30. Against The Odds.

[THE PITCH] I’ve never heard a good victory story that just happened easily. Football is not like that. No success is like that. And great stories definitely aren’t like that! If someone says, “Hey, I was born talented!” or “ Of course we won. We were the better team…” most of us would think, “Boring!” or even … “Impossible!” It’s the trials and tribulations that make the triumphs…triumphant. Strains make success…sensational. Worrying makes winning…worthwhile… Okay, you get my point!

There are more than enough blessings in my life, and this team is one of them. I am in a positive environment, surrounded by good people. But on Thursday when we took the turf for the Swedish Cup Final against Tyresö FF, I must concede, we were the underdog.

We are a smaller team, with smaller numbers, with a smaller budget, from a smaller city. Our team isn’t studded with internationally renowned stars. However small we appear from the outside…we are big where it counts…at heart. But, as when David met Goliath, we knew, to be victorious, we would have to fight…and fight we did.

We fought as they danced over and around the ball and swarmed us like bees from all sides. We fought our way into double over-time, tied 1-1. We fought against a very talented Tyresö team. We fought against the odds. So, when I was fouled in the box, I heard the whistle, and I saw my teammate Marlene laughing as she strode up to take the penalty kick, I knew that all the fighting had paid off. Her enigmatic smile as she approached the penalty spot embodies the spirit of our irregular and tight knit team. At a mere 5’2”, she slung a shot with all her might and hit the Gol…iath between the eyes; capturing the GOLD for KGFC! To celebrate the feat…a small group of us took a small leap into the small river, that runs behind the small field in the small town of Gothenburg.

Speaking of the excitement of the match to the reporter from the local paper, Torbjörn joked, “It (the match) was not good for the heart”… I beg to differ. It is the stuff that keeps my heart beating.

[Off The Post!] Sometime long before I was born, my dad decided he wanted his children to call him Big Daddy. Although I am certain that neither of my sisters or I have EVER ONCE called him that, he signs off every message BD. Little does he know that we have actually embraced his BD nickname… Big Dodo, Big Dufus, Big Donkey… All perfectly appropriate ;)

Since an early blog where I wrote about my father, “he is a poet who knows it,” he has sent me a little poem before every game. Thought I’d share some of the more appropriate ones:

“Hey Mo, u money. So make like BD Brown Bear and go get da honey. Good luck manana. Much love, BD”

“Hey Christen... Listen. Go to goal and snatch der soul. Good luck manana. Much love, BD”

“So I say, hey hey, to let you know you are my bet, to be the greatest ever to hit the back of the net.”

“Brown Suga #9, kick me some behind. And remember, BD is wit ya.”

As ridiculous as it is, his short poems have become a staple in my pregame routine. Although games sometimes feel so serious, when I read his poems I laugh, smile, shake my head wondering WHERE IN THE WORLD I CAME FROM, and remember to have fun. After all it’s just a game!

RFL,