New Zealand On My Mind (Spain Too!)

 

The World Cup is now over and Spain is the winner! Oddly enough, the city of Chattanooga, Tennessee is the first thing that came to my mind when they beat Argentina.  Did you know that the Spanish team trained in Chattanooga before their two matches in Atlanta? (Since our son lives in Chattanooga, I follow the news there fairly closely.) I read an interesting article in Forbes Magazine about this. I have a link to that piece just here.  Can't help but think of all the folks that saw these men training in Chattanooga and now, they have won, they must really be pleased.  (And since Spain won out over Argentina, I imagine my English friends are pretty happy too.) AND the match yesterday where England beat France means that they are third place in the World Cup, so that is really not too bad, folks!

Now, you all must know that I can't spend ALL my time watching sports, just most of it! HA HA! Today, Ryan Fox from New Zealand won the Open Championship in golf!  This pleased me very much as he was the one that I wanted to win. I really liked the way that he would march up to hit the ball and didn't linger over it. Also, he is 39 years old and had never won a major championship. Now, I am not a betting person, but I really should be! I really "felt" as if he would win. And he did!  

This past week we lost Sam Neill, a very well-known actor from New Zealand. (He moved there as a child, born in Northern Ireland, his mother was English and his father from New Zealand).  How much he was loved! I knew he was a great actor, but I now know that he was very well respected for his sweet and gentle nature.  "Hunt for the Wilderpeople" is a film that Sam Neill did in 2016.  Search for it! You will enjoy it as much as I did, I am sure!

As I was watching Ryan Fox, I was curious about his background. I found out that his Dad, Grant Fox played for the New Zealand All Blacks and was part of the team that won the Rugby World Cup in 1987!  The All Blacks, you must remember the HAKA that they do before matches, don't you? I have had that on my blog before, but here, let me see if I can show you again....

My friends, I do hope that all that I have written here makes sense. It is so dang HOT, I can't even think straight.  

Take care!

World Cup Winners and Losers/C's New Article

 

Since I last wrote my post, England won their next match in spectacular fashion...and USA lost theirs in an equally spectacular way. As good as the English victory was to celebrate, the USA match was one that we should all forget. It was dismal. By the way, I cannot help but feel for the teams who have played extremely well and end up losing anyway.  I mean, it truly looks heartbreaking.  I am reminded of one of my favorite Peanuts comic strips.  Let's see if I can share it with you here....

"How did the other team feel?" 

That is what Charlie Brown says to Linus after Linus is so excited over his team winning a football game.  (Just in case you can't see the cartoon.)

I also wrote about the joy of the English fans at the Atlanta Braves baseball game and how much fun they had with the outfielder, Michael Harris. Our son wrote about the very same thing in his piece for "The Last Word on Sports"! You may read it just here  and I truly hope you will click on that and read it! It is so well written!

3 Braves Players Who Were All-Star Snubs

Braves Pitching Torched In Three Monster Games

TWO more articles above! Just click on the links!  

By the way, when I said that the USA match was dismal, I am reminded that Chris Evert is not a commentator at Wimbledon this year. She is going through some cancer treatments, I believe.  I really like her.  What made me think of her in regard to the USA being bad, is that I loved it when she was speaking at Wimbledon and after a particularly unusual show of poor tennis play, she would say, "Well, that was just awful".  Not in a mean way, just an honest observation-simple and to the point. Love that! 

If England wins their next match against Norway, they will play July 15th in Atlanta against either Argentina or Switzerland. (I believe that is correct.) You know who I am rooting for! England last won the World Cup in 1966. Yes, that is correct! A lot of their football shirts have that 66 embossed upon them. Here is a photo of Christopher (our son) and you can see the 66 on there!

I think the English sports commentators are very good, by the way! Some of their statements are so clever and funny. I was watching a match years ago and I actually wrote two quotes down. (Yes, I collect things like that to make me chuckle.)  "50 years of hurt is about to be extended".  This was when the match was hopelessly lost and for whatever series that was for, it was obviously the 50th year since they had won it!  And this: "It's as if everyone in a white shirt has decided to have the worst England game of their lives - all at the same time". 

There, I hope I have not jinxed that great England team by sharing these quotes with you.  I sincerely wish them the best and hope that 2026 will be coupled now with 1966 with England being World Cup Champions! 

The English fans sing "Wonderwall" by Oasis after they win. I hope they will keep singing this song!  If you want to sing along with them, I have the song here along with the lyrics.

World Cup Joy -USA & England! (MICHAEL HARRIS)

 

You know how tickled I am that England and USA both made it to the round of 16 in the World Cup!  Their matches were on the same day! Yesterday, England played right here in Atlanta, Georgia and in the evening, many of the English fans attended a baseball game and cheered on the Atlanta Braves.  (Many of them had t shirts that said, "England is Braves Country".  I wish I could find out where they got it, I want one!)  They were so funny.  Remember how I told you that Boston enjoyed the Scottish fans? Well, it seems that Atlanta had the same admiration for the English!  They sat behind the outfielder, Michael Harris and had great fun chanting his name. Michael Harris seemed to enjoy it too. When Michael caught a routine fly ball, they cheered loudly!

"There's only one Michael Harris!"  

W

 And Michael Harris not only plays for the Atlanta Braves, but he is also a native from Georgia! (Just like me!)

Oh, the baseball game was wonderful too.  The Atlanta Braves won! And when Ozzie slid into home base, he winked at the umpire.  Joy!

We stopped today at a small vegetable stand and when the lady there heard Richard's accent, she thought he might be visiting here. When I told her that Richard has lived here since the 80's but he is forbidden to lose his accent, she just laughed. Then she said that the World Cup was just what this country needed right now.  Good thing for people to come here from all over the world and see what we are really like! I think I saw a quote on-line from a German fan who said that if you want to hate America, watch the news but if you want to love it, to drive through it! In other words, meet the people. For me, the World Cup has been a joyful celebration.  And even for those who end up losing, they play with such heart! (Did you see the back flip that the player from Congo did yesterday when he scored his goal? Joy!)

Richard is such a great photographer, he knew this photo would be better if he cut my head off.  HA!  (This was from several years ago, I think Richard has a red one just like it. I probably stole this from our son!)  OH! And don't worry, I just got myself a USA shirt today and I got my son one too.

So, did any of you watch the England match AND the USA match? I had to go back and forth between the USA match and the baseball game in the evening!  No worries, I got to see what I wanted to see.

Tomorrow is Friday, the 3rd of July.  Since July 4th is on a Saturday, the 3rd is a holiday for many.  Of course, be sure and check for any business for the 3rd or 4th to see if open!  It is really "Independence Day" but honestly, everyone here just says, "Happy July 4th!".  

What song? My favorite rendition of "America the Beautiful" by a fellow Georgian, Ray Charles!