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Football

By: Connor Hartley

For a split second, the ball transcends all meaning of sports and becomes simply sport: the competition between two forces to determine a winner. The defender sits on the goal line, heart in ears, as he knows he has one opportunity, one split second, to save his squad. The goalkeeper lays embarrassed, ashamed, 5 yards away; his moment to become hero passed with a flurry of skill. The striker, having laid waste to the goalkeeper's cause, cradles the ball on his right foot, 8 yards and 45 degrees to the left of the goal. Only the defender stands between him and the goal. The defender has the ability to cover around 6 yards of goal, but the striker has no time for geometry. His options race through his mind at the speed of light; do I crack a bone crushing attempt, disregarding placement and risking either a save or a misfire, but also reducing the defender's time to react? Or do I slip it into the far corner, the lonely, unmarked zone of the goal the defender will most likely not reach, but that will be a more difficult attempt?

The defender awaits the boot of the ball, praying that the forward's mind is not composed. Hopefully, he will lose sight of his objective, and put in a horrendous effort that the defender can easily clear off the line. Otherwise, the moment becomes a test of reflex, flexibility, quickness, and effort, with the striker at an advantage.

The attacker can think no longer; he instinctively forces a hybrid of the two shots, pounding the orb at the corner. The audacious effort sears toward the goal...the defender stretches, to no avail; the hands of Fate now hold the ball...and with a crash, the ball meets the post. It skids down the goal line, but needs to cross in order to count. Now, the sport becomes survival of the fittest. Due to a rule technicality in their specific situation, a goal would ensure a victory for the attacking side; a save, or, more appropriately, an escape by the defending team leads them onward.

The striker and defender, both out of position, race at the ball. However, a supporting defensive man arrives to it first, clears the danger, and the referee blows full time. Jubilance on one side, and dismay on the other.

Many citizens of the United States overlook soccer as a boring European, or useless sport. The teams can hardly score; where's the action? What's the fun in a game ending in a tie? None of the good squads even exist around here; why bother? But soccer, even without a goal, provides as much, if not more, tantalizing thrill of sport as any other organized game. Its moments make me sit back and hope that one day, United States citizens recognize more than just the pigskin version of football.