June 29, 2014: The Penalty Shootout

It was a busy Saturday, with both the Cubs and Sox playing some afternoon baseball, and the Cubs finishing the night with the 2nd game of their doubleheader.  The Cubs got swept, while the Sox beat Toronto for their first win of the year on Saturday; 1-12 so far.  Skip Saturdays, and the Sox would be pretty good.  We also had some Blackhawk news as Bollig was traded for a draft pick.  However, I’m not going to talk about that today.  I’m going to focus today’s edition on the penalty shootout that took place between Brazil and Chile in the first “knockout” game of the World Cup.  I was “all in” as I watched maybe the most pressure packed way to end a game… any game.

Imagine for a second, the rules were changed, and we decided to end playoff games for our teams based on an individual contest.  For the Bulls and the NBA, it would be free throw shooting.  So if a game ended tied in regulation, each team would take their 5 best free throw shooters and take turns at the line to determine who goes on and who goes home… Rose would scare me.  For the Bears, let’s say it’s Gould vs Crosby kicking FGs to determine the NFC championship game.  For the Cubs and Sox, it’s a little harder to setup.  Maybe it’s like a HR derby between the teams to decide the winner.  Abreu and Rizzo would help our odds in that case.  It’s easiest to imagine for our Hawks and the NHL, who have the penalty shot in place for the regular season.  Now imagine Game 7 this year was decided by the penalty shot instead of in OT.  Would you like it?  Would the Hawks have won that route?  With Toews and Kane taking 2 of those shots, I would like our chances even though we weren’t very good in the shootout in the regular season.  The individual pressure in these above mentioned situations would be intense.  It changes from a team game, to each individual shouldering the load as they decide how the team’s season ends.  Now imagine the pressure of an entire country on your shoulders, as you attempt to kick the ball into the net in your home stadium to determine if your team plays on in a tournament held once every four years.  This was what I saw today in the Brazil Chile penalty shootout.

I don’t like soccer.  I think it’s boring and I only watch it once every four years.  I’ve only attended a game once, and that was in LA only because my wife wanted to see Beckham in person play for the Galaxy.  Not watching it growing up, and playing it very little, it’s hard to get into.  I think a lot of this city & country feels the same way, although you couldn’t tell by the World Cup viewing events going on around the country.  I guess everyone wants to rally around the US and root them on in one of the world’s biggest tournaments.   I get it.  Then today happened. The penalty shootout in the Brazil Chile game was one of those cool sports moments for me.  For all the boring parts of the game, and how I can’t get into it, that all changed with these 10 shots.  This was probably the most I was ever into a soccer game, and it wasn’t even the US… it wasn’t even one of MY teams.

Before the shootout began, you got 100,000 people chanting, 90% of them for Brazil, as each team huddled up to discuss strategy, offer support, and pray.  Guys were on their knees praying.  Fans were excited but nervous.  As the huddle broke, you see some of the players yelling loudly.  This was it.  The season was now in the hands of the 5 players taking the shots for each country, and of course, the goalie.  How you doing?  How can the goalie be expected to block a world class player kicking a ball into a goal as big as that?  Let the shootout begin.
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I was updating my wife via text message at work throughout the shootout.  Here’s how it went down.  Brazil first.  Score!  Now Chile.  Blocked!  Now Brazil.  Missed!  Now Chile.  Blocked!  Brazil.  Score!  Chile.  Score!  Brazil.  Blocked!  Chile.  Score.  With the shootout tied at 2-2 with one player each to go, the pressure was at an all time high.  For Brazil, up stepped their superstar, one of the best soccer players in the world, Neymar, who calmly kicked it in the corner to give Brazil the 3-2 edge as Chile sent their last player up.  A shot off the post sent the stadium into a frenzy as Brazil held on and moved on.

This was one of those sporting events that I had no rooting interest in.  It was one that I didn’t even plan on watching, and didn’t for most of the game.  However, when I flipped it on just prior to the penalty shootout, I was treated to some high drama stuff.  It’s great to watch the best play on the biggest stage and see how they respond to pressure.  It’s a lot more enjoyable when you don’t have everything on the line… when it’s not your team.  That pressure cooker is hell for a die hard, especially if it turns out bad.  If it turns out golden, then that’s the pinnacle of fandom.  I look forward to some of those moments coming soon for my teams, and I look forward to keeping tabs on the rest of the World Cup.  I think I’ll actually watch the US play on Tuesday afternoon.