The Search for the Perfect Game of Pick-Up Soccer
du Nord, September 9, 2008
Graham Fox is a freelance writer from Kansas. He listened to Crystal Castles-Crystal Castles while writing this. Hit him up at grahamfox@gmail.com When you move to a new place, all the items in life you expect are there, but in a different order. The Taco Bell across the street moves across town. The liquor stores close at 9pm instead of 11pm. Worst of all, you don’t know where to find games of pick-up soccer. At Kansas State, the old football stadium was the place to find a game. Almost year round you could find a game in the evening on flat field turf set in a beautiful stadium. Because the games were held on a university campus there were people of all backgrounds, ages, and races. The games would sprawl between six and thirty people and whose play varied wildly. You could find a carpenter from Russia. Old professors. Japanese foreign exchange students. Students from India without shoes. A couple Hispanic guys. I grew used to undisciplined games in which the ball mostly moved along the ground. From the ba