Cruise 'n' Soccer Rant

I didn't take copious notes on this cruise like I did on our last couple. *crowd cheer* I'm sure I'll think of stuff through the week. Some brief recollections:

In the Austin airport before we left, I got up from lunch and walked into the restroom, where a pilot was adjusting his shirt in the mirror. Just as I thought, That poor guy is going to be really embarrassed when he realizes he is in the wrong... I realized I was in the men's restroom.

On the flights to and from Miami, the pilots pointed out the oil disaster below us in the Gulf, fires and all. Sad.

We spent one day cruising a way out along the coast of Cuba. That night, around 8:30 pm, when it was pitch black outside, Lauren and I were chatting out on our balcony. There were some lights on the water in the distance. About ten minutes later, the lights were approaching us, and they appeared to be three boats. A cruise ship officer got into our ship's side glass compartment, where the Harbor Master sits during docks in port, and shone a huge halogen spotlight on them. I thought maybe we should go inside our stateroom, but we just waited to see what would happen next. Nothing did. We passed them and eventually turned off the spotlight. Whenever we told that story, people would say, "Pirates!" Ahaaha.

Cruise Director Mike, on the PA system (during a skit), in his best Norwegian accent: Dis is Captain Charles from the bridge... because... vhere else would I be? I vant you all to know they serve the best strawberry daiquiris on the bridge. And... I'm not veeeearing aaaaaaanyyyyy paaaaaaants!!

A guy proposed to his girlfriend on the ship one karaoke night, when he got up to the microphone. We were there, cheering him on. It was great! She said yes. Then he sang.

Royal Caribbean's most traveled passenger, Mario, was on our ship! It was his 302nd cruise with RCCL. I had just read an article about him on the cruise line's blog about a week before we left. He had his own reserved table and chairs by the pool, with a sign and everything. Nice guy. He was walking by me during the Walk for Wishes on Saturday (a Make-A-Wish benefit walk along the track up top- there were two wish children on our cruise). I wonder what Mario does/did for a living to be able to cruise constantly like that. Nice!

When we got home, I was blissfully unaware of any and all world and local news of the past 12 days, but I can tell you about all the soccer games played during that time. We were at the Surfcomber lounge in South Beach for the US/Ghana game. :( Tough loss, but it's great we made it that far. Best game was Germany/Argentina in the Schooner Bar on the cruise ship. There was a great international mix of people, really into it. What a win!! Go Germany!

I now know the rules of the game, thankyouverymuch. A very exciting sport to watch. There are two things that make me nuts though.

Ahh yes.... I owe you a soccer rant.

The two things about soccer I think are ridiculous: Feigned injuries and fluffy timekeeping. Kenneth was telling us that a Comedy Central show (I cannot find this thing on YouTube- darn it!) had done a whole segment on taking dives in soccer, about how you can use that technique for everyday situations. Your girlfriend catches you on the phone with another girl? Fall to the ground and writhe around moaning, "Ohhhhh!!!! My LEG!!!!!" LOL. She'll be distracted trying to make sure you're okay.

Two subcomplaints about taking dives: 1) It makes those guys look like prissy princesses. 2) It really seems that for most games, the first person to fall to the ground and wince gets the penalty called on the other guy. So it's like a race to see who can fake it first. Some referees don't put up with any of that crap. I LOVE that. You tell 'em, refs. Get up already, and let's play some ball.

On fluffy timekeeping: Not only do they keep the clock running when teams like Ghana blatantly waste time dorking around, but they tack on this totally random extra time after 90 minutes. Then the referee can evidently blow the game over before the extra time runs out, if he thinks it should be over. Or, he can let it go past that time, if he's feeling charitable towards the losing team. WTH? Just stop the clock and start it again during the game. It would be so simple. Plus then newbie fans could jump up at 90:00 and cheer without everyone in the room rolling their eyes. :)