Futbol or Football?

The World Cup soccer or futbol tournament has dominated the sports news for the past couple of weeks. Americans have done their best to follow the USA team and the TV ratings seem to show that the game has become more popular than ever here, except at my house. I’m still not much of a soccer fan unless I’m watching someone I know playing in the game.

I know that there are fair amounts of you that are watching the World Cup and I say, “Good for you!” You are definitely one of those people that have embraced soccer. It has become increasingly popular in this country. I have a nephew that has played the game for 40 years or so and is a quality referee on the other side of the state. I have a great nephew that is playing high school soccer in Pasco. His sister is playing on an elite club team in the Tri-Cities. I could watch them play because that would make it more personal.

We played soccer during recess when I was a kid but we didn’t know any of the rules other than only the goalie could use his hands. And that was all we really needed to know. Kick the ball past the goalie and we had a score. I think there were a lot more goals scored during recess than in a normal World Cup game. If I remember right we always put the slowest guy in goal as opposed to the most athletic. So a 7-6 game during a 15-minute recess was about normal.

The next game the Americans play may be their last and then again they may play on if they are lucky. But this column is being written prior to their Tuesday game. And yes I do hope they can play on. It was a little weird that they were beaten by Germany after being tied by Portugal and because of the way pool play is scored the USA team moved on and Portugal went home even though they were victorious on the same day. Oh well, I guess that’s World Cup soccer.

They have reached the point where if you lose you go home. So there are no ties. I do have an idea on how to play off the tie. Instead of penalty kicks I think they should increase the size of the goal by a few feet higher and five to ten feet wider in overtime. If utilized for regulation play I think it could also increase scoring and everybody should enjoy that with the exception of the goalies. I know that will never happen so here’s to everyone high fiving after a 0-0 stalemate!

A couple of weeks back the Earl Barden East-West All Star football game was played at East Valley High School in Moxee. The Lind-Ritzville Sprague Broncos were well represented on the field and the sidelines. Ryan Whitmore, Dylan Hartz and Tyler Frederick played their very last high school game for the east squad. They were coached by LRS Coaches Greg Whitmore and Jason Aldrich along with the Freeman Scottie coaches. Coach Mike Lynch helped out by introducing the award winners from the week from each squad at halftime as well as the offensive and defensive MVPs for both squads after the game.

It was a very entertaining first half and the East led 13-12 at intermission. Having a kicker turned out to be an important part of this game. The East side kicker had a strong leg and kicked 3 out of the 5 kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks. The west kickers kicked a couple of balls out of bounds and the team went for two on both of their PATs coming up short.

The west utilized a single and double wing offense similar to what Navy runs and had some good gains on options and inside counters. They looked like they would be tough to stop unless a few changes were made. Those changes were made at halftime and yards came at a premium in the second half for the West squad.

The East forced the West club to pass the ball in the second half and several balls were intercepted. The East took a 20-12 lead on a nice drive in the 4th quarter. Starting their next drive from the 20, the West QB was pressured and his pass fell into the arms of an East side DB who ran it back for the final TD. The kick was good and the East was victorious 27-12.

It was great to see The Broncos playing their final high school game and I was pleased to see them each make plays during the game. Tyler finished things up by sacking the West QB on the final play of the game which seemed quite appropriate to me.

When one compares futbol to football there is really no comparison in my mind. Give me football every time especially when you have friends on the gridiron cheer for.