Monthly Archives: October 2016

What Vin Scully Taught Me About Michelle Akers

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By Tim Nash

Yesterday was Vin Scully’s last day as the voice of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He is 88 years old and has called Dodger games for 67 consecutive seasons. A speech Scully gave 34 years ago, helped me understand the remarkable journey of Michelle Akers, and get a little more insight into what drove her through injuries and controversies.

In 1982, I was working as an intern at the Little Falls (N.Y.) Evening News. Little Falls, a cool little town of roughly 5,000 people on the Mohawk River and Erie Canal, was the home of the Little Falls Mets, the Rookie League affiliate of the Major League Baseball team. When I joined the newspaper, the size of the sports department staff doubled from one to two.

My brother Marty was the general manager of the Little Falls Mets, in his first year working in minor league sports. On opening day of the 1982 season, my brother, having secretly hired a parachutist to drop into the field to deliver the game ball, watched nervously as the small plane flew over the field and kept going. As it became clear the parachutist was not in the air, Marty instructed the umpire to start the game. Shortly after the game began, we discovered that the parachutist had landed nine miles away into a group of bewildered softball players in Doglesville. It was an interesting start to a season where I also got to watch John Elway play center field for the Oneonta Yankees.

That’s all beside the point, though. Little Falls happened to be 30 miles south of Cooperstown, home of the Baseball Hall of Fame, and in 1982 Hank Aaron and Frank Robinson were among the inductees. Scully was given the Ford Fricke Award for journalism that day, and listening to his acceptance speech with my elbows on the stage remains as one of the most unforgettable experiences of my life.

Thirty years later, while writing a section of the book “It’s Not the Glory” on Michelle Akers, Scully’s speech helped me understand the fascinating career of the greatest women’s soccer player of all-time.

Here’s the Chapter.

The Warrior and the Sea

The crowd, about 300 folks who came on a Friday night to listen to her speak, is curious. Like everyone she meets, they are taken by her physical presence, the regal stature and the way she carries herself that screams “athlete.” Over the years, she has become a good public speaker, setting aside one-liners and popular themes to just talk. Her story is captivating, and she delivers it from her heart. This time, though, it’s a little different. As she talks about the 1996 Olympics and her teammates, her eyes well up and her voice uncharacteristically cracks. The microphone drops to her side. She bows her head, steps back, and apologizes to the crowd. The crowd, however, erupts into supportive applause.

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Playing Goalkeeper is Not That Easy

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Thirty-Nine Things That Are, Or Should Be, Going Through a Keeper’s Mind

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By Paul Oliu

As a result of some high profile blunders over the past several weeks, from Claudio Bravo at Man City to Andre ter Stegen at Barcelona, Gigi Buffon with Italy, and the countless youth keepers I have seen, I’ve been talking a lot about goalkeeping lately.  As an old goalkeeper myself, I’ve made my share of mistakes.  And as anyone who is a net minder, there is no hiding when you cost the team a goal. 

Contrary to popular opinion however, I have always said that being a goalkeeper was a thinking man’s position.  I would argue that a keeper needs to consider a lot more variables to make a single play than any field player.  To make it more difficult, there is a zero margin of error.  So not only does a goalkeeper need to consider a number of elements to make a play, he or she must also do so without making a mistake.  A mistake can cost you your team’s confidence, or worse, a goal.

So with that in mind, I put myself through a mental exercise of trying to outline what are some of the elements of being a goalkeeper.  I started with the notion that some colleagues have said to me in the past, and that is the only thing a goalkeeper needs to do is to “shut up and make a save.”  From there I listed loosely in order what a goalkeeper needs to think about every time they are in goal. 

So here it is.  A list of everything a keeper needs to keep in mind every time they step into goal:

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Letting Go and Moving On

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Kelsey Zalimeni Hangs Up Her Boots

A few months ago, we posted an article by former Wake Forest University player Kelsey Zalimeni kz5who while working at an art gallery in London tried out and made the Crystal Palace Ladies. Here is an update from KZ. Just a side note first. I have known Kelsey since she and my daughter became friends in kindergarten. She’s always been one of my favorites – smart, very talented and owner of a sick sense of humor. Good luck Kelsey.

By Kelsey Zalimeni

I’m writing this from a Stairmaster on medium to low effort. My twice-restored right knee is super achy, and not from Sunday’s match or last night’s fitness session but from de-installing an entire pop-up exhibition of massive abstract paintings across town from our gallery.

It was me and my colleague Matt (who, for fun facts, bears a striking and amusing resemblance to City’s Kevin de Bruyne), running 40kg wooden pieces of art to and from a courier van in hopes of making it out of the venue by 8pm. This was our 10th day in a row of being on our feet for 12 hours straight. For art world employees this is like completing an Iron Man.

I’m on this Stairmaster a lot more now, and will be on medium to low effort probably until mid-November. Because that’s how it goes now. Gone is my stamina for two-a-days and a heavy lifting in between; I can’t even play 90 minutes without pulling something it seems. But it’s okay! And I’m actually proud and excited to be entering the afterlife.

My childhood and club soccer best friend, Molly Pathman, announced her retirement a few months ago now, and a few friends are still at it and faring very well. But kinda like the day I suddenly ripped out my hoop nose ring in my senior year of college, I woke up recently with the very real and sudden conclusion that it’s time to part ways with high level soccer.

This isn’t a eulogy or letter of resignation, though! In fact, it’s far from it. Consider this my Declaration of Independence from passing fitness tests, my emancipation from stress over performance, and an embrace of a new frontier filled with co-ed 5v5 matches and weekend trips to Paris (just £38 each way according to the underground advertisements on my commute route!).

I’ve had a fantastic time loving and learning my sport, my first and truest passion in life. I’m now enjoying applying the same grit and discipline I developed through sport, to the workplace. The gallery has never been more fun, more challenging. Time to win some medals in my art career and leave the slide tackles to the young bucks with better knees than me.

Off to the pub now, I’ve burned two pints worth on the Stairmaster!

All the best,

KZ

Kelsey Zalimeni played collegiate soccer in the U.S. for Wake Forest University and currently works as Curator and Buyer at the Thompson Art Gallery in London and, of course, plays for the Crystal Palace Ladies.