(Oct. 4, 2006) ? My beloved friends, it has been quite a while since we last communicated and honestly I sure miss it a lot. I want to start out today by allowing you all to know that I am working hard find a way to have some of my loyal readers give me some feedback as well as chance to ask questions. It will be like a “letters to the editor” kind of thing, except it is comments and criticism straight to me.
I am definitely hoping that it will be ready for the next blog and can’t wait to see if anyone writes back. I strongly believe that for the blog to be a full experience there needs to be some feedback from those who take the time to read it. With all of that said, let’s get started on the latest news.
The past few weeks have not been exactly what our team had in mind. Losing 2-1 to DePaul and 1-0 to Rutgers has put us in a tough situation in the Big East and for the season in general. Our performances lately have not been even close to the capabilities of our team and we are all very disappointed in ourselves by the way we have been representing our program. However, I have the feeling that this is it! The sad part is that there are only a few weeks left until the end of regular season. The most exciting part is that with a few games left, our faces are against the walls (like a kid in timeout) and that only leaves room for improvement.
Our team strongly believes in the positives of every experience, and we all have the intention of turning things around immediately. When I say immediately I not only speak of our upcoming game against FAU, but I refer more to what we have to do to fix what’s wrong first. The way to do this is by training hard today and everyday from now on. The thing about team sports that excites me the most is that to get things on track, once again, every individual must commit to a plan and with our team, it is such an amazing phenomenon. Why, you may ask? Well, our team is composed of all different cultures, backgrounds, languages and characters. To be a part of this team when all these differences come together for a same cause, gives me the shivers. Diversity is amazing, even more spectacular when diversity is no longer differences between one another; it’s more like an opportunity to prove how strong a group can be from learning from one another’s attributes and mistakes. Sometimes conflicts take time to be resolved, however all conflicts can be solvable, but that is only if you are willing to put all dedication into a solution to the problem. The conflict with our team in the past (by past I mean every day before today) took this long to be resolved, but like Kanye West says “better late than never”. I am very confident that our team is willing to put it all aside and focus on nothing but one thing, Florida Atlantic University on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2006 at 7:30 p.m. and THAT IS IT!!
I live soccer, no lie. But, as every other human being, I need other hobbies in my life. One of my favorite pasttimes is supporting our other athletic programs here at the University, GO BULLS! This past weekend I was fortunate enough to catch some of our other wonderful sports in action. I’ll start off with the lovely volleyball ladies. I am so proud of the volleyball team this year. They have really turned things around for themselves. Some of my teammates and I were at the last two home games at the Corral. It was an exciting experience. The games also give me a chance to be my normal self; loud and obnoxious. If you do not believe me, than you will have to be at the next volleyball home game as I will be supporting the ladies toward another valuable victory. Despite the unfortunate losses to all of our athletic programs this past weekend, I am proud to say I am a BULL by the way the football, volleyball and women’s soccer programs have performed this year so far. Congratulations to all of USF’s student-athletes.
On a personal note, my life has taken a sudden shift into fifth gear, which is the highest, correct? Ha ha. I am very fortunate to still be very healthy and alive of course, but also to announce to all that I will be taking part in an upcoming event with the U.S. U-20 National Team. The event will take place the days of Oct. 8-12, in which we will be facing Haiti’s U-23 squad on Wednesday, Oct. 11 in Ft. Lauderdale. This event means a lot to me for the reason that it will be a reunion between a lot of my old teammates from past national teams and myself. Young stars such as Freddy Adu, Danny Szetela and a bunch more, will be attending this camp. To take part in training and to be a teammate with all of the professional players is something that is truly overwhelming. I mean Freddy Adu, he is the face of U.S. soccer around the globe, and I will be chilling with him. Ha ha.
Finally, I will like to acknowledge a few people who have given me a little kick in the butt and have motivated me in some down times in the past weeks. Of course my teammates, I feel sometimes we do not recognize how influential each of us is to one another or take one another for granted, but at the end of the day they are people who make a huge difference in my life. To the man who is responsible for the most amazing smell of hot dogs and chicken on my walk into the stadium, yes you, the one that is always next to the keg!! Ha ha. Seriously, everyone needs to have some of his grill at one point in their lives. To my family, friends, coaches and even animals, God bless you all! This last appreciation is to a few people who I doubt read this, however without them I would be a bum. To my teachers, thank you so much for understanding the life of student-athletes and working with all of us on making us better students without putting our sport in jeopardy. A special happy birthday to my brother, I wish you the best one and may all your dreams come true kid!! I pray that God gives all happiness, health ..... and wealth of course. Ha ha.
