Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!

The outdoor soccer season is upon us!

On Sunday afternoon I played soccer with a Co-Rec team made up of people from our office and some folks at The Globe (a British soccer bar on the north side.) We even wore actual Chicago Fire uniforms and I was able to get my #11 jersey! After being lost in the shuffle of an incredibly large roster, I finally was able to make my presence felt late in the second half at my natural position (outside right midfield.) We ended up tied 0-0 with the Irish Pub we were playing against, but I managed to start the best scoring opportunity of the day for either team.

After a corner kick in our end I saw the ball come free to our right back. I immediately turned upfield and opened up wide for him so we could quickly counter attack. His outlet pass hit me in stride as I turned upfield. I looked up to see that only Kristen (a girl in our office who was an All-Big XII selection at Mizzou) and a defender were there. I played the ball through the right wing, giving her space to run onto it, and then made an all-out sprint to get up field and in position for her return cross. Nobody tracked back to mark me, but the ball she sent in was a bit high. I laid out to try and head it home but the ball went just wide as I came skidding to a stop inside the 6-yard box on my face. Had the ball been 6 inches lower we may have had the go ahead goal. So close.

After the game, I played in one of the final practice sessions with my men's team before the season begins. Unfortunately I tweaked my left knee a bit. I think I may have strained my lateral collateral ligament a little bit (that's the ligament on the outside of your knee.) I iced it a bit Sunday night and have been taking some pain killers, which is something I NEVER do, but it really is unbearable at times. I hobbled around most of Monday as the team doctors listed me as doubtful for this coming weekend. After resting and icing it again Monday night I think I've been upgraded to day-to-day. Today it's feeling much better, but still very sore.

I made a doctor's appointment for Friday, but if it continues to improve I may go ahead and cancel that. Frankly, I don't like the doctors. And furthermore, I don't really have a regular doctor that I've been to in Chicago. I made an appointment with someone at the University of Chicago medical group, but it's way on the south side.

Does anybody know of a good doctor a little closer? Getting shot wouldn't be the worst thing in the world since I'm already headed to the doctor, but I'd just assume go somewhere that wouldn't scare the hell out of the Grim Reaper.


*Note: For anyone interested, which will likely be NONE OF YOU, we're hosting a viewing party for Chicago Fire Soccer's season opener at The Globe on Saturday, April 1st. We're playing for the Brimstone Cup against FC Dallas at 3:00 pm CT.