The Bard: Sweet Home New Jersey

My parents arrived Saturday night from California. I took the train up to Newark to pick them up and we rented a car and headed back to Somerset. I was so happy to see their smiling faces after such a long time away. I gave them enormous “Barney” hugs and guided them through Newark airport, the Airtrain over to Avis and then back to Somerset along Route 1.

When we got home I gave them the “New Brunswick” tour and took them downtown and around Rutgers. We ended up at a great little place called Old Man Rafferty’s that served practically everything you could possibly crave at any moment. As we were being seated by the large, front window adjacent to the small shop that made all the desserts for the restaurant, we noticed that the portions were absolutely enormous. We took that into consideration as we ordered and got the half size entrees. After dinner we strolled around George Street, checked out the local graveyards, and my Dad nearly tripped over a pigeon that looked as if it had literally just dropped dead on the sidewalk. Ah, New Jersey you haven’t failed me yet!



It felt as though game day was upon us faster then usual. Must have been how busy we were last week with the Colorado trip and all. A select group of us were asked to come in early to go hang out, BBQ, tailgate, and get crazy with the fans in the parking lot! Pretty fun! The game unfortunately was not as much fun, however there were some extremely interesting moments.

Take for instance the injury on the field for St. Louis Athletica. Hope Solo had knocked the ball out of play and the referee insisted that no one leave the pitch. People from both teams headed toward the sideline to get water, advice, what have you as the injured player was being attended to. The injured player eventually got up and Kelly Parker asked the referee, “What is this? A water break!?” and the referee replied, “no, play on!” So no idea who, but someone threw the ball in for us and it was honestly…a mad dash to goal. Probably an 8 v 3, including the goalkeeper! Unfortunately, somehow we didn’t manage to capitalize on our “good fortune” and everyone on the pitch was either livid, or extremely confused. That's only one example of the crazy "goings on" on Sunday. If you didn't get a chance to see the game, check out our video highlights on Sky Blue’s website or tune into Fox Soccer Channel for the replay. Sadly, the game resulted in a 2-1 loss for us at the hands of St. Louis.
 
Come to Yurcak Field this Saturday, July 4th for a 4pm match when we take on the Boston Breakers. There’s plenty of time to get to fireworks shows after the game!



Until next week.



Karen

Karen Bardsley is a goalkeeper for WPS side Sky Blue FC. Her column, “The Bard,” appears weekly on Goal.com.

For more on Women's Professional Soccer, go to Goal.com's women's soccer page.