and we hope you’ll celebrate this new life with us.
Love,
Nick, Kim, Baby B, (and Clive, the one sitting very still and wearing the ridiculous ears)
Jonathan & Marielle with Bella.
They’re our good friends from Mongolia they’re doing some great work for the children of Mongolia. Here’s their “Christmas Card” of sorts.
You can find out more of what they’re doing at edurelief.org.
Family photo 12/06/2009.
Three Friends, One Calling, New Blog
A quick change to note…
Two friends and I are starting a new blog together.
“Which two friends?”, and “What’s it called?” you may ask.
I’ll tell you that they’re two of my best friends who also, coincidentally (or sovereignly!) want to be pastors. We’ll be writing articles based on things that we learn and teach, as well as recommending articles/books/content we think are helpful in the realms of theology and the Christian life.
It’s called The Modern Post. You can subscribe via RSS or join us on Twitter if you like.
Come see how three friends - each involved in unique ministries - with one calling come together.
I will continue to post personal updates, stories, adventures here so don’t go too far.
Nick
Seattle Update
Hello there!
It has been awhile so I thought it might be a good time to do a quick update about what we’re up to here in Seattle.
Kim has a ton to report so I’ll start with her. She has been working on her photography and is being mentored by a Pulitzer-prize finalist photographer from our church which is incredible and generous - now, if only the rain and general grey-ness would let up a bit. Kim is also helping out a woman from our church who has three kids and who was recently diagnosed with MS. She’ll go over to their house once a week to help with groceries, cleaning, nannying, or really just about anything that the mother needs.
Kim has also been tutoring a high schooler in math every Sunday and is starting to teach Sunday school this Sunday. Oh, and she is working on starting a women’s theology Bible study with some of the girls in our small group which would be really cool.
She’s putting her creativity, huge caring and nurturing heart, humor, and wisdom to work all over the place. It’s awesome to watch.
I’ve been keeping busy with work. I’m really excited to be working in a church like this one. Everyone is not only creative and great at what they do, but everyone has a heart for discipleship and to see people meet Jesus. Almost all of our decisions come back to a question of, “Is this theologically sound” or “Will this help make disciples of Christ”. It’s a wholly unique experience for me to be blending marketing and theology but so far I’m really enjoying it. The guys I work with are awesome and I’m learning a ton.
We’ve been doing a lot for the current sermon series, Luke, but I also get to work in other facets like marketing books - I recently booked our pastor on Loveline (I believe he’s the first pastor to be on that show) and a feature in Relevant magazine - as well as do interviews and help where I can with the Resurgence.
Kim and I have been exploring the city, often while lost, and really enjoy how each of the neighborhoods have such a unique feel to them. We go out for date nights every Friday and try to go to different neighborhoods to get a feel for them.
Our friends from Mongolia, Jonathan and Marielle, came to stay with us at the end of September and our friends Ralph and Megan, came at the end of October. We had a blast with all of them. We’ve really missed people from those two places so it was great to catch up with what’s going on in each other’s lives.
It’s been four months since we got back home. We had forgotten about the pace of life in America and still struggle a bit with adjusting to the blur of it. We always feel like we don’t read as much as we used to or as much as we’d like. We’re doing our best to reclaim that ground though.
We’re thankful, happy, and excited to see where this new chapter continues to lead.
Thanks for reading.
If you like to cook, please see below. :)
One of the greatest things about my husband, is the amount of ideas he generates. I mean, it is nonstop. The best part is that I get to help execute many of them.
His new one: Share recipes on my blog.
So alas, another idea conquered. My hope is to post one recipe and photo of the finished product per week. Today, I am giving you bagels (thanks Marina for the recipe!) One fantastic trait of bagels is their versatility. Toast or broil with some added seasonings to your hearts content. We have put cinnamon and sugar on them, used them for turkey sandwiches with a little mayo & mustard, and also toasted with garlic oil to eat with pasta. So, without further ado, here is your recipe for this week:
Homemade BagelsIngredients:
- 1 1/2 C warm water
- 2-3 T active dry yeast
- 2 T sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 C flour
- 1 T oil
Process:
- Put warm water and yeast in a large bowl- allow to sit 5 minutes or until frothy.
- Mix the rest of the ingredients into the bowl until soft and well kneaded. The dough should be smooth and soft- sometimes you have to knead a while.
- Let rise until doubled~ approx 1 hour.
- Punch dough down and form bagels. Roll them into balls and using your forefinger, poke and twirl an opening in the center of the bagel. Don’t make the bagels super large because they will rise again.
- Dust the bottom of the bagels and let them rise another 30-45 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Boil another large pot of water- if you want to make your bagels slightly more sweet, add about 1/3 c of syrup or brown sugar.
- Boil the bagels for 45 seconds on each side.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown and slightly crispy.
