Sheesh, looks like this blog has received a cruel reminder of where it ranks in my life. Really, there are so few extra minutes in the day that this space gets neglected. Even this post has to be short so I can get caught up on schoolwork.

After returning from Savannah I held student conferences for two days, six hours each with only a few breaks scattered in. Overall, I felt they went really well even though they left me exhausted. I feel like I don’t know my creative writing students as well, probably because they have fewer writing assignments. It was great to get a chance to speak to them individually and, unless a lot of them are lying, they’ve overwhelmingly enjoyed the course despite the fact that a majority of them distrust/dislike poetry.

My own coursework has been brutal. Trying to manage an online class and an independent study is a ton of work and I end up doing hours of work in spurts. I’m learning a lot, but it’s sort of a binge-feeding type of learning and therefore not my favorite. I persevere.

After much scrambling, I finally found the second half of US vs. Honduras online last night and happily caught all five goals. It’s huge for the US to win on the road anywhere in CONCACAF and Honduras had been perfect at home thus far, so that’s no small feat.

Except that defense looks horrid. They have virtually no composure on the ball whatsoever, and Gooch and Bocanegra are good for at least a half-dozen mistakes between the two of them every match. Against higher quality competition this would equate to about two or three goals. The stalwart display during the second half of the Confederations Cup looks more and more like a blip with each passing game.

The good news is that they’ve qualified and can now experiment a bit against Costa Rica, not that they need it. Extra matches are useful for squad players to try and strut their stuff and make life difficult for the manager picking the team. Well, the US squad fringe players have had ample time to show Bradley what they can do in the form of the Gold Cup and, Chad Marshall and Stuart Holden aside, there aren’t too many questions left. Still, we’re in and I’m not complaining. Much.

Current Mood: Frazzled |