I know I’m jaded, but that's beside the point. My point, to be more precise. I just finished watching the United States play Czech Republic in the 2006 FIFA World Cup (soccer, for those of you who are completely clueless), and can honestly think of no other way to describe the U.S.'s horrendous display of "effort" than utterly lackluster and disappointing - but here's the real bitch of it: why the hell weren't our guys ready to walk onto that field and wreak havoc upon anybody who might possibly stand in their way?
After decades of listening to international critics of the sport call the United States young, outmatched, under prepared, and just straight not as good as the rest of the world, we come out blazing in the 2002 World Cup. We left the world stunned and almost ready to eat their words with our Quarter Final finish and lights-out exceptional performance in the Elite Eight versus Germany. Even after our display of athleticism and accomplishment from the '02 World Cup, the United States has to listen to four more years of criticism about our international squad and our success and hard work is gradually turned into nothing more than a fluke by the time qualifiers come around for this 2006 world venue. And this time the US team talked themselves up. Landon Donovan has been all over TV interviews saying how the US is ready to prove that the world's top 10 teams is where we belong and that we need to be looked at as a threat on the world stage for international soccer. Bruce Arena was even quoted as saying that he's tired of preparation already, that he just wants to go show the world what the United States can do on soccer's world stage. We go into the WC'06 with a #5 world ranking, right behind our first opponent, Czech Republic, who just happen to be #4. And we play like we want nothing more than to be home playing XBOX. SOOO frustrating!
The thing that gets me about it is that, as a women's soccer fan and former player, I find myself getting really heated at the men's team when they show such poor effort on the international level. It’s really hard for me to jump on board with the men's fans who hide behind excuses like, "well the US is behind the rest of the world in men's soccer because it wasn't big here a long time ago like it was everywhere else in the world." How long do you need to catch up, guys? At what point will we be willing/able to admit that maybe our nation's soccer talent just lies in our women more so than our men.
My defensiveness surrounding women's soccer and our success at the international level kicks in almost instantly because I just hold the US Women's National Team at a higher level than I do our men. Naturally, I think, as I’m a woman. But it goes deeper than that. I’m tired of being compared to men's soccer - on every level. When our men do well, I’m tired of the arguments that men's soccer is more interesting than women and I'm tired of the chauvinistic musings of all those testosterone ridden men who staunchly maintain that the US Men could beat the US women in a match. Ya think?! Men and women are a different breed, and men's and women's soccer is a different game entirely. I think the men would win as well, but not without being exhausted and given a good run for their money - men are built bigger, faster, and stronger than women biologically. Men should beat women when pitted against each other in sport just based on physical attributes, but I’d be willing to bet the women had more finesse on the ball, team thinking, and strategic forethought than the men did. When our men do poorly, I’m tired of the women's team being brought into the argument out of no where saying that really, women's soccer only just started on the world stage in 1980, and that the US women have a huge advantage. What advantage? Its two separate games.
Someone very dear to me, who also happens to be a huge US men's soccer fan and also a player himself, just described today's loss perfectly: it is insulting to him as a fan of US men's soccer and a long time soccer player himself to see the US men come out so flat against the Czech Republic and play like they don't care. They should at least want to come out and shut everybody up and play like they have something to prove.
So, male soccer fans of the United States, don't worry about the women's team right now - they aren't the ones who just caught you flat and beat you 3-0 in your opening game of the World Cup. Why don't you pick something worth while to be concerned about - like the US men's team strategy or training procedures. In the meantime, maybe if you look through your chauvinism you could learn a thing or two from the women - like consistency.
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Friday, June 9, 2006
1 step forward, 9,999,999 steps back...
I've brought the phrase "struggle spice" to a whole new level. On a quick side note: for those of you who've not yet integrated that into your vernacular - pick it up, its a keeper. I'm in this new job, and even my damn title is confusing - Process Lead - can you see anything of redeeming value in that? Didn't think so. I knew that with promotions came another level of responsibility that usually requires some adjustment time, but jeez... this is ridiculous.
I found out the day after I got back from Maui (I haven't mentioned that I was in Maui yet, but that story will be coming soon - is a good one) that the boss whose team I was working so hard to get back on was leaving our site to go take another job within our company. Its a great opportunity for him, but I was really bummed out because he's a great guy to work for, and has been immensely helpful in guiding my own career and even personal development. As if losing my boss wasn't a big enough chunk out of my learning curve, this job's training program is what we in mainstream Corporate America like to call, "sink or swim."
I am now five weeks into my new job, and am still struggling on a daily basis to figure out what the hell I should be doing with my time at work. There are some things I know to do: pull certain reports for certain people by certain days or they go apeshit, spend a couple hours each morning analyzing reports on both our previous day's and week to date numbers to find out where we're missing and then try to think of how to fill the gaps so that we're not missing goal... but really other than that I'm clueless - and the worst part is that there is no boss for me to go ask for help or get direction from. Instead, I try one of 700 million random ideas that come to my mind as to what I think might be the right answer, and keep repeating that trial and error process until I want to either jump off of a very tall building or go chew on glass. As a result, I spend lots of time every day trying to look busy and just getting stressed out because I know that there are things out there that I don't know I should be doing right now and in my head I just see this huge proverbial pile of "to do" items getting bigger, and bigger, and bigger...
It's quite an unnerving feeling to go from knowing everything about my job to knowing absolutely nothing about my job and not really even knowing where to start finding anything out. If every promotion I come across at this company is like this I'm screwed. I'll have an awesome title but constantly feel like I have the education level of a kindergartener because I can't figure anything out. I wonder if I should just color the reports before my meetings - at least then my kindergarten education would come in handy.
I found out the day after I got back from Maui (I haven't mentioned that I was in Maui yet, but that story will be coming soon - is a good one) that the boss whose team I was working so hard to get back on was leaving our site to go take another job within our company. Its a great opportunity for him, but I was really bummed out because he's a great guy to work for, and has been immensely helpful in guiding my own career and even personal development. As if losing my boss wasn't a big enough chunk out of my learning curve, this job's training program is what we in mainstream Corporate America like to call, "sink or swim."
I am now five weeks into my new job, and am still struggling on a daily basis to figure out what the hell I should be doing with my time at work. There are some things I know to do: pull certain reports for certain people by certain days or they go apeshit, spend a couple hours each morning analyzing reports on both our previous day's and week to date numbers to find out where we're missing and then try to think of how to fill the gaps so that we're not missing goal... but really other than that I'm clueless - and the worst part is that there is no boss for me to go ask for help or get direction from. Instead, I try one of 700 million random ideas that come to my mind as to what I think might be the right answer, and keep repeating that trial and error process until I want to either jump off of a very tall building or go chew on glass. As a result, I spend lots of time every day trying to look busy and just getting stressed out because I know that there are things out there that I don't know I should be doing right now and in my head I just see this huge proverbial pile of "to do" items getting bigger, and bigger, and bigger...
It's quite an unnerving feeling to go from knowing everything about my job to knowing absolutely nothing about my job and not really even knowing where to start finding anything out. If every promotion I come across at this company is like this I'm screwed. I'll have an awesome title but constantly feel like I have the education level of a kindergartener because I can't figure anything out. I wonder if I should just color the reports before my meetings - at least then my kindergarten education would come in handy.
Don't worry, I'm alive
I know, you wouldn't think that's possible considering how long I've been gone... but then again you don't work for a computer company. I guess I should start by conceding to you all that I'm a slacker when it comes to updating my blog - I'm sorry to the masses who live and die by my overwhelmingly inciteful and inspiring postings. I hope none of you have taken up a new hobby of ripping out your hair since you have been neglected for over a month. Yes, you DID detect some sarcasm...
So let me explain - I'll give you the macro view first. So I've been busting my ass for the past two years for a company where being a complete over-achiever actually pays off - meritocracy is a wonderful system. However, for those who are afflicted with veritably inescapable perfectionism (yours truly) this creates a monstrous problem: I work all the time. 14 hours days are not unusual, in which no detail is left un-examined and un-tackled. Great news for the paycheck, but in the wake of the CHA-CHING! I hear after every pay period I'm left with this awful feeling of knowing I need to do more. So after a year of being a manager, I was getting antsy. I wanted the next position. Less hours (theoretically), better days off, more responsibilities, and most of all - something different. Adult Onset ADD was starting to kick in, and I needed to do something ELSE. So I started to prepare for interviews. Long story short, at the end of April I got word from the guy whose workgroup I was trying to get hired for that there were positions opening up soon and that interviews would probably be starting late next week. Awesome I have over a week to prepare!
And then the whirlwind started. On my day off I got a call from aforementioned guy, telling me that I had four interviews tomorrow. Um, excuse me? Yeah, as in 12 hours from now. I guess I should have been more grateful for the heads up, but all I could think about was the fact that I had done absolutely nothing to prepare. So I spent pretty much all night preparing for said FOUR interviews. Miraculously, they turned out fine, and I ended up getting the job! But that's not why I've been incommunicado for the past month.
I left the next day to go to Colorado to visit my big sister and her new baby, then came back to work for four days, and then left for Maui for eight days (won a trip through work - like I said, meritocracy is amazing). Got back from Maui on 5/21, and for the past three weeks have frantically been trying to figure out what the hell i'm supposed to be doing in this new position. So there are several things in which I feel that you should feel obliged to join in my merriment, and not upset that I've neglected my blog:
1. My big sister had a baby!! (and I got a vacation to go to CO to visit)
2. I got a promotion and am no longer a slave to insanely weird office hours
3. I got another vacation to Maui for free through work
While glorious, all of that stress, unbelievable ambiguity, and ever-changing work environment probably bumped my "acutal age" up 20 years - but don't worry, I'm alive... and have a really kick-ass tan.
So let me explain - I'll give you the macro view first. So I've been busting my ass for the past two years for a company where being a complete over-achiever actually pays off - meritocracy is a wonderful system. However, for those who are afflicted with veritably inescapable perfectionism (yours truly) this creates a monstrous problem: I work all the time. 14 hours days are not unusual, in which no detail is left un-examined and un-tackled. Great news for the paycheck, but in the wake of the CHA-CHING! I hear after every pay period I'm left with this awful feeling of knowing I need to do more. So after a year of being a manager, I was getting antsy. I wanted the next position. Less hours (theoretically), better days off, more responsibilities, and most of all - something different. Adult Onset ADD was starting to kick in, and I needed to do something ELSE. So I started to prepare for interviews. Long story short, at the end of April I got word from the guy whose workgroup I was trying to get hired for that there were positions opening up soon and that interviews would probably be starting late next week. Awesome I have over a week to prepare!
And then the whirlwind started. On my day off I got a call from aforementioned guy, telling me that I had four interviews tomorrow. Um, excuse me? Yeah, as in 12 hours from now. I guess I should have been more grateful for the heads up, but all I could think about was the fact that I had done absolutely nothing to prepare. So I spent pretty much all night preparing for said FOUR interviews. Miraculously, they turned out fine, and I ended up getting the job! But that's not why I've been incommunicado for the past month.
I left the next day to go to Colorado to visit my big sister and her new baby, then came back to work for four days, and then left for Maui for eight days (won a trip through work - like I said, meritocracy is amazing). Got back from Maui on 5/21, and for the past three weeks have frantically been trying to figure out what the hell i'm supposed to be doing in this new position. So there are several things in which I feel that you should feel obliged to join in my merriment, and not upset that I've neglected my blog:
1. My big sister had a baby!! (and I got a vacation to go to CO to visit)
2. I got a promotion and am no longer a slave to insanely weird office hours
3. I got another vacation to Maui for free through work
While glorious, all of that stress, unbelievable ambiguity, and ever-changing work environment probably bumped my "acutal age" up 20 years - but don't worry, I'm alive... and have a really kick-ass tan.
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