January 31. 2008 by Keegan Hall.

I’ll admit it…I love sports. A lot. My wife can attest to this as virtually all of my tv time is spent consuming various sporting events. Although basketball is by far my favorite, I must say soccer is second. Yep, soccer. Not football or baseball. Soccer.

Soccer is by far the most popular sport in the world but, interestingly enough, the vast majority of Americans could care less. I cannot figure out why there is such apathy towards this amazing sport. Have most Americans not seen a pro soccer match? I’m not talking about the MLS (although the league is getting better every year). I’m referring to a pro match in Europe. The game is absolutely incredible! European soccer combines pure athleticism with uncanny finesse unlike any other sport in the world. These athletes are truly gifted.

While in college I had the opportunity to study abroad in Rome, Italy. Wanting to experience all that is Italian, I made my way to a Roma soccer match. Wow! That’s all it took. I was hooked and went back each weekend for more!

Sure, there are many dedicated sports fans here in the USA but the commitment of these fans pale in comparison to those in Europe. No contest. These Italian soccer fan would die for their team- literally. In fact, one of the matches I attend, Roma vs Juventus, I almost died. Well, I would have if the Juve fans had found out my allegiance to the Roma squad.

This was one of the biggest matches of the year and it was nearly impossible to get a ticket. Quickly running out of options, I had no choice but to purchase tickets from a scalper. This weaselly Italian assured me these seats were on the Roma side of the field. Of course, me being the naive American, I believed him. I went strolling in to the arena covered from head to toe in Roma apparel. When I got to the gate the ticket taker took once look at my seat location and replied “I can’t let you go in there dressed like that.” What? What’s the big deal? Apparently it was a big deal.

Luckily had an impartial jacket with me. I quickly threw the jacket on and zipped it up as high as a could. If you looked closely you could still see a glimmer of “Roma red” inside my collar. I literally had to hold my collar tightly closed for the entire game.

But holding my collar shut wasn’t the most difficult part- it was dodging the various debris that was flying through the air. The hatred between these two teams actually fuel fans to throw items (water bottles, coins, rocks, etc) and each other. Although I was riveted to the match, I had no choice but to keep one eye fixed on permantant look out.

Needless to say, this was quite an experience that left an everlasting impression on me. Soccer embodies competition in its purest form. This competition is not only felt by each player but also personified by each fan. Soccer is simply amazing and it’s about time that more sports fans in American take notice.

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January 30. 2008 by Keegan Hall.

On January 4th 2008 I became a first-time daddy to a baby girl we named Payton. Leading up to the big day I didn’t have much of a desire to watch the birth of the baby. “Are you crazy!” I heard from multiple friends and family members. “A birth of a child is the most amazing experience!” Yeah, sure. Let’s just say that I don’t do well in the presence of blood so, needless to say, they didn’t have much luck persuading me.

Leading up to the actual birth I stayed rather firm on my stance to not view the birth. Of course I fully intended to be by my wife’s side and offer any and all support that I could. My game plan was to simply drift back into the shadows of the delivery room once it became apparent that it’s “go time”.

My wife’s contractions quickly became increasingly intense. “It’s almost time” I thought to myself. As I stood there holding one of her legs up (the nurse had the other) I began to calculate the perfect time to make my exit. I soon realized that I wasn’t going to get an opportunity to leave. The baby is coming now!

Suddenly, from beneath a crisp white sheet, rose a screaming baby girl. Panic. Knowing that I had nowhere to run, I braced myself for the worse. However my apprehension was quickly subdued as I took my first glimpse of my child.

I cannot to begin to explain the feelings that rushed through my body at that moment. I was suddenly hit with in intense rush of unexpected emotion. Seeing your own child- your OWN child- is simply amazing. “Look at what we created” my wife said as we peered into each other’s glassy eyes.They were right, this is the most incredible experience and I am forever grateful that I didn’t miss it.

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January 29. 2008 by Keegan Hall.

I think I am the minority amongst my friends: I enjoy reading. I typically read books that pertain to business, success and personal development and occasionally mix in a variety of magazines. I recently finished a book called The 4 Hour Workweek.

As the title suggests, the author -Tim Ferriss- offers numerous antidotes for eliminating your 9-to-5 in hopes of ultimately joining the “New Rich”. I must say this book opened my mind in a variety of ways. Although a few of the tid-bits offered in the book are a little far-fetched, there were numerous chapters that really got the synapses in my brain firing.

I have an immense curiosity for languages and Tim Ferriss touches on this subject in this book. He boasts that he can speak numerous languages fluently and that anyone can learn a language within one hour. Yes, one hour. Although he claims that you will not “master” the language, it is certainly reasonable to be conversational within one hour.

Tim’s assertion stems from the fact that many languages are similar in grammatical structure. The key is to really breakdown that structure to uncover the root of the language. Be sure to take notice of the following relationship: is the sentence structured as “subject-object-verb” or “subject-verb-object”. Once you understand this relationship then the task of constructing a sentence in a foreign language is much more manageable.

I took Spanish during my high school days (didn’t everyone?) and had an opportunity to study abroad in Rome, Italy while in college. My wife is originally from Romania so, as you can see, there are a few different languages that regularly clunk around inside my head. I broke down the Romanian language (with the help of my wife, of course) and explored the relationship between SOV and SVO. We took a few basic sentences to use as examples. I must admit, once I really took notice to these relationship, the language seemed much more manageable to learn. Although I am nowhere near fluent, I certainly have a renewed enthusiasm for learning this language that I formerly deemed “impossible”.

I highly recommend this book as it full of extremely useful tips and tricks that anyone can implement today. Check it out.

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January 28. 2008 by Keegan Hall.

Well, I finally did it. I got a blog. I think I have some interesting ideas that are worthy of you pondering. We’ll see if you agree. Stay tuned…

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