Sunday, August 26, 2007

Preseason, Day 3: Picture Day

On Day 3, Mother Nature plugged in the sun and threw some water on the rocks. Such intense heat and humidity on picture day could have spelled trouble for Iain Eldredge's ode-to-Kevin-Keegan shag, but he fought the frizz with a time tested technique known as "bed head." I just learned about this technique the other day. Apparently, all you do is wake up late and not shower.



- - - Iain Eldredge '10 who, believe it or not, is not Canadian - - -

After crouching in extreme discomfort on sore legs to be digitally immortalized, the team trained for an hour and a half, trained again in the afternoon, and then departed for the Revolution vs. Red Bulls match at Gillette Stadium. If you haven't already seen it, you must check out the outrageous own goal that handed victory to the Revs:

("8/25: Mendes Own Goal Decides Match)
http://web.mlsnet.com/mls/sights/index.jsp

At the game, eleven of the Brown boys bared their chests and were shown on national TV, L-A-R-E-N-T-O-W-I-C-Z painted across their bellies. Before donning the "T," Rhett Bernstein '09 shaved the letter into his pelt.




Here are some alternative letter arrangements that were not used:

CRAZIE TOWN
ZIT ON EAR
I, COW
LEARN TO WIZ

Preseason, Day 2: Baisars d'une Soeur

According to Google Translation, that's how you say "kissing your sister."

The Brown boys kissed their proverbial French sister on Day 2 of preseason, tying the University of Montreal deux-deux. Brown right back Laurent Manuel '08 scored Montreal's first goal (yes, you read that correctly) deftly chipping his own keeper on an ill-advised back pass. Oddly enough, Manuel is a dual citizen of the U.S. and France, prompting un-disproven accusations of betrayal. Indeed, the aplomb with which the young Frenchman scored on his own goalie makes one wonder if he was not in fact aiding his Québécois counterparts.

The second Montreal goal was a nice individual effort from the U of M right winger, and it caused raucous applause and cries of "Très bon! Très bon!" from his bench.

Brown stole back a goal at the stroke of halftime, as (non-French) Canadian Dylan Sheehan '09, known as much for his hockey-like forechecking as his nose for the goal, snuck behind the Montreal defense and collected a bouncing ball before lobbing an inside-of-the-footer over the advanced keeper.

The game turned a bit chippy in the second half, and at times resembled Canada's national sport (hockey... it never really resembled curling) more than soccer. But even as the game became more physical, Brown kept its cool and controlled most of the play. Then, late in the second half, the referee dished up a steaming hot crepe of justice when Kevin Davies '08 was hauled down in the box. Chris Roland '10 saw his penalty kick saved, but Davies scampered in and tapped in the rebound.


Laurent Manuel '08: Accidental Own Goal, or Modern Day Mata Hari?





Dylan Sheehan '09 displays the forearm that frequently visits opponents' chests.