Like a British postcard - a pint, taxi and The Guardian (sitting in Covent Garden a couple of years ago).

A couple of years ago, I was quoted in a Guardian story about ArtBabble – and although I was pretty proud of that, I was more honored to have made it into The Guardian (because it features the Football section I had come to adore). I’ve been loyally following their coverage for a good 10 years now.

Outside of match reports and general coverage. I quickly fell in love with The Fiver – “Football’s most tea-timely email brought to you by the Guardian’s team of hacks”. Imagine sport reporting brought to you by a team of comedians, surrealists and potentially drunk or hungover journalists.

But importantly, despite the tongue-in-cheek commentary at times, I quickly built a strong connection to the writer’s – Amy Lawrence, Louise Taylor, Barry Glendenning, even David James (who thought a goalkeeper could write so well?). The minute-by-minute match reports are usually better than watching the real thing. An example of Mr. Glendenning’s match coverage from England’s recent match against Sweden.

Despite having already had to change out of a blood-stained shirt and have a cotton wool bung stuffed up each nostril, Sweden midfielder Pontus Wernbloom is still gushing blood from his nose. He sticks out a tongue, licks some claret from his top lip and smiles. If anyone on the pitch is a vampire, I think it might be him.

As someone that regularly works with motorsports journalists – I really do appreciate good sports writing. It can be elusive.

It’s possible to get completely lost in the Guardian Football site for hours each day, while at work (I did in a past job). There is so much to discover, all ping ponging between credibility and hilarity – The Gallery, YouTube Classics, The Rumour Mill, The Knowledge, The Secret Footballer and much more. Including Our Favourite Things of the Week – a scan of what other football websites are up to. I’m still hoping my Perfect Penalty Kick makes it one day.

Their transition from a paper publication into the digital realm has been impressive. And nothing makes this point clearer than their Chalkboards feature. It takes game analysis to the next level. Here’s an example – Blackburn Rovers vs. Queens Park Rangers on October 15 of this year, analyzing the number of tackles. No surprise, it was a hard fought 1-0 win for Blackburn (and probably boring). See below.

 by Guardian Chalkboards

It’s impressive to say the least, and smart use of technology. What I love about The Guardian, is that they surround useful technology with exceptional content. It’s a model everyone should follow. It always comes down to the quality of the content, the story and writers. Adding in bells and whistles, only works when it points back to this. It’s something I’m trying to emulate at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

So – whether you love or hate The Beautiful Game, at least take a look at Guardian Football. You’ll at least see how to operate successfully in the digital space.

They’ve scored (sorry about that pun).

Over the years, penalty kicks have provided the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Nations have cried with despair or joy as their teams have hoisted trophies as a result of one penalty kick, one miss, or one goal as it flies past the keeper. Grown men have collapsed on the field after a miss, a save or a piece of misfortune, standing 12 yards from the goal, thousands of fans feeling the same pain. I wrote about the meaning of penalty kicks, here.

Installed Render of The Perfect Penalty Kick - small gap in upper right hand corner

Taking a penalty kick is very much like living life. You have to take risks, you face potential humiliation or failure, you intend success. And during this entire process it’s testing, emotional, and filled with opportunities to grow. It can define you.

The Original Sketch of The Perfect Penalty Kick

The Perfect Penalty Kick pays homage to the cruelty and ecstasy of this test. It provides a glimpse of what has occurred in the past (309 soccer balls to be exact), but it presents a clear path; a small, open section of the goal in the upper corner – the future.

The future, is essentially defining the perfect penalty kick – it’s in the top corner, to the goal keepers left (most are right handed), and the farthest spot from the ground-center. To make this shot requires incredible accuracy, confidence and audacity.

Final Render of The Perfect Penalty Kick

It’s a risk.

This installation speaks for itself in that regard. But it’s also a test, to all potential challengers. It’s an open test to everyone and asks a simple question.

Can you score the perfect penalty kick?

This installation is participatory. Soccer fans will have the chance of achieving penalty kick perfection. It’s a challenge, it’s fun, and it will be incredibly rewarding (or frustrating).

All you need is a soccer ball, some cheekiness and good aim.

Renderings and video courtesy of Michele Jasper.

Let me summarize. I scored a goal 8 years ago. My friend who played alongside me, wrote about that moment and sent it to everyone on the team. I saved it. I sometimes read it if I was having a bad day. I also joked I would tell my (future) son about this goal. I wasn’t joking about that – and lately I’ve had plenty of bad days.

Taken by another dear friend - drinking on the soccer sidelines

So here is the story. A story about me, about great moments, about taking risks, about the unexpectedness of life and the love of friends. Oh, and the beautiful game. Enjoy…

Dateline: German Park (oddly enough – no German’s present) – May 4, 2003 – By my friend…

As I grow older (yes, 36 – if you didn’t know), I find myself being much more reflective. Somewhere down the road I will think back on last Saturday night and I will smile at the thought of Alex on a mechanical bull, but as all memories go, I will forget the names of some of those involved and will remember myself behaving better (not bailing out on my friends).

Because as memories go, you can re-script the events just as long as you don’t share them with someone who really knows what happens.

Somewhere down the road I will look back on Sunday’s Hoosier Daddy game and again, a smile will come to my face, not only because we won the game, but this is one script that will not need to be rewritten, for sometimes, fact is greater than fiction.

You need to only think back to last week’s game to know the agony of losing in the final minutes. For some of us, the pain is greater because I still see the winning goal ripped past me in the final minute to lose a game that should have at least been a draw, and my goal should have been a highlight, but losing seems to always take the luster off the positive. I mention this for two reasons, one so you can join with me in swallowing a bitter pill and two, so I could mention my goal again, which until yesterday, could arguably have been the best goal scored by a Daddy.

This may be a game summary like no other, but to give a score, and leave it at that would not do justice to the Daddy’s finest hour. So I find myself writing an email that is a cross between Oliver Twist, a Rick Reilly column, and a screenplay for The Natural.

Surprisingly, I was the first one to arrive yesterday, which gave me a chance to make small talk with our opponents (and we all know how much I love to do that). The Turks not only seemed confident, it’s that air of confidence that they have about them, when I don’t see why they would be, that always gets under my skin, but they had a starting eleven show up before I saw my first teammate, which was Joe, who commented how he hated playing games under these conditions, a cloudy spring day, the kind of day when you add rain, that Roy Hobbs would knock the cover off the ball, but we’ll get back to the stuff of legend later on, now we’ll introduce our hero (but I’m already there at the game your thinking – remember, even as I look back on this day years from now – I will still only be Fagan, it’s the English lad that deserves the book is named for).

Dickens had his Oliver twist, and on this day we had our Daniel (or D-Boy, Danny, D8, or any mispronunciation of Incandela that you may wish to go with), as he showed up with the other members of “The-I-did-shots-until-dawn-the-night-before-at-the Ugly-Monkey-Posse”, you had to be suspect of the effort that they would be capable of on this afternoon. Though there had to be a sense of relief when the first thing out of his mouth was “I came out of the womb into this weather.”

As the team warmed up  – I was asked what formation we play with 9 guys – not a question that as I coach I wanted to ponder, but everyone rolled in on time so we could start the game with eleven, and looking at the sheet white faces of some of my teammates – we could have probably played 13 to start and still been out manned.

The first half was typical Daddy stuff, they attacked and we boarded up the Alamo and waited for Poncho Villa, our new keeper did a nice job, and made me laugh by telling me that it was OK for me to tell him what to do – if only he had known I was about to spend the next 90 minutes doing just that and seeing how many times I could say the F word – but the defense played well and the offense generated some nice attacks early on.

Two-thirds of the way through the first half we had a dead ball about 30 yards out in front of their goal – I was thinking Beckham, but I was seeing the ball go into the parking lot, so I drove the ball low and hard, and out of nowhere Joe stepped in and directed the ball into the back of their net.

Hoosier Daddy’s 1 – WINGS 0

The rest of the first half was uneventful, except that Alex must have still been in rodeo mindset from the night before, so he hog tied one of their players in our penalty box – giving them a penalty kick, which was struck over the crossbar. So the score remained the same as we went to halftime.

Ten minutes into the second half they shot ducks in a barrel in front of our net – I was able to clear one off the line only to have “the happy Greek” as I’ve heard him called back heel one into our net, and then proceed to celebrate be doing the airplane towards the corner – too much celebration for that piece of sh*& goal, but it needed to be mentioned (it’s what we call in my business – foreshadowing.)

Hoosier Daddy’s 1 – WINGS 1.

The game continued on and I’d have to say that I saw for the first time, in the last 25 minutes, our team actually knock the ball around and string together several passes at a time, but still I was worried, so as we entered the last 10 minutes I began stalling at every opportunity because I thought a draw would be just fine.

But that’s why I’m only one of Hrothgar’s men that might have been eaten by Grendel in this story if it had not been for our Beowulf, Daniel, because even after going down twice with cramps, he still managed to stay out on the pitch for the final minutes, and while I would have taken a tie, he took me, the team, and the game on his back.

Cue the music from The Natural. The referee had just told me that we were under two minutes when Daniel received a ball some 35 yards from the goal, this looked like it would be our last chance, I thought he should try to beat several men off the dribble to get off a shot, but he had other ideas, and my future memories are glad he did – because he turned and struck the ball and as it left his foot – it reminded me of my childhood standing up at Dodger Stadium to see if that ball would make it over the fence, the ball flew towards the goal and the questions started, will it make it over the keeper’s head, will it still make it under the crossbar, can it be, yes – fiction is dead. The ball sailed over the keeper’s head and into the back of the net.

Someday over beers I’ll argue on the greatest goal in Daddy history, not that there is much of an argument that can be made, but there is no argument over the greatest goal scoring celebration in team history, winning the game wasn’t enough, but Daniel also had to regain his team’s honor which had been in question after being shown up by the Greek’s goal (remember the foreshadowing) and I later found out that he and Daniel have history, so Daniel took off his shirt off ran to the sidelines jumped on the back of a pickup and raised his arms (really, I can’t make this stuff up).

Hoosier Daddy’s 2 – WINGS 1.

This one goal, by one man, on one day, restored hope to a team that needed a shot in the arm after losing the Scottish core that brought the team together, but with their absence we had lost their identity. Now picture Nicholson holding an axe and saying “I’m back.”

And for this day – we were back. This is one memory that down the road I won’t have to remember differently – because as it stands, it was just perfect the way it was.

It goes without saying that I want to be a better husband, father, son, brother, friend and in general, a substantially better human being. But here are some other things I want to focus on in 2011. Resolutions, revolutions, you get the picture.

Music

I really love music, but for some reason I’ve never really focused on it. So, my goal is to listen to more music, build a better listening library and expand my expertise of mid-1980′s to early-1990′s hip hop. I’m already pretty well versed in this time period, but I want to become more of historian for this time period – like a Ph.D. And as a treat for you, here’s my favorite song at the moment – “What you Say” with Pete Rock and INI.

Travel

Traveling is one of my great passions. I mean, I started a Flickr group for the Indianapolis International Airport. This year I was able to visit Japan with work. Tokyo and Japan were #1 on my travel list, so it was incredibly exciting and fulfilling to finally visit. And I loved every minute of it.

He's huggable

Next year, it’s a simple goal in theory. Visit somewhere new. Visit somewhere familiar. My #1 travel destination now is India. And, I need to get back to England. Can I pull that off? We’ll see what happens. But honestly, I would be happy with South Dakota. I’ve never been.

Lifestyle

I made significant changes in the way I live this past year. I mean, really significant. I now eat healthier, exercise more and treat my body with a lot more respect. Thank god. I’m thinking next year I ‘ll maybe dabble with juices or smoothies. Although I don’t think I’m ready for yoga just yet. Baby steps people. I also need to stop eating so much dessert and drinking so much soda.

Wait, that's not juice

Football/Soccer

So I played soccer four times in 2010. I used to play four times in one week. This was a huge void for me and sacrifce in enjoyment, exercise and seeing a lot of dear friends. This has to change next year, and that means more penalty kicks. Can I kick it? Yes I can.

A pair of my slippers

Professional

Well, I definitely don’t need to work more. But there are a lot of areas where I could improve. 2010 was definitely a learning year – new environment, people and content, understanding the culture and trying to assess my role. The honeymoon is over and I couldn’t be happier. This is pretty general, but my goal in 2011 is to be myself. Finally. It’s weird to think I haven’t even hit my stride at work yet. Watch out.

Feeding the mind

I did little to feed my mind in 2010. If it wasn’t work related I didn’t do much. As a creative outlet, I wrote and I took photos. But in other areas, such as reading or watching movies, I did very little. I only watched a handful of films. I’m not sure I read one book this past year (I told you 2010 was rough). So the plan is simple. Continue writing, continue shooting and open my mind to other areas. I might even take up a hobby. Any suggestions?

RobotoWear

Boy has this has dragged on and on. And it’s completely my fault. 2011 is the year it finally launches – a robot inspired clothing line. Stay tuned.

Cooking

Yeah, I want to be a chef. My hope is to become ridiculously rich, travel the world learning the cuisines and then start my own restaurant. I’m working towards that, but in the mean time, I’m hoping to spend more time in the kitchen. Chopping, sauteing, garnishing, cooking, baking, grilling. Is there anything better? Probably – but I love food.

Yum

Hodge Podge

I like the unexpected. I like trying new things. And I try to keep an open mind to new experiences. I am definitely focused on that in 2011 – new opportunities to experience the unexpected. It happens all the time and I never want to take that for granted. So I’m looking at 2011 for experiences that can mold me into a better person, change my perspective, humble me, and make me think. That’s not too much to ask for.

California Dreamin’

Some pie in sky goals for 2011.

1) I become a DJ – Ernest Spinningway

2) I get to fly on Boeing’s Dreamliner

3) I go to India

4) I meet Christina Aguilera

5) I buy a Citroen DS

6) I consult for one of the museum’s on Abu Dhabi’s Saadiyat Island

7) I guest rap on a new track produced by Pete Rock

I’m forced to use a cane for part of 2011

9) LEGO sends me a sh*t load of merch

10) I get to produce a show with Anthony Bourdain

I’ve probably missed a lot, but those are some of the major areas I’m focused on in 2011. And it’s in writing – so the cat’s out of the bag.

What are your plans for 2011? I want to know. I’m interested, but I might also steal your ideas. Hit me up.

England at Soldier Field in 2005 (no penalties that day)

I used to play soccer a lot. I don’t as much anymore – job, travel, baby, etc. I’m okay with that. But this past Sunday I did. It was my first full match in a year. I played 80/90 minutes on a hot day, hard ground. It was an absolute blast. I took a penalty.

Penalties are simply cruel. They are agonizing to watch. It’s horrible when someone misses. It makes men cry.

AkiTina wrote -

“Life and Penalty Kicks. Whoever in the FIFA decided that a match should be decided by a series of penalty kicks is a real masochist, a lover of all emotions that produce pain and excitement, anguish and ecstasy, sorrow and joy. The goalkeeper is hated or exalted. And if a player happens to miss his kick, he goes down into history as the one who shamefully blew away the team’s opportunity to win. What kind of lesson and message does this give to humanity? Does our success depend on one kick? Isn’t life just a series of actions and experiences, all good, all with courage, and it really is not a question of kicking to win, but rather moving to live fully?”

I don’t know who this AkiTina is, but she just made this blog post easier. Eloquent. Works in an Embassy. And does yoga. She’s qualified in my book. And she really captures what it’s like to take a penalty kick.

I’m not a big proponent of using sports as metaphors for life. I’m highlighting a pretty specific action within an untrusted sport (in the US) to talk life. There’s a difference.

But AkiTina is spot on. Taking a penalty kick is very much like living life. You take risks, you face potential humiliation or failure, you strive for success. And during this entire process it’s testing, emotional, and filled with opportunities to grow.

I’ve taken lots of penalty kicks in my day. I’ve scored most of them. I once missed one so badly, it struck a car in the parking lot. Ouch.

This past Sunday, I strolled up to that penalty spot, 12 yards from the goalkeeper, perfectly calm, my direction already selected.

I knew I could fail. I knew I could score. I didn’t care. It was the process I enjoyed. As AkiTina wrote, I was “….moving to live fully…”

I took about five steps, struck the ball to the right, heard the most beautiful dink of leather striking metal, and looked up to see the ball glance off the post into the goal. It was perfect.

Life isn’t much different and I’ll never turn down the opportunity to live fully. I just hope I don’t hit a parked car.

————–

And what is the best penalty ever, according to YouTube? It’s Francesco Totti for AS Roma during a practice session. 12 million views don’t lie people.

My mother-in-law and I are hosting a small football party today. This is Indianapolis. It loves football and I love cooking and food, so a perfect activity for Sunday.

I’ m not really doing any of the cooking – Nancy is, and she’s an amazing chef and very kind to run with this idea today. Especially since she’s doing all of the work as I type.

So here’s what’s on the menu today. My friend George Greco always said, “It’s not tipping I believe in, it’s over tipping.” We’ve employed a similar approach to the menu. Overthetop.

Texas Sausage Balls – “Texan woman moves to New Jersey to hit the big time.”

• 1lb Jimmy Dean Sausage HOT
• 1.5 cups of Bisquick
• 2 cups of finely shredded mild cheddar
• Make ‘em into balls, about the size of a walnut
• Bake at 325 for 20 minutes, deep in the heart of Texas. Don’t mess with it.

Nancy’s Sweet & Tangy Potato Salad – “The key is miracle whip!”

• 6-7 Russet Potatoes – peel and par-boil, chunk it
• 5-6 chopped celery stalks
• 5-6 chopped carrots
• 1 medium onion – slice and dice people
• 12oz of miracle whip
• 3 tablespoons of sweet relish
• 4 hard boiled eggs (3 in it, 1 for garnish)
• 4lbs of paprika (or a couple of dashes)
• Mix it all together with love.

Nancy’s Nacho Layers of Love – “Some like it hot.”

• 2 bags of large tortilla chips (none of that lime crap)
• Chopped and sauteed onion
• Can ‘o green chiles
• Yellow or Red bell pepper, chopped and sauteed with onion and chiles
• 6 Jalepenos (throw ‘em in the sauteed mess)
• Some chipoltes – throw ‘em in
• Can of drained black beans
• Add chile powder, salt & pepper cumin.
• Layer all of this crap on chips. Add cheese. Add More chips. Repeat.  It’s a layered nacho experience. Unforgettable.

Corporate Toll House Derby Pie – “It tastes good, despite it’s corporate origins – and because of that, no photo.”

• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup of flour
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1/2 cup of brown sugar
• 3/4 cup softened butta
• One 6oz package of Nestle semi-sweet morsels (it HAS TO BE Nestle or you will get sued)
• 1 9-inch unbaked pie shell.
• Mix it all together, blah blah blah. Add to pie crust. Zap it at 325 for about an hour. Cool before cutting. Or else.

Big Bubba’s Brisket Bunz – “A modified Paula Deen recipe”

Since I provided a link to the recipe, I’m not going to list everything. I will say this. The dry rub is one of the most under-appreciated parts of cooking meat. I’m not kidding. So we’re going with a char crust rub – including salt ‘n peppa, sugar, chiles, mustard and so on. Plus some top secret sh*t I’m not divulging that may or may not involve coca cola.

Instead of serving this formally, we’re going with brisket sandwiches to mix and play with potato salad and chips and beer and so on. It’s for sitting on the couch holding a beer and shouting at the TV. The toppings offer guests the opportunity for creative consumption – going with a cole slaw or horse radish perhaps?

We cooked 3.25 lbs of brisket – emphasizing the natural meat flavor…and you guessed it, da rub!

So there you have it.  Sorry you didn’t get the evite. It was delicious! And thank you Nancy!