Palpitations of my heart have me unable to properly think, type, or reason. The layer of cold sweat emanating from my pores, the obvious result of the moisture from my now-arid mouth finding my skin as the most expeditious escape route, has me chilled to the bone on a ninety degree day.
I'm nervous dammit. And it's Friday. Nerves are ruining my Friday.
It's not even about Jozy's ankle (by the way, there is now a @jozysankle Twitter account), though that remains a concern for me despite all of the calming things being said by U.S. players; My gut tells me Altidore will be fine by the 12th (though my gut has steered me wrong on many an occasion), and he shouldn't be hampered too badly. The training time he'll miss isn't good, but it's not the end of the world either.
No, my nerves are really a reaction to the sudden rash of injuries hitting teams only days before the tournament starts. Rio Ferdinand has a knee injury (we all saw it coming, but still). Didier Drogba fractured his elbow in a friendly against Japan. And that's not likely to be the end of the injury story, no matter how close we are to things kicking off.
So I'm advocating that the friendly against the Aussie's tomorrow be cancelled. Call up Verbeek, apologize profusely, tell him we'll make it up somehow.
The game is a disaster waiting to happen. There's no need for it, it's only another chance for players to get injured. I'm not even sure that it makes a difference that Australia will be fearful of their own pre-tourney injuries and that the game's level of competition might fall somewhere between "rec league" and "drunk guys kicking a ball around". There's a danger of injury every time players step on a field, be it through a dangerous tackle, the unfortunately clashing of bodies, or just a wrong step or poor landing (ahem, Gooch).
Okay, so maybe I'm a little mad with World Cup anxiety at the moment. Hopefully it will pass. Hopefully I'll be able to enjoy those 90 minutes that the Americans and Aussie's spend on the field together tomorrow without feeling ill throughout or seizing up in injury-inspired dread. I'm even now wondering if I'm doing more harm than good with all the negative feelings I'm sending out into the world, concerned I might be jinxing someone wearing a USA shirt. Maybe I can find a shaman or a witch doctor to reverse the bad juju...
If the room doesn't stop spinning, this is going to be a very long day. I think I need to lie down.
Cancel the friendly. Cancel the friendly. CANCEL THE FRIENDLY!
You would be wise to take nothing you just read at face value. Thank you.
