WDM, IA - The Family at Soccer

Gary’s younger sister, Dawn, and her husband, Tom, have a son named Adam who plays soccer for his club team, the Prairie Soccer Club in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. They travel around the state and one of their venues is the Cownie Soccer Fields in Des Moines, where there are 16 fields.

On Saturday his team was entered into a tournament here and we were able to go. Oh, by the way, his high school football team played a game that morning also. Football and soccer both? Sure, why not, Adam says. He is a kicker for the football team and a goalie for the soccer team - makes sense to me.

Of course the big game in Iowa today was the annual football game between Iowa State and Iowa. Iowa usually spends about twice what Iowa State spends on football and the scores over the years reflect that. Although, every now and again, Iowa State manages to pull off the upset.

The game was at 11:00 so we could all watch it before we went to the game.

After the two teams had battled to a 24 - 24 tie at the end of regulation play, they began their first overtime. It ended in a tie and they began their second overtime. It also ended in a tie. Much of Iowa is glued to their TV’s watching this. I doubt that much popcorn was being eaten during the thrid overtime - people were too tense. After Iowa, on their 4th down, made a field goal, it was Iowa State’s turn. They moved down the shortened field, got within range, and - got the touchdown. Game Over.

Can you guess which university I attended? If you guessed Iowa State, you’d know which baseball cap I wore to the soccer match. You see, Tom and Dawn are huge Iowa fans: they atttended Iowa, he works for Iowa, they live in the area - well, you get the point. Unfortunately, Mediacom, their cable provider, lost the connection at halftime and they ended up listening to the game on TV. Holy Cow - lose the signal for the biggest game in Iowa?

Actually, we don’t have cable and I listened also.

The game began at 5:00 and I drove over. Note the intense focused look. And, I was still in the driveway. Gotta practice your game face.

No, as you can see, I was on the interstate.

Back at the soccer game. I got some good photos of Adam guarding the goal and getting some kicks in. Look at the smile in the second picture. He knows he got a good kick in. He had high booming kicks, always to the opponents side of the field. He’s got a good foot. No wonder the football teams wants him.

We adults sat in the stands. Temps in the mid 80’s, sunny. What more could we wish for?

The three sibs are in front, Cathy, Dawn and Big Gar. Tom, Cathy’s husband is in the yellow hat and Tom, Dawn’s husband is in the white hat. No, that is not a lapse in concentration, they are both named Tom.

Dinner at a local bar-b-que restaurant afterwards. As we left I got this picture. Just trying out the zoom. Next time I’ll use the tripod too.