Sportsmeat

When I was a sophomore in high school, the mighty Wyomissing Spartan soccer team was pretty decent. They made it into the state playoffs, and my friends and I traveled to some nondescript burg to watch them play on a frigid late fall Pennsylvania afternoon. The team was led by a senior midfielder named Joel Torcolini. He was extremely intense during games, with a temper that could really set him off. During the game, Rory Caherly, a freshman on the JV team, was working the whole sideline ball-tracker-downer job.

As the second half drew near a close, the Spartans found themselves down a goal and scrambling. Everyone was tense and pressing, and Torcolini had already gotten into a few scuffles with the opposing team. As the clock continued to wind down, the opposing team knocked a ball out of bounds on the sideline right in front of where I was sitting. Torcolini sprinted to the spot to take the throw-in. As he approached the spot, someone near the sideline passed the original ball to Torcolini, while Caherly simultaneously tossed an extra ball that he was carrying. Rather than just toss the second ball aside, you could see the anger flash over Torcolini's face. He caught the second ball, and punted it as hard as he possibly could away from the field. The only problem was that Caherly's face -- approximately 5 feet from Torcolini's foot -- got in the way. The sight of the ball rocketing off Joel's foot and into Rory's face (and consequently back into the field of play) is one that I won't soon forget. Nor will I forget the collective gasp from the crowd. It was truly shocking, and I felt rather bad that I was the only spectator that was overcome by a 5 minute long giggling fit as a result of the play. Once I saw the dual streams of blood gushing from Rory's nose, I stopped giggling. A bit.

Anyhow, that cherished memory ties nicely into this epic clip, brilliantly entitled, "35 Balls to the face in 32 seconds." Enjoy.