Mike Brooks
Audio By Carbonatix
For many Dallas sports fans, the adrenaline high of the World Series lasted right up until the final 5 seconds of the Cowboys/Eagles football game.
CeeDee Lamb coughed up the football just yards short of the goal line, the clock went to double zeros and that euphoric playoff buzz started to spiral into the inevitable post-high depression. What sports addicts need right now is just one more little bump. Nothing crazy, just a little taste of playoff-level sports to ease us back into December football.
Let the bodies hit the floor. With Jader Obrian on the pitch, it’s going to happen. Obrian had the knockout blow, scoring late in the second half.
Mike Brooks
Jader Obrian almost gets another.
Mike Brooks
If that describes you, then you are in the right place. We can definitely hook you up with something just right for what you are craving. One hit of this and your mind will bend. Twenty-two men running around on a field and 20 of them can’t touch the ball with their hands! It’s crazy, brother! Are you tripping yet?
Team Captain Paul Arriola drives down the field in the second half. Arriola opened the scoring on a beautiful cross from Kamungo just minutes into the game.
Mike Brooks
Paul Arriola, with his great playoff mustache, thanks the crowd.
Mike Brooks
What’s it called? Oh, man, in the deepest rain forests of the Amazon jungle, the locals just call it “futbol.” In the Cold War days, in small villages well behind the Iron Curtain, the Poles would quietly whisper about “pilka nozna.” If you know the right people in Vietnam, ask discreetly for “bong da.” In the deserts of North Africa, put your hands together, bow your head slightly and chant “luebat kurat alqadam.” Your wishes will be answered. Especially if there are street kids around.
Bernard Kamungo. You can’t miss him. From a refuge camp in Tanzania to teenage years in Abilene, Texas, he aced an open tryout and is now one of the team’s brightest young stars.
Mike Brooks
Fast, athletic and willing to throw his body around, Bernard Kamungo makes defenders, goalkeepers and FC Dallas team trainers equally nervous.
Mike Brooks
Here in the States, it’s just catching on, brought back from Europe and South America by adventure seekers, long-haul backpackers and handsome tattooed Englishmen who marry Spice Girls. Of course, in this country some corporate board got together and came up with the most generic sounding name ever: soccer. No bong da for you little Midwest Methodists.
The team celebrates the third goal.
Mike Brooks
Fans celebrate that third goal as well.
Mike Brooks
That’s OK. In the end that nondescript cover is like the code name they give to top secret projects. It hides the beating of the drums, painted faces, waving flags and blaring of the vuvuzelas. What they want to disguise as “soccer” is in reality the Burning Man of sport. A wink and a nod and a team scarf will get you into the party. Just leave the straights at home, man, they are bumming my high.
In the first game against Seattle, a cheap shot ended the season for FC Dallas star midfielder Alan Velasco. Fans are bitter.
Mike Brooks
Soccer is the Burning Man of sports. Just don’t tell the straights.
Mike Brooks
Our own soccer club, FC Dallas, will play the deciding third game of its first-round playoff series against the Seattle Sounders in Seattle on Friday, Nov. 10. Watching parties are available around the city. Be sure to wink, nod and wear the right scarf. And please, watch playoff futbol responsibly.
Playoff soccer is a blast.
Mike Brooks
