PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – I'm not a real soccer fan. And, as a kid, I was too scrawny and uncoordinated to even play soccer. The older I get, though, the more I realize how important the sport is to people around the world and to people in my own family.
My grandfather played as a kid in Italy. When he came to the United States, he would eventually play on an Italian-American soccer team in Washington, D.C.
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According to family legend, one sweltering, swampy, D.C. afternoon is when he spotted two beautiful women in the stands. One would eventually become his wife, and my grandmother.
So, for people who say soccer Is their life: I get it. Maybe I can credit soccer, or il calico, for mine.