A Niggle and a Knock

My team had it's first game of the season yesterday &, like the bad-asses we are, we won 4-2. It was obvious that I hadn't played in quite a while though as my timing was a little off. I even let the ball run under my foot @ one point. More importantly, I missed 3 chances that should have been goals & had one called back for a hand ball that didn't happen. I wasn't pleased. In terms of my other opportunities, I rocketed a shot right at the goalie, I headed a sure goal over the crossbar, & I miskicked a ball that was set perfectly by our center midfielder. My brother got kicked in the nuts too, which nearly sparked a fight. All in all, it seems pretty clear that it will take me a couple weeks to get back into form.

I don't know if I'll be up to it by our next game though because I picked up a knock on my wrist that is hurting like hell & I've got a bit of a niggly groin. I had to look up the word "niggle" to ensure it wasn't related to the un-PC racial slur to which it seems phonically connected. It isn't. It's a term the British announcers use all the time, & I saw it in a magazine last summer describing the playing style of Claude Makelele. Originally, I thought it was a typo & that they meant to write "niggardly." But no, it's just those crazy Brits & their crazy bastardization of the American language.