As I was making the 15 to 60 minute commute from Woodbury to the Thunder Offices in St Paul on this historic morning, I had a bit of an epiphany.
Traffic was bumper to bumper from White Bear Ave into the downtown St Paul area as people headed to their jobs in the great rat race. A Lane Expert driving a snazzy newLexus hybrid SUV , sure that the lane I was in was barely moving in would get her to where she was going at least 20 seconds faster than the lane she was currently not moving in, cut in front of me then slammed on her brakes as she realized that my lane was just as jammed as hers. Go figure lady.
I screeched to a stop mere inches from her back bumper and heard the echo of screeches behind me, followed by the gratuitous blaring of at least 3 horns. I myself leaned on my horn for a good 4 seconds (one Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi, four... that's a fun word to type) and shot the women an I Hate You! look. You know, the same look that you give the car behind you in a touchless wash as you start your dryer cycle and they enter immediately on your a$$ and start their wash before you're done, covering your now never to be completely dry carwith water and soap from the jet-powered sprayers. The I Hate You! bounced of her rear view mirror and pierced her soul (hopefully).
I glanced over to my passenger seat that was covered with the usual papers, skillzys, phone and head set chargers, pens, gum, gum wrappers, chewed up gum, suckers, used Caribou coffee cups, a McDonald's bag or two, McDonald's Monopoly game pieces from two years ago, aWendy's Frosty spoon, a Burger King Crown, some Arby's curly fries, a Subway White Chocolate Macadamia Nut cookie sleeve, a Jimmy John's #2 sandwich wrapper, an uneaten lunch my wife packed for me last month, and other stuff us soccer coaches seem to hoard, and noticed that everything had apparently been teleported onto the floor. Now how am I going to find anything?!?!?!? Oh, that's what my passenger seat looks like.
I looked back out front, ready to give another I Hate You! look mouth a very pronounced "You bleeping idiot!" with a head shake, but before I could lock on reflected eyes of the fool driver, I saw the Obama or McCain sticker (whichever candidate you would like to think I support) on the back of her car. Oh. You're voting for him? Good for you!!! And the hate evaporated like much of my current stock portfolio.
It then struck me that this little interaction is very representative of the MN soccer scene today. MTA has caused some real anger in the community against the Academy, against the Thunder pro organization, and even against me personally. People believe very strongly one way or another, feelings are perpetuated on blogs, at Brit's, and in board rooms, and walls are built that become increasingly more and more difficult to breakdown as we get further and further away from Ground Zero. There needs to be a search for common ground here on both sides. Members Read More...
Blogs, Brit's, and Board Rooms
As I was making the 15 to 60 minute commute from Woodbury to the Thunder Offices in St Paul on this historic morning, I had a bit of an epiphany.
Traffic was bumper to bumper from White Bear Ave into the downtown St Paul area as people headed to their jobs in the great rat race. A Lane Expert driving a snazzy newLexus hybrid SUV , sure that the lane I was in was barely moving in would get her to where she was going at least 20 seconds faster than the lane she was currently not moving in, cut in front of me then slammed on her brakes as she realized that my lane was just as jammed as hers. Go figure lady.
I screeched to a stop mere inches from her back bumper and heard the echo of screeches behind me, followed by the gratuitous blaring of at least 3 horns. I myself leaned on my horn for a good 4 seconds (one Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi, four... that's a fun word to type) and shot the women an I Hate You! look. You know, the same look that you give the car behind you in a touchless wash as you start your dryer cycle and they enter immediately on your a$$ and start their wash before you're done, covering your now never to be completely dry carwith water and soap from the jet-powered sprayers. The I Hate You! bounced of her rear view mirror and pierced her soul (hopefully).
I glanced over to my passenger seat that was covered with the usual papers, skillzys, phone and head set chargers, pens, gum, gum wrappers, chewed up gum, suckers, used Caribou coffee cups, a McDonald's bag or two, McDonald's Monopoly game pieces from two years ago, aWendy's Frosty spoon, a Burger King Crown, some Arby's curly fries, a Subway White Chocolate Macadamia Nut cookie sleeve, a Jimmy John's #2 sandwich wrapper, an uneaten lunch my wife packed for me last month, and other stuff us soccer coaches seem to hoard, and noticed that everything had apparently been teleported onto the floor. Now how am I going to find anything?!?!?!? Oh, that's what my passenger seat looks like.
I looked back out front, ready to give another I Hate You! look mouth a very pronounced "You bleeping idiot!" with a head shake, but before I could lock on reflected eyes of the fool driver, I saw the Obama or McCain sticker (whichever candidate you would like to think I support) on the back of her car. Oh. You're voting for him? Good for you!!! And the hate evaporated like much of my current stock portfolio.
It then struck me that this little interaction is very representative of the MN soccer scene today. MTA has caused some real anger in the community against the Academy, against the Thunder pro organization, and even against me personally. People believe very strongly one way or another, feelings are perpetuated on blogs, at Brit's, and in board rooms, and walls are built that become increasingly more and more difficult to breakdown as we get further and further away from Ground Zero. There needs to be a search for common ground here on both sides. Members Read More...