Michael Kitchen's Blog, page 9

March 20, 2019

May 16, 2018: at FC Cincinnati (USL) (Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup).

May 16, 2018

Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup

FC Cincinnati 4, Detroit City FC 1

Gettler Stadium, Cincinnati, OH

Attendance: 2,250 (described as “sold out”)


DCFC  Shawn Lawson (Danny Deakin) 31′

FCC  Emery Welshman (Forrest Lasso, Daniel Haber) 35′

FCC  Corben Bone (Emery Welshman) 94′

FCC Emery Welshman 99′

FCC  Emery Welshman (Jimmy McLaughlin) 110′


My 100th Detroit City FC match.

I’m going to do a little ranting in this one.

FC Cincinnati.


-A USL franchise coveting a move into the MLS through expansion, in competition with the Gilbert-Gores MLS bid in Detroit.


-A collection of 25,000+ people who show up, bowing before billionaire owner, Carl Linder III, when the team made their first appearance in the USL in 2016.


Detroit City FC visited Cincinnati twice (2014 and 2015) against the Cincinnati Saints NPSL team, where these “fans” could have begun building their club.


Last year (2017), FC Cincinnati had a remarkable run in the U.S. Open Cup, making it all the way to the semi-final round, and came 70 minutes away from making it to the finals.  They took a 2-0 lead into the locker room against the New York Red Bulls, however they lost the match in extra-time, 3-2.  You’d think the ‘sports professional’ minds at FC Cincinnati would anticipate that their fans would be eager for the 2018 version of the competition.  Instead of hosting us at their stadium, like they did against AFC Cleveland before a crowd of 12,790 in the second round of 2017, they downsized our match to a field smaller than Detroit Cass Tech High School (where we played from 2012-2015, pushing the 3,000+ high school field to its limits) and awarded Detroit City FC only 50 tickets to disperse among family and supporters.  The remaining seats were sold out the week prior to the match.  The team needed 22 tickets, leaving 28 for traveling Northern Guard Supporters.


I was fortunate.  I contacted the team for a media pass.  The email I received in response read as follows:


Normally we only allow accredited media on to the field with game day credentials, but given the situation at Gettler Stadium, we’ll make the exception for you and one other. I’ll shoot a note out on Monday with the parking and credential pick-up information.


The other media pass went to Miko (check out his YouTube page for awesome vids of DCFC matches) I’m glad I didn’t have to use a ticket so that another Rouge Rover could.  But what is ‘accredited media’ these days?  I know , back in the late 1990’s, when I shot for Great Lakes Hockey Alliance, ‘accredited media’ meant a hard-copy media source, like a newspaper or sports publication.  Today’s media is broader than that isn’t it?


Or is this just another barrier created by ‘professional’ sports teams.


I’ve digressed.  Onward.


 


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After checking into the hotel, I went to find the tavern the Rouge Rovers laid claim to, guiding my sister and her family (northern Kentucky residents) to meet pre-game.  They arrived before me and took a table as far away from the Rouge Rovers as possible.  That’s okay.  I noticed a digital jukebox, dropped a few quarters, and a selected “500 Miles” and “I Just Can’t Get Enough,” which treated my family and other natives to a loud chorus of the fine voices of the Rouge Rovers when they heard the tunes.


Heh heh heh.


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Below, you’ll see the fine accommodations FC Cincinnati provided their fans for a U.S. Open Cup match after last season’s huge success.  Does this mean they’re clueless?  Does this mean they don’t know ‘their fans?’  Does this mean that this is the percentage of ‘die hard’ fans that FC Cincinnati know they have?  Or were they simply afraid of the Northern Guard Supporters?


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Fans sit.  Supporters stand.

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In the 31st minute, City takes the lead on a beautiful bit of precision passing along the left side, with Danny Deakin delivering the ball to Shawn Lawson who puts it into the net.  There’s a good video of the goal at Detroit City FC’s Facebook Page HERE.


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Unfortunately, the lead was short-lived as the USL team scored in the 35th minute.


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At the end of 90 minutes, the score remained even.


Let me repeat that.  On their home turf, the professional, MLS-wannabes played 90 minutes against a fourth-tier group of unpaid, mostly college players, and could not beat them.


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In the thirty-minutes of added time, the USL team scored three goals to win the match.  Would it have been nice to beat this team?  Of course it would have.  But we’re Detroit City FC.  We didn’t roll over, and we gave them a game.


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Thirteen days after our visit, MLS granted them what they wanted.  Another American city whose citizens and supporters are deserving of the screwing they will receive by MLS and its billionaire share-holders.


Some people find sports to be a form of entertainment, like attending a movie, a concert, or a play.  These folks tend to be labeled bandwagon or fair-weather fans because they only show interest when the team is winning (just like they only show up at the theater, the concert hall, or the stage for the performances they want to see).  They also tend to see that sports is a business and nothing more than that.


Some people find more meaning in sports.  They go to many home games, watch many road games on television, and wear the colors of their team or the jerseys of their favorite players.  They may even build a network of friends to talk about and be with during these games.  With them, there is the acceptance of a barrier between them and the team itself.  The team provides and the fan consumes, and never the twain shall connect beyond that.  They don’t mind if the team imposes heavy tax breaks on the city which burdens its citizens and fattens the wallets of the owners because they tend live outside the city and care more about the existence of their professional team.


But then some people are supporters.  These are the folks who not only attend the matches, but create the experience.  It’s a blending between team and fan which create a club.  A family.  Not only rooted to each other, but to the community as well.


I grew up watching hockey and being a hockey fan (and unconsciously tried to create a supporter culture with an OHL team which failed because the team general manager shunned booster clubs).  I have defined my relationship to sports teams in each of these definitions during different stages of my life.  I believe that the supporter culture, which is more people-oriented versus profit-oriented; more inclusive than exclusive, produces the right environment for me, and a better approach for the community.  Everyone has a place (bandwagon fan, team fan, supporter) and anyone can find their place and contribute the skills and passion they have and want to provide to the club and supporter group, as a whole.  And the barrier between club and supporter is very thin.


Detroit City FC and the Northern Guard Supporters are creating a new paradigm.  Seven years of success.  $750,000 to repair Keyworth Stadium raised from supporters, not extorted from taxpayers.


There’s no right or wrong way to be a supporter of Detroit City FC.  We welcome all.  But if you’ve followed traditional professional American sports, you will find being a Detroit City FC supporter is something very unique and special.


This being my 100th match, I can testify to that.


CITY TIL I DIE!


Bury me in City rouge

Ahh ha, Ahh ha.

Bury me in City gold

Ohh, oh, Ohh oh.


 


 

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Published on March 20, 2019 05:31

March 16, 2019

May 13, 2018: at AFC Ann Arbor (NPSL Regular Season)

May 13, 2018

NPSL Game One

Skyline High School, Ann Arbor MI

AFC Ann Arbor 1, Detroit City FC 0

Attendance: ?

Record: 0-0-1


AFCAA Martieon Watson 90′


We opened the 2018 NPSL season against that team in Ann Arbor.  It was an off-and-on rainy Sunday afternoon.


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The match had a sense of a hang-over to it.  After riding the high of beating the Bucks, neither team sparked much in the way of offense or intensity.  Perhaps it was too early in the season for the animosity to develop.


 


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The Rouge Rovers chanted and sang and added a new tune to the hymnal especially for AFC Ann Arbor – “Rotting Oaks in Ann Arbor.”


 



 


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Published on March 16, 2019 20:04

March 11, 2019

May 9, 2018: Michigan Bucks (PDL) (Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup)

May 9, 2018

Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup

Keyworth Stadium, Hamtramck, MI

Detroit City FC 1 (5) v Michigan Bucks 1 (4)

Attendance: 3,416


DCFC Shawn Lawson 58′

Bucks Alfonso Pineirho Neto 85′ (PK)


PK GOALS

Detroit City FC – 5 (Brad Centala, Omar Sinclair, Stephen Carroll, Elliot Bently, Roddy Green)

Michigan Bucks – 4 (David Goldsmith, Giuseppe Barone, Jared Timmer, Mitch Guitar)


Last season’s NPSL Midwest Region Championship earned us another invite to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.   It is the oldest professional soccer tournament in America, dating back to 1914.  The week-night match started with damp conditions, and a flash of lightning delayed the start, but spirits were high.  We’ve played the Bucks twice in this tournament, losing the first one then beating them in 2016, both matches on their home turf.  This time, they had to come to Keyworth.


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Unlike the previous two meetings, City kept pace with the Bucks.  They held the defense tight, like they did in 2016, but also created chances.  Going into the locker room at halftime scoreless, there was a feeling that we could take this in regulation.  Shawn Lawson made that possible in the 58th minute…



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With five minutes left in the match, a penalty kick was awarded to the Bucks.  I was behind the Bucks goal and didn’t see anything on the other end of the stadium that merited a penalty.  Alfonso Pineirho Neto leveled the match, and we were headed into extra time.


Five minutes in, City was cut down to ten men when Greg Janicki was shown a red card.  The team remained defensively tight, and no one scored.


The video below shows City’s goals and saves, creating another legendary night in City history, launching us into the next round of the tournament.



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Published on March 11, 2019 04:25

March 3, 2019

May 5, 2018: Harpo’s FC (Friendly)

May 5, 2018

Friendly

Detroit City FC 1, Harpos FC 1

Attendance: 5,322


HFC  Shane Wheeler 58′

DCFC  Jeff Adkins 80′


Fondly known as #bullshitpubteam, Harpos FC from Boulder, Colorado collects their silverware in the United States Specialty Sports Association.


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Only thirteen players suited up for our new friends from Colorado, but they brought an A-game that made the game competitive.


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After closing the half scoreless, Harpos’ Shane Wheeler gave our guests the lead in the 58th minute.  With ten minutes remaining, City veteran Jeff Adkins leveled the score.  As the game wound down, City continued to pressure, but couldn’t slot home a winner.




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In true friendly style, the players from Harpos FC came over and thanked the Northern Guard Supporters for creating an experience, which was reciprocated.  See, moms and dads?  Even opposing players are not afraid to bring their kids over to the Northern Guard section.



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You know you’ve made new friends when, four days later, they’re watching and cheering you on against the Bucks!


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Published on March 03, 2019 05:35

February 22, 2019

April 28, 2018: Chattanooga FC (Friendly)

April 28, 2018

Friendly

Keyworth Stadium, Hamtramck, MI

Detroit City FC 1, Chattanooga FC 1

Attendance:  5,361


DCFC Brad Centala (Steven Juncaj, Danny Deakin) 42′

CFC  Charlie Clark 79′


In the second half of the home-and-home series, temperatures dipped into the 40’s, so I didn’t need sun-screen under the jacket.  We gathered with our Chattahooligan friends at Fowling Warehouse pre-game.


 


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Though Chattanooga controlled a lot of the play in the first half, Detroit looked much better than their opening forty-five minutes in Chattanooga.


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Three minutes before halftime, Brad Centala put City on the board.


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This match also hosted Special Olympics Michigan, whose athletes played a mini-match during halftime.  Northern Guard Supporters stayed, chanted, and ignited smoke while our Skull Sisters distributed t-shirts to the players after their game.


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The second half City took control, especially after David Perez earned a straight red card in the 48th minute.  Usually, the 10>11 works for us, however Chattanooga made it work for them as Charlie Clarke evened the match in the 79th minute.


 



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I know we say that there’s no such thing as a friendly, but this two-game series brought together two like-minded organizations and supporters groups.  Their common approach to ‘club’ football versus the billionaire-owned, tax-payer subsidized organizations in American soccer unite these two in a refreshing approach to professional sports.  Competitors on the pitch; brothers & sisters off.


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Published on February 22, 2019 18:18

February 17, 2019

February 17, 2019: Typing Assignment #21

 


Joe Van Cleave’s first typing assignment of 2019 was a helpful one for me.  I’ve had this character bouncing around in my head (along with some of the other characters surrounding him) for a number of years.  I just haven’t focused on him that much.  I did have a couple short stories published in a local publisher’s anthology collections, but he, and his world, is still a work-in-progress.  So for this assignment, which is to write an interior monologue, I decided to spend a little time getting into Trevor Aldabra’s head.  Before you is that one-page moment of time.


I typed this piece on my 1938 Smith Corona Silent.


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For other Typing Assignments and other typewritten works, you can click on THIS WEBPAGE to find them all.


In conjunction with all this typing, my short story Immunity will be published this summer in the Cold Hard Type anthology of stories in a world where digital technology collapses.  Follow my Twitter or friend me on Facebook if you’d like to keep up with its progress and when the anthology will be available.


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Published on February 17, 2019 18:09

February 14, 2019

April 21, 2018: at Chattanooga FC (Friendly)

April 21, 2018

Pre-Season Friendly

Finley Stadium, Chattanooga, TN

Chattanooga FC 1, Detroit City FC 2

Attendance: 5,248


DCFC Roddy Green 63′

DCFC Shawn Lawson 79′

CFC Joaquin Bacello PK 90′


The week before this match a friendly was scheduled at Keyworth against Western Michigan University.  However, freezing rain made conditions unplayable, so our first match of the season was on the road in Chattanooga.


Chattanooga FC was established in 2009, and their supporter group – The Chattahooligans – have developed a significant following for an NPSL team.  Their supporter culture similar to ours, which focuses on club, community, inclusion, and providing a presence at CFC matches, made them a natural friendly opponent for some time.  This year, a home-and-home pair of friendlies provided the opportunity for us to meet and mingle.


I booked a room at a quaint, boutique hotel that was conveniently located around the corner from an Indian restaurant.


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The day was hot – in the 70’s – a contrast from the previous weekend’s freezing rain in Detroit.  With time to kill before the game, I drove downtown, near Finley Stadium, to see what was to be seen.


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Of course, if there is an independent bookstore to be found, I’ll find it.


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I asked a local where I could buy some sun screen, and was guided over a bridge to a chain drug store.  Driving over it, I noticed its pedestrian walkways.  I found the drug store, bought the sunscreen, drove back over the bridge, then parked.  Camera in hand, I took a walk along the bridge over the Tennessee River.


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On this Saturday in April, wedding photos were being taken on both sides of the bridge.


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Then, it was on to Finley Stadium to meet up with the traveling Rouge Rovers and host Chattahooligans.


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Being within the Southern Bible Belt, there was concern about our uncensored language.  But the Hooligans had our backs.  They arranged the seating so that the Northern Guard would sit at one end of the sideline, those who wanted to be sheltered from our language on the other end of the sideline, and the Chattahooligans in between.


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One of the best things about this day was seeing Amanda back in our fold.  Last season during the playoffs, she had been struck by a truck while riding her bike to work, nearly killing her.


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After much mingling and consuming of spirits, and with the gates about to open, the friendly community turned to friendly competition.


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On to the match…



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As I made my way around to the opposite side of the field, a man caught my eye and asked me to take a photo of his kids, telling them that they were going to be in the newspaper.  To oblige, I took the photo.  Maybe they’ll find this page and see it.


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I find it cool in these pre-match photos that the Northern Guard Rouge Rovers were about one-half the size of the Chattahooligans.  Covering over 600 miles one-way, that’s a pretty impressive Rouge Rover showing.


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What’s a City match without a little Tetris.



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The first half of the match was scoreless, largely because DCFC keeper, Nate Steinwascher was amazing.


In the second half, City’s Roddy Green and Shawn Lawson scored sixteen minutes apart.  Chattanooga’s Joaquin Cabello scored from the spot in the 90th minute, but it was too little too late.


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Roddy Green scores!


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Shawn Lawson mesmerizes the Chattanooga defender, slips past him, and scores!


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A fantastic evening in southern Tennessee.


This was the first match with my new Pentax K-70.  I thought I was going to have an issue with it, though.  When I read the Chattanooga FC website about its camera policy, I didn’t think they were going to let me in with it.  I wrote them an email and explained what I do with my photos, and not only did they let my camera in, they granted me a media pass as well.  Class organization as well.


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Published on February 14, 2019 08:36

February 11, 2019

2018 Summary

2018 Summary

2018.  The summer of the World Cup, where thirty-one nations traveled to Russia to compete in the biggest international sporting event in the world.


But not the United States.


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In Detroit, we didn’t let the U.S. National team’s failure prevent us in participating with the international community.  Instead, we hosted teams from four nations (Germany, Mexico, Canada, and Italy).



FC St. Pauli – the legendary 2 Bundesliga team from Hamburg, Germany, known not only for its football but also its political stances in aiding refugees and against racism and homophobia.

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Club Necaxa – the Liga MX team from Aguascalientes, Mexico, about a 2,100 mile drive from Keyworth Stadium (or just over 300 miles northwest of Mexico City), and winner of the 2018 Copa MX.

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Windsor TFC – our annual friendly against the League1 Ontario (3rd Division) Canadian team from across the Detroit River.

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Frosinone Calcio – the newly-promoted Serie A team from Frosinone, Italy, about 50 miles southeast of Rome.  This match broke the Detroit City FC attendance record as 7,887 Detroit and Frosinone fans from Windsor filled Keyworth on a damp Tuesday evening.

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Furthermore, we introduced ourselves to two teams beyond the Michigan and NPSL Great Lakes Region borders.



Chattanooga FC – a pre-season, home-and-home series was arranged between the NPSL’s best teams and supporters groups (Northern Guard Supporters and the Chattahooligans).

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Harpo’s FC – the Boulder, Colorado team from the amateur United States Specialty Sports Association.

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Being crowned the NPSL Midwest Region Champions last season placed us in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup again, with a first-round match-up against a team we love to hate – the Michigan Bucks.  With a 1-1 record against the Bucks in Open Cup matches, this would the first at Keyworth Stadium, where once again, City played even with the Bucks through 120-minutes, and beating them in penalty kicks.


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Our reward was to that town in Ohio’s sphincter – Cincinnati – to visit FC Cincinnati.  The USL team was making a bid to become an MLS team, but could only reserve the Rouge Rovers enough tickets for an FC Indiana crowd.  City held the USL team at bay for 90-minutes, but the legs gave out in the thirty-minutes of extra time.  Still, the 4th-tier team played hard against the 2nd-tier pros, as has been the case every time City enters the competition.


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The season of friendlies, unfortunately, included being a wee-bit too friendly in the NPSL regular season, allowing two other teams to advance into the playoffs.  Still, in seven seasons, none of them have been unsuccessful.


Enjoy the game-by-game pages of the 2018 season through the lens of my camera once more.



April 21, 2018: at Chattanooga FC (Friendly)
April 28, 2018: Chattanooga FC (Friendly)
May 5, 2018: Harpo’s FC (Friendly)
May 9, 2018: Michigan Bucks (PDL) (Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup)
May 13, 2018: at AFC Ann Arbor (NPSL Regular Season)
May 16, 2018: at FC Cincinnati (USL) (Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup)
May 19, 2018: FC St. Pauli (International Friendly)
May 25, 2018: FC Columbus (NPSL Regular Season)
May 27, 2018: at FC Indiana (NPSL Regular Season)
June 1, 2018: FC Indiana (NPSL Regular Season)
June 8, 2018: at FC Columbus (NPSL Regular Season)
June 10, 2018: AFC Ann Arbor (NPSL Regular Season)
June 15, 2018: at Milwaukee Torrent (NPSL Regular Season)
June 17, 2018: Grand Rapids FC (NPSL Regular Season)
June 23, 2018: Kalamazoo FC (NPSL Regular Season)
June 29, 2018: at Grand Rapids FC (NPSL Regular Season)
July 1, 2018: Milwaukee Torrent (NPSL Regular Season)
July 10, 2018: Club Necaxa (International Friendly)
July 24, 2018: Windsor TFC (Friendly)
July 31, 2018:  Frosinone Calcio (International Friendly)

 


 

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Published on February 11, 2019 08:52

December 31, 2018

2019 – No Goals

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In 2018, I had the busiest year, having taken more appointed cases than ever.  I completed revisions on a novel, which now sits in an agent’s hands.  I saw more of Michigan than I ever had in the past – including Mackinac Island and the U.P. – and photographed the Detroit City FC season with a new camera.  I finished hitting every book store on a promotional independent book store book bag.  I even started a spin class in November.  Were these last year’s goals?  No.


Goals are more of a hindrance to living a happy life than not. In a survey commissioned by Steve Shapiro, 41% of adults agreed that achieving their goals had failed to make them happy, or had left them disillusioned, while 18% said their goals had destroyed a friendship, a marriage, or other significant relationship.  Steve Shaprio, Goal-free Living (Hoboken, New Hersey: Wiley, 2006) cited in The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking by Oliver Burkeman (Faber and Faber, Inc. 2012).


Why?


The optimism-focused, goal-fixated, positive-thinking approach to happiness is exactly the kind of thing the ego loves. Positive thinking is all about identifying with your thoughts, rather than disidentifying from them. And the ‘cult of optimism’ is all about looking forward to a happy or successful future, thereby reinforcing the message that happiness belongs to some other time than now. Schemes and plans for making things better fuel our dissatisfaction with the only place where happiness can ever be found – the present. ‘The important thing,’ (Eckhart) Tolle told me, ‘is not to be continuously lost in this mental projection away from now. Most humans are never fully present in the now, because unconsciously they believe that the next moment must be more important than this one. But then you miss your whole life, which is never not now.’ Another staccato chuckle. ‘And that’s a revelation for some people. To realize that your whole life is only ever now. Many people suddenly realize that they have lived most of their life as if this were not true – as if the opposite were true.’ Without noticing we’re doing it, we treat the future as intrinsically more valuable than the present. And yet the future never seems to arrive. Oliver Burkemann, The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking (Faber and Faber, Inc. 2012) p.116.


In a talk by Sangharakshita called “Nirvana”   he discusses “The psychology of goal-setting.” He defines a goal as an objective or “something you strive for.”


“You could, if you like, draw a distinction between striving to be and striving to have. But actually, the two come to the same thing: ‘having’ is a sort of vicarious ‘being.’ A goal is in the end something that you want to be.”


This makes sense to those who have goals of being wealthy or being healthy. Then, Sangharakshita takes it to the next step.


“There is one really crucial (if obvious) precondition for setting a goal: it must represent something you aren’t. You don’t want to have or to be what you already are. You can only want to be what you aren’t – which suggests, obviously, that you’re dissatisfied with what you are. If you’re not dissatisfied with what you are, you will never strive to be what you aren’t.”


This dissatisfaction ultimately is a desire to achieve happiness. No one seeks unhappiness. And these concepts of “prosperity” or “intelligence” or “healthy” or “appreciated” or “respected” are never ultimately achieved. Why? Because at any level, there will be felt a need to be more prosperous, or more intelligent or healthier or more appreciated or more respected, or for something better. They are the empty bellies of hungry ghosts.


What does Sangharakshita suggest is the fix to this? A change of attitude.


“Rather than trying to escape from ourselves, we need to begin to acknowledge the reality of what we are. We need to understand – and not just intellectually – why we are what we are. If we are suffering, well, we don’t just reach out for a chocolate. We need to recognize the fact that we suffer and look at it more and more deeply. Or – as the case may be – if we’re happy we need to recognize that fully, take it in more and more deeply. Instead of running from it into guilt, or into some sort of excitable intoxication, we need to understand why, what the true nature of that happiness is, where it really comes from. And again, this isn’t just intellectual; it’s something that has to go very deep down indeed.”


So yes, I have to get circulating the novel to more agents.  I have a couple projects I’m working on for publication.  I have short stories to write and submit and another novel to revise/rework.  I have my Detroit City FC game pages to publish before the new season begins, and more photos to take from the pitch at Keyworth Stadium.  I have people to represent whose cases have not even happened yet, in cities in Michigan I’ve never set foot in.  And I have a spin class that could lend itself to putting myself in a position to make my XXL clothes a bit baggier.  Instead, I’ll stick to experiencing the moments, one at a time, and see where it lands me this time next year.  I’ve been doing this for the last five years, and I’ve never been more happy and at peace with my life.


Though, I will say, I will be digging my heels into the writing of haiku in the next year, so it seems appropriate to write one here.


Chilly New Year’s Day.

A wall calendar replaced

held by the same nail.


The previous entries:



Goals for 2013?  None.
No Goals for 2014.
Goals?  Chasing the ghosts of attaining life satisfaction.
2016 Goals?  None.
Goalless for 2017.

 


 

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Published on December 31, 2018 12:33

December 2, 2018

December 3, 2018: Typing Assignment #20.

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Typing Assignment #20 from Joe Van Cleave’s YouTube channel (which you should subscribe to because he has all sorts of neat videos on typewriters and other cool stuff) is to type a one-page piece on a pet peeve.  Could be a personal pet peeve.  Could be a fictional piece involving a pet peeve.


This was a little difficult for me because of the number of avenues in which this could go.  But I settled on the common misconception that a haiku poem must be three lines with five syllables in the first, seven in the second, and five in the third.  Since I’ve been in a writer’s group that includes a poet, I’ve rekindled an interest in haiku, which sparked the writing of this pet peeve of mine, while at the same time facing it.  Needless to say, this assignment 1) sparked a project idea for me; 2) taught me some things about haiku and senryu I didn’t know; and 3) brought me much fun in formulating it and drafting it.


This was typed on my 1950 Olivetti Lettera 22.  Enjoy!


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For more typewritten pages and Typing Assignments – GO HERE!

For my collection of typewriters – GO HERE!


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Published on December 02, 2018 21:15