The flag making days

So, back in the day, I was 100% RSL, through and through. They could do no wrong, neither could MLS.

Before the team had even played its first game I was in with the Loyalists, (actually the Loyalists was my name suggestion for the team's first supporter's group, well, "Checketts' Loyalists," and then we shortened it to just the Loyalists) and all was right with the world. 

RSL was going to rule the soccer world we thought, we were going to have an exclusive partnership with Real Madrid, they were going to come to Utah to play a friendly match every other year, etc. etc. You know the story.  

What could I do to help the team? The team needs my support, without me the team won't survive. I must do something. Flags, yes flags! I will make flags.

And so I did, I went to work in my tiny Loyalists workshop and started making flags. Well, I would go get the material and such, and my mom and grandma would sew them together for me. Seriously, a grown ass man had his mom and grandma sewing flags together to take to RSL games!

Believe it or not I recently asked my mom about it and she had nothing but fond memories of sewing the flags together with her mom, (my grandma) seeing as several years later grandma passed away at the ripe old age of 92. It is a memory she will always have. 

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago for Easter I was up in the Ogden area visiting mom and dad. We kept one of the flags in a dusty corner of the garage, it has sat there since the end of my RSL fandom. I guess it has been sitting there collecting dust for about 15 years. I always thought I should throw the flag away but just never got around to it, however mom mentioned she doesn't want me to, she said she wants it there in the corner of the garage where it has always been. Funny.

So after we had had our Easter egg hunt for the grand kids, and the hot dogs and hamburgers had been consumed, I got the last surviving flag out (I had made four flags originally) and waived it around awhile and beheld it in all its glory. 

This was the last of the four flags, this one was the "Utah State RSL flag"

 

A quick history of the flags;

The first one was the "RSL Romanian flag". 

For this one I got four Romanian flags, overlaid the red stripes, and sewed it together. This was the flag that was featured on the front page of the Salt Lake Tribune the day RSL played their inaugural game at Rice Eccles.

 

The second flag was "Ol' Beauty", this was the one I liked the best actually. I took a blue twin size bed sheet, cut it in half if I remember correctly, and then sewed some red on the end, and then some yellow on the end of the red. I don't have a photo of this one but it looked something like this.

And finally, flag number 3 was "Big Bertha". This one was made with a red queen size bed sheet, again I think I cut it in half, sewed yellow on the end, and then sewed white on the end of that and took a giant blue marker, maybe two or three markers if memory serves me, and did a blue and white checkerboard. Everyone loved this one in the Loyalists section, I think they really liked the checkerboard. It looked cool when it was waiving, I have to admit. The team mascot even borrowed it a couple of times.

Anyway, good times. Good times indeed. 

Eventually I sold flags number 2 and 3 to some teenagers in the parking lot of Rice Eccles after a season ending game I think. I was kind of done with them and they came up to me and offered to buy them so I gave in. I don't know whatever happened to flag number 1. 

Flag number 4, the "Utah State RSL flag" still exists, my niece even recorded me waiving it. It is heavier and harder to waive than I remember.

Maybe I will post the video here soon. I don't know, so much effort required to blog about a sport I don't even really care about anymore.

I did try to watch a game the other day, Barcelona vs. Atletico Madrid. Champions League I guess. I couldn't make it more than 10 minutes and then I turned the channel, I was almost falling asleep.

So I went over to Netflix and watched a couple of episodes of Black Sails. 

I have already watched the four season series two or three times now, and even own the series on dvd. It is convenient though to watch it on Netflix while it is available, sadly it says it is leaving soon. 

If you haven't seen it though you should watch it. Insanely good it is.

However you can't watch it with kids around, it is not the same as Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean, not even close!

Landon Donovan: Why the USMNT is Not a Legit Contender on the World Stage - The Rich Eisen Show

So this popped up on my YouTube feed for some bizarre reason, a clip of Landon Donovan on the Rich Eisen show.

Back when I was a soccer fan I never liked Donovan, we always called him "hair club." I thought he took a dive way too often and I hated that. I hated players diving all the time, it was one of the main reasons I left the game.

I have to say though that Donovan comes across very mature and dare I say wise in the following clip. I might even change my opinion of him, that is if I were to care anymore about soccer and MLS.

Anyway, enjoy the clip, he says some good things.

Morante de la Puebla returns to the plaza and all is right with the world again

Today was traditionally one of the biggest days of the year in the bullfight world, Resurrection Sunday. And no place is more at the center of that biggest day than Sevilla, where someone once described Sevilla as "so intensely Catholic it makes Rome look like a secular outpost."

Not to be left out though Madrid also held a bullfight, as well as Arles, France. Oh yeah, in case you didn't know bullfights are held in the south of France as well. Nimes, Arles, Dax, and Mont-de-Marsan being the places that come to mind the most.

Anyway, in addition to it being one of the biggest days of the year it was made even more so with the return of Sevilla's favorite son, Morante de la Puebla. I guess he just could not stay away from the bulls. And I would have to agree with him, once the bullfight bug bites you and you are infected it is hard to get away. I tell myself every year that I need to concentrate on other things but as the weather warms, the flowers start to bloom, and the grass turns green, I can't help but hit the bullfight news sites and see what is going on. 

And apparently it was a good day, with the news sites reporting that Morante cut two ears from his second bull, Peru's boy king Andres Roca Rey cut one ear from his second bull, and David de Miranda also cutting an ear from his second bull.

So, another Spring has sprung, fighting bulls dot the rolling green hills of Spain's many ranches, and all is right with the world again.

I watched a soccer game!

Well, I kind of watched a soccer game, last Sunday I watched the last 30 minutes of Roma @ Napoli.

There was nothing on, I was being a couch potato, and I stumbled across the game. I asked myself, should I watch it? Should I see what I have been missing these past several years since my exit from soccer fandom? So I left it there and watched the last 30 minutes.

Ugh.... I haven't missed anything. Roma was ahead 2 - 1, and then Napoli scored, and the game ended 2 - 2. 

I was utterly uninspired. 

Anyway, y'all that enjoy it I wish you continued success with it.

On a brighter note, I was on the website TeePublic looking for bullfight graphics, and I had typed in "Madrid" to see what would come up.

As I was scrolling through a lot of bad designs, and only one or two on bullfighting, I saw this one; (excuse the watermarks)

 

I laughed out loud and said, "now that is funny as hell."

Even though I'm no longer a soccer fan I would not fault myself if I got that printed on a coffee mug or something. If you haven't ever ordered anything off TeePublic you can get designs on hoodies, coffee mugs, hats, etc. 

Anyway, here is the link for this design if you are interested. 

https://www.teepublic.com/t-shirt/85891398-football-ronaldo-and-messi

Beginning of year post

2026 has started off great! 

At least things are better than at the end of last year. My plan of staying away from things that were dragging me down last year has worked, my life so far anyway is much less chaotic. 

I've stayed away from Netflix and all the other garbage. I don't think I have even watched one movie so far this year. I have watched some of Graham Hancock's Ancient Apocalypse show or whatever the hell it is. There is an episode on Easter Island which caught my eye, I need to go back and watch it again. I was falling asleep through some of it I think. 

The bullfights, I occasionally looked at the news sites just to see what is going on by I am not obsessed like I have been in years past. One bit of interesting news however, Morante de la Puebla seems like he can't stay away and will be coming back to at least perform at a few fights in Sevilla, Easter Sunday and a couple of the Spring Fair ones as well. Most likely a couple in the fall also. Bullfight aficionados rejoice!

Super Bowl, I did not watch even one minute. I caught a highlight or two and it turned out to be a snoozer anyway. 

Soccer, yawn. Not interested. I did do a quick news check on the USL's plans for promotion/relegation and they are still a go but not until around 2027 or 2028. So I have plenty of time until I need to make a decision on whether I care anymore or not. 

Anyway, hopefully we get snow soon. Damn, what an awful winter. There are some storms on the way, hopefully they are enough to get us back on the right track, at least somewhat. I have no faith at all in Utahns to reduce their water usage, over the past few years no one in my neighborhood has taken out any of their lawn like they should. I've been trying to set an example though, I have taken out probably almost 50%, and plan on taking some more out this year. 

That is going to be another stress point for me, neighbors who let their sprinklers run almost everyday when they need to be ripping out lawn instead. Don't these damn people pay attention to the world around them? Maybe it will take the Great Salt Lake drying up completely before they understand. 

I'm not going to let it stress me out though, at least not to the point it causes chaos in my mind.

On a lighter note, I've found a new interest. Well, something maybe to plan a trip around in the future. I've been to Buenos Aires a few times, but I've never taken in a polo match while there. I think I need to do that sometime, looks like something I could get used to.