State Soccer 2009 or How Central dropped the A-bomb
by aontiveroz on May.27, 2009, under High School, Multimedia, Sports
Brad Ramsey, Kevin Cox and Co. pulled a Bachman-Turner Overdrive on the rest of the state and continued taking care of business at the state tournament last weekend in Sheridan. Unbeaten, unscathed, unholy, and many more superlatives fully describe this team’s incredible rise to the top. To paraphrase the greatest (only ones to have a hit) white Irish hip-hop group, House of Pain, word to your moms, Central came to drop bombs. Terrible lyric, I know, but it was all I could think of at this hour.
The tournament played out as expected as three of the four defending state champions re-captured their respective crowns. Sadly, my alma mater (*cough* Laramie *cough*) was the only one who failed to repeat. In fact, they only painted their chests in support of the girls’ team that destroyed the state again. The East boys did the Laramie boys one better by qualifying for the tournament, only to be eliminated from play in tears like a lesser loser from the Biggest Loser (disclaimer: the T-Birds are not losers). The East girls, however, captured 5th place by destroying the pride of Sweetwater Co., Rock Springs, 7-0. Nice work. During my two days at the tournament, I watched as the Central girls dropped two games by a combined score of 7-2 in a fourth-place effort. I cannot say whether it had something to do with not scoring enough (as I am no soccer/any kind of expert), but I’m pretty sure that was the case.
In addition to the physical displays of talent from the aforementioned teams, I had the chance for my own physical confrontation. A Natrona boys player, No. 2, attacked me following their 3-1 dismantling in the finals against the Indians. A teammate cried while his brother (presumably) consoled him. Instinctively, I shot a few frames. A few seconds later, a belligerent teen the size of a dime began jumping up and down in front of my camera as he shouted something along the lines of: What the *&%# are you doing? What the %#@$ are you taking pictures of, huh? What the $#$^?! He began to approach me, as I stood my ground (mostly amused). Fortunately, or unfortunately, his coach grabbed him before I could turn and run in fear of getting kicked in the ankle.
Congratulations to all who competed. And thanks to the 300 athletes who showed class in not attacking me — that, of course, excludes the Natrona County duece.
June 1st, 2009 on 8:15 am
LOL…”kicked in the ankle”…classic!
June 19th, 2009 on 8:36 am
I was there when the #2 player for Natrona who was upset after the game yelled at you. He should not have yelled at you, that was the wrong thing to do. But what is more wrong than what he did is you totaling making up a whole new story. He screamed “What are you taking pictures of huh?” that was the only thing he said. He used no profanities and the coach took the player away immediately after he yelled that one sentence at you. And you did not stand your ground, you ran away. Nothing else was said. Your story simply is not true, its too bad that you must resort to lies to make yourself look good in your little blog.
June 19th, 2009 on 11:14 am
dan,
firstly, i thank you for your opinions and kind words. we appreciate the opinions of our viewers.
secondly, i would like to point out that i did not run away, nor did i quote the child in question — i merely paraphrased. in addition, would an irate teen, full of hormones and emotion speak just a single sentence in the heat of the moment? doubtful.
definitions courtesy of dictionary.com:
to run away: to go quickly by moving the legs more rapidly than at a walk and in such a manner that for an instant in each step all or both feet are off the ground.
i can assure you, i have not moved quickly on my own since about high school (ca. early 2000s). mostly, i move at a shuffle and leave rapid movement to a bicycle or automobile or snowboard on my behalf.
definition of the verb to stand: to be in an upright position on the feet.
i did stand, while allowing the teen to express himself. when i walked away, it was due to the fact that there were many other things to photograph besides an irate teen yelling at me. could i have done it? yes. would it have been newsworthy? no. thus, i walked away to continue working. walking away to work gave me the opportunity to provide the most comprehensive coverage of the event. had i stood and watched the kid for the rest of the afternoon, that goal would not have been achieved.
his teammates were gracious enough to apologize on his behalf and i said it was ok. this was a mere 10 yards from the incident. ten yards hardly seems like an adequate distance to run away to. but hey, what do i know about running away?
also, i appreciate the fact that no. 2 competed and i look forward to his many achievements ahead. he certainly has the tenacity to rule the world.
as always, thanks for looking and commenting on our little blog.
June 19th, 2009 on 11:23 am
fair enough