HexagonalBlog

Well, that took longer than I expected

When I moved from one residence to another two weeks ago, I thought I would be able to get my internet connection up and running in short order.  Unfortunately, I had to move during a holiday weekend, so that pushed the connection date back even further.  So I was stuck with net access at work and WiFi connections at McDonald's.  I don't think I'd miss TV all that much, but I was in serious withdrawal over my lack of internet connection.  So, what did I miss?

Yesterday I braved the 115-degree heat in Phoenix to watch the Gold Cup matches involving Group C, and I have pictures and my thoughts on yesterday's matches as well as Mexico's performance.  I saw bits and pieces of Mexico's previous two matches, and they did not look good at all.  Yesterday's performance was far from their best, but it was a big improvement over their previous two matches.

I also need to finally publish my review of the CONCACAF Champions League, and not a moment too soon as the new edition starts up in a couple of weeks (with a replacement team already!). 

Thanks to all who followed me on Twitter during my absence from the blog; I plan on keeping the updates going on there. 

Apologies for the silence

Sorry for not having posts the last few days (aside from a couple of tweets).  I was too bitter about the USA-Italy game to write about it, I've been lazy on a few posts in my hopper such as the CCL review and the mid-Hexagonal review,  and I've been busy with work and upcoming publications (don't get too excited; they're for technical journals that attract fewer readers than this blog).  And I'm moving to a new apartment on the other side of town in a couple of weeks.

I need to take care of things away from here, but I'll be back in a day and I hope to get those delayed posts published by the end of this weekend.  You can also follow me on Twitter.  I've heard it's actually been useful to a lot of people lately.

Revealing myself

I'm going to the qualifier this weekend and most of my readers haven't seen a picture of me, so I thought it would be a good time to show my face:

If you see me at the game or at the pregame bars in Chicago, stop by and say hello.  They say we all look alike, but I'm still easy to spot.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

It's time for me to pack up and head home to Florida for Christmas/New Year's vacation -- South Florida for Christmas, maybe Atlanta for New Year's (it's been too long since I've been to the ATL), and other parts of the state in between.  I also have a conference to attend in Orlando the first week in January, so I won't be back in Arizona until January 9.  There might be some updates if events warrant (I know that Nicaragua's playoffs won't conclude until the end of the month), but I don't plan on blogging unless I have to.

It's been quite a year, with World Cup qualifiers, the start of the CONCACAF Champions League, and some other endeavors.  2009 will be even better with the conclusion of the inaugural Champions League and the Hexagonal, culminating in the CONCACAF/CONMEBOL playoff and the draw for the 2010 World Cup finals. 

I'm naturally a thankful person (at least, I try to be), and Thanksgiving is usually a good time to give thanks, but I am more so at Christmas time as we approach the end of the year.  I am very thankful for my readers  -- a lot more than two now! -- who have visited this site over the past year.  Most are silent, some are thoughtful, a (very small) few are obnoxious, but I am thankful for them all.  Blogging is a very egotistical endeavor -- after all, it takes a big ego to think that other people are eager to read what you're thinking about every day -- and sometimes you do wonder if anyone really is reading what you have to say.  But it excites me to know just how widespread my readership is and where this blog gets read.  It makes this hobby worthwhile, and I aim to hold and expand this readership in the New Year. 

I wish all of my readers a very Merry Christmas, a safe and joyous festive season, and many blessings in the New Year.

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One year closer to world domination - and middle age...

And Aloha means hello

Well I'm back, after spending a week in Honolulu for a conference.  Hawai'i (or I should say, O'ahu) is as beautiful as they say it is.  Waikiki Beach has a lot of things going on, from expensive shops/restaurants to surfing competitions to other kinds of scenery.  The northern parts of the island (inland and shore) are also beautiful, but the waves weren't as dramatic (IIRC, winter is better for surfing).  In my opinion, Florida has better beaches, but the O'ahu beaches have a lot going for them.  And keep in mind that I haven't been to the other Hawaiian islands.

I wasn't able to follow the World Cup qualifiers on TV because my hotel didn't have access to ESPN2 or Univision, but I did track the results online.  I'll have comments on those in a later post.  I'll also have comments on the Champions League which is to start up on Tuesday.  I'm starting to get a little concerned with the lack of updates on the CONCACAF site.

And Aloha means goodbye

As I alluded in my first preview post on the CONCACAF semifinal round, I won't be able to make comments on the first day of matches.  The reason is because I will be in Hawaii all of next week on business.  No really, it is business...for a few days at least.  Needless to say I probably won't be able to follow the matches when they're going on at mid-afternoon Hawaii time, and I'll probably be enjoying a mai-tai on the beach anyway. 

But fret not, because I will make a post that is timed to appear next Wednesday, so that you can make any comments on the matches or post links to reports that I should read.  And if you know of any restaurants or bars in Honolulu that I should visit, for soccer or otherwise, let me know in the comments.

I leave on Sunday and return on Friday 22 August.  Until then, aloha!

Hofbrau Beer Garden, PCB

(This post has been in the queue for a while, and I need to complete it before moving to my previews of the Qualifiers and the CCL.  I plan on adding a couple new features to the blog, such as reviews of restaurants I visit during my travels and soccer-related books, as well as making belated additions to the blogroll.  Stay tuned.)

I spent my 4th of July weekend in the Destin/Ft.Walton Beach area, where I lived for 2 1/2 years before I moved to Tucson last year.  (Has it really been a year?  Wow!)  On the 4th I drove to Panama City Beach for the festivities and I ended up at Pier Park, which is a new indoor/outdoor shopping area between US Highway 98 and Scenic Highway 98.  The center contains a number of large department stores and high-end shops and restaurants and it's close to the pier and the surrounding resort condos.  I passed by the Hofbrau Beer Garden and was intrigued, so I went in.

I have to say that it was quite a place.  It looks like one of those Bavarian beer halls that you might see during Oktoberfest, with the high flat ceiling, long wooden tables and bench seating, a guy singing German folk and drinking songs (and on this day, American patriotic songs) with a girl playing the accordion, servers in traditional German attire, and lots of German beer.  On Fridays they were giving away free beer in plastic cups from one of the tapped kegs, and the last person to get beer from the keg receives free beer for the remainder of the night.  I made a fine effort, but I gave up after four beers.  I was going to get a wheat beer in one of those half-liter flasks, but who can argue with free beer?

The restaurant serves traditional Bavarian food, from pretzels to sausages to sandwiches, and some other pub food in between.  I had a burger which was a blend of beef and pork, and it was very tasty.  I heard good things about the sausages, which were accompanied with lots of sauerkraut. 

 The beer hall wasn't as packed as I thought it would be on the Fourth of July, but they have live bands performing during the week which fill the place up.  Most of the patrons were either active or retired members of the military, which you might expect in a region that has Navy and Air Force installations nearby (and Eglin Air Force Base within a 75 minute drive).  One guy sitting next to me asked, "So, were you stationed in Germany, too?" 
On the wall there was a big screen TV displaying the German version of Deutsche Welle, and at the bar there was a TV tuned to Fox Soccer Channel (which was showing a Barcelona friendly.  I did spot a guy wearing a Bastian Schweinsteiger jersey (the German national team shirt), which drew a high five from the band singer.  I'd like to imagine that they attract a crowd for Bundesliga or EPL matches in the area, which would be greatly welcome -- when I lived there, bars weren't soccer-hostile, but most of the time you were definitely the only one interested in watching a soccer game. 

It is a surprise seeing a restaurant like this on the Redneck Riviera, but I've learned after living there that a lot of things about that region will surprise you.  I enjoyed my time there, and as I told the restaurant manager on my way out, I will be back for a return visit.

Happy Fourth, everybody

I'm off to celebrate Independence Day in a location close to a lot of ocean, so postings will be light until next Monday.  Get away from your computers and have some fun!  The soccer stuff will still be there when you get back.

(Of course, the Canadians are getting a head start, so Happy Canada Day to my readers to the north!)

Thank you readers!

Today has been a record-breaking day on HexagonalBlog.  Not only has today seen the highest number of unique visits to this site, but this week and this month have seen the most traffic since I started keeping track of statistics.  Now the figures pale in comparison to the traffic that Ives, Goff, and some of the BigSoccer.com sites see, but I'm excited just the same.  I'm also excited to see the visits that come from all parts of the world, and from some important places in the sports world.

Thanks to all those who have visited this site.