John Nieman
Despite my concerted efforts, I have been unable to get son Jeff and grandson Burke to join me in focusing their sporting interest on soccer, motorsports, and equestrian events. They are deeply committed to basketball, football and baseball—particularly with regards to UNC sports. If I am to maintain my status as beloved pater familias, it must be I who adjusts.
As I have noted in this space many times, this is increasingly difficult for me, given the many changes to the basic fabric of collegiate sports. I need not reiterate my objections here. It is clear that I just have to let it go. I have to accept that the Atlantic Coast Conference now embraces teams from all over the planet. I have to understand that decisions made during the game regarding substitutions cannot be made solely on the situation in the game at the moment, but also there must be the consideration of giving adequate playing time to players lest they decide to leave for another school.
And the only way I am going to be able to do that is to just let it go. And so I have decided to make a concerted effort to watch and even perhaps attend UNC football, basketball and baseball. Let me be clear that I do not consider this to be a terrible thing. I grew up loving to watch that beautiful blue. And I know that if I can put all of the objections out of my head and just watch and enjoy the beauty of the games, I can make it happen and connect on a whole new level with my beloved family.
Now this doesn’t mean that I have or ever will forsake my favorite pastimes. And some of the most enjoyable times I’ve had this month have been around soccer. Watching the US women’s national team winning the Olympic gold medal with Martha was a truly joyous occasion.
Listening to Martha scream at the announcers for commenting on the return to glory of the US team in winning the gold with time still left in the game was priceless. Politics aside, I was even able to appreciate Korbin Albert’s significant contribution to the victory. And, it was bittersweet to watch Marta play in her final match. I have to confess that there was a little part of me that wanted to see her get a goal, even though it would be disastrous for the USWNT. But it all worked out in the end and Martha and I sat there in tears as the game ended.
I know this is the purview of our publisher’s column below, but I have to say that the advent of streaming television has, at least for me, had a huge impact on sports. Not to get too Boomer, but I still remember looking forward to the Packer/Thacker game of the week each Saturday, which was the only chance one would get to see an ACC basketball game. I remember how it was such a big deal when one of our games was actually going to be televised. So my new adventure of watching UNC sports is going to be a piece of cake. I can watch any game at any time.
The streaming has made watching the Olympics on Peacock so accessible. Martha and I have been able to watch all of the equestrian events and I got myself caught up on some of the soccer. Men’s Olympic soccer is not at the same level as the women’s, but for a couple of weeks it was the only televised soccer available. I have to assume that anyone who would take the time to read my ramblings has to be knowledgeable about the benefits of streaming, but I just feel I should put it out there.
In my retirement I’ve got a new gig at High Point University and so I’ve become pretty wrapped up in the amazing growth of the city of High Point. And one of the best things is their MLSNext Pro team, the Carolina Core. The stadium is extremely fan friendly and the product put out by the players and staff is really first rate. And so—not for the first time in this space—I encourage you to support your local minor league pro teams. It’s just plain a lot of fun.
We still don’t have a manager for the US men’s national team. The latest big time name out there is Mauricio Pochettino. There is the oft-stated objection that we need to have an American coach.
That is countered by the fact that the women’s team is now being coached by an English woman. I think it’s important to note that Emma Hayes spent her early career as a manager here in the United States and came into the US job familiar with the politics of US soccer. I’m not sure in my mind that that disqualifies Pochettino, but it is a consideration. Whatever the decision, it needs to be made immediately. This World Cup coming up where the US is one of the hosts is going to be a bellwether for US soccer moving forward.
On the off chance that you are casting about for a podcast about soccer, I cannot overstate my enjoyment of “The Rest is Football.” It features Gary Lineker. Micah Richards and Alan Shearer. They have great chemistry and come from three different generations of former players. It starts my day with a smile.
Perhaps I am spending too much time watching sports and not enough time playing. The Dynamo get together once a week, but that is clearly not enough. Fat Boy Index: 286.