Wednesday, October 26, 2005

rocking the fine focus



Today is the last day of Plant and Animal cell drawings for Biology Lab. Yep, that means the last day on the 'scopes, which are suspect to my aching neck pains. No longer do I have to identify Epithelial cells, whether they are simple or stratified, squamos or cuboidal, ciliated or not... the differences between prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase... where the golgi apparatus or the endoplasmic reticulum are located and what their functions are. Ya know all of this nonsense reminds me of last night when my roommate Jessica Sandoval asked me the college student's most frequently asked question, "why do we have to waste our time with all this general ed.?" It's simple Jessica: when we get or BA it's telling the world that WE KNOW A LITTLE ABOUT A WHOLE HECK OF A LOT. What more could you want? ;) The real partying starts after next semester no more math and science for Nicole for the rest of her life :).


What I shouldn't be doing during Monday night class:

I watched my 100th episode of Gilmore Girls on Sunday and I'm officially caught up to the 6th season!! yay =).... its totally crazy: Rory has quit Yale, she's still with Logan, Lorelai asked Luke to marry her and now they are engaged (no date is set yet) buuuuuut there is a "rift" between Rory and Lorelai... they aren't speaking to each other and Rory is living in Richard and Emily Gilmore's pool house.
About Rory quitting Yale: this is the perfect move on Palladino's part because if Rory finishes Yale then Gilmore Girls is going to have to end. I was totally freaking out about the situatuion and it was getting me down - How are they going to spin the show after Rory graduates college? That's why the new drop out idea is perfect - it prolongs the show so that it continues to broadcast future seasons (more than two! c'mon!) - and, essentially, it keeps me, my roomates, and the whole world happy =).

Tuesday vs Westmont @ Hydraflow. Although not as dominant in scoring and winning as last year, Westmont soccer is a prestigious program. Last year we were defeated 8-0 during their homecoming game, but this year we decided to keep up.
Now let me start off with making one point clear: I'm not a big fan of Penalty Kicks. In fact, I don't care for them at all - I believe the only reason they exist is to regulate players with a consequence. They really should never be used but if they HAVE to the only time they should be is if there is a legitimate foul that was commited blatantly in the box where the victim actually had an opportunity to score the ball. Now, if you know anything about how big the 18 yard box is you would realize that there are many areas within it that would not qualify for "an opportunity to score the ball" - especially those areas that kitty corner the end line.
Mid-first half I had the ball in the box and upon shooting a Westmont defender took out - no not one, but - both of my legs from underneath me. As unfortunate as Penalty Kicks are, it was impossible not to award our team one under the circumstances - and so the Referee blew her whistle and charged with an extended and stiff arm to 12 yards before the goal line.
Coach K immediately requested that I take it but, yes I admit, I was incredibly nervous - the last time I had taken a Penalty Kick was in High School (@ the Washington State Finals consolation game for 3rd and 4th place, I went first and scored mine, we went on to win 3rd in State). By the grace of God I made the shot - if you could even call it one. I had decided before even stepping up to the ball that I was going to shoot the ball on the ground - in which direction had not been decided yet - this was because of the little fact that I haven't shot a PK in a couple years and I didn't want to risk a field goal situation.
After the whistle had blown and before I had approached the ball the 'Keep was bouncing around on her line, leaving the net slightly more open to her left. Playing along with her mind games I sent the ball on the ground to her left, which she totally anticipated and nearly saved, but to my incredible fortune she still managed to let it pass her into the goal to become my 18th of the season. The half ended with no more scoring and us up 1 PK to none.
Westmont had 10 dangerous oppurtunities on goal to our 1. They finally managed to head one in off of a corner kick - one of many we gave them effortlessly. Regulation time ended with another tie: 1-1, but we are no strangers to over time.
So here comes the heartbreaker... Lisa "the freight train" Teberg got into a fair tackle with a Westmont attacker. It was just outside the 18 near the sideline where the forward tripped - either off herself or the ball - and collided with the Ice Berg. Unfortunately Lisa was twice as big as the little crimson jersey and this provoked the Referree to grant them a Penalty Kick.
SOOOO many things are wrong with this call that it is unbelievable that someone could even think to make it:
#1 It is debatable whether the incident occurred in the box
#2 The foul was not blatant, therefore indirect
#3 The Westmont attacker had no opportunity to score on goal

Under these circumstances would you award a Penalty Kick - which is essentially giving a team a goal (unless you have a coward like me taking it who almost blew it) - would you award a Penalty Kick during an over time period where a winner is determined by the first goal to be scored? In Laymen terms: As a referree of a game, would you give a goal to a team so that they could win a game due to no infraction commited by the opposing team?
I sprinted from the halfline to the goal and asked the referree if, as the captain, I could have a minute of her time before she blew her whistle to allow the kick to take place. She said no. So I proceeded to ask her if she could stop and think about the call she just made and if it is worth blowing the game (ofcourse I wasn't very pleasant, in fact I was yelling at her so idignantly that you would be amazed that not one profane word came out of my mouth). I asked her why should would call a PK when the attacker had no chance on goal. I told her that she was making a huge mistake, and that the "foul" was commited outside the box. All of these things you would think she had already known. At this she blew this whistle, Westmont scored, and the game was over. We were defeated. I continued to yell at the referree and it ended with "What, are you tired, did you want to go home?" when Serena intervened and pulled me away.
Total bullocks. As a referree there is two things that I would have considered:
#1. grant an indirect kick at the very spot the "foul" had occurred. Our own physical trainer tried to rationalize that call by saying "well maybe she was just trying to make up for the call she made for us in the first half." Oh don't even get me started with such ignorance! Well you might be surprised to find out that I had slept wonderfully last night, although all day the game has been nagging at me. Our last game - I know! it's gone by so quick - is Saturday @ Biola, 7pm.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Come on! You know you've been having so much fun breaking your neck looking down scopes and pondering all these mathimatical equations!

About that Gilmore thing, she's on a Soph right, so they could still have another 2 years outa her!

-Tj