Kyle Hepp

July 7, 2007

*Chocolate, white, dark, milk, I don’t discriminate
*Chocolate pudding
*Chocolate milk (are you noticing a trend here?)
*Photography and photoshop
*Celebrity gossip
*Scrubs, the most hilarious show ever
*The USA
*Diet, nutrition and fitness
*Comfy sweatpants
*University of Tampa, the most beautiful, lazy college in the world
*Long bike rides
*Long walks with friends
*Even longer naps
*Shakira

If you guessed, “What are things that make K happy?” You are correct! But, (and this is excluding all people, friends and family) the one thing that tops the list of my joys in this world is futbol, el jogo bonito, or as we call it in the US, soccer. I watch teams play for hours on end and never get bored. I cry for the player who misses the penalty kick because I know he will regret that moment forever. I rejoice for the underdogs who pull out victories over teams twice as strong, twice as fast and twice as skilled. I yell loud enough to wake the dead at my T.V. when the ref makes a bad call. A goalie who makes an incredible diving save gets me on my feet every time. Those game winning goals scored from 20 meters out in extra time absolutely thrill me!

Now imagine all that passion, but times a thousand, and that’s how I feel everytime the US Men’s National Team takes the field in red, white and blue! I’m sure that’s how I’d feel during the women’s games too, but they are rarely shown on television. There is absolutely nothing in this world that brings out the patriot in me, like the US soccer team. Especially since I live abroad, watching their games on T.V. is one of my biggest connections with my country.

This summer was simultaneously one of the best and the worst summers in the history of US soccer. The men’s team played to a stunning victory over Mexico in the Gold Cup, but then went on to send an experimental team of young players to the Copa America and get hammered into the ground, losing by a total score of 8-2 over the course of three games.

Seriously, I wasn’t expecting the US to win many games in the Copa America. With such a young team it was like leading lambs to the slaughter, when you consider the fact that they had to face futbol giants like Messi, Riquelme, Veron etc. Still, I was so disappointed. A big part of why I want them to do well is because at a time when the US is so disliked by countries all over the world, I felt that a good showing would put our players in the spotlight and help people see that we’re not all monsters. The team is so classy, they play hard, but don’t foul dirty. They don’t argue unnecessarily with refs. They shake hands and exchange jerseys after the games and never bad mouth their opponents in press conferences. They represent the USA proudly. In the international soccer world, those things are all rarities. I guess in a way I see them as ambassadors, demonstrating the good qualities of US citizens. Unfortunately nobody plays attention to a team that doesn’t play well, no matter how classy they are. Oh well, even when they lose the US Men’s National Team still makes me proud to be from the USA.