I'm in Love With...Wayne Rooney?

Its not something I do often, but today I watched the soccer game between Manchester United and Arsenal. Outside, Tropical Storm Irene was winding down, and I was in a relaxed free-floating state that somehow allowed this game to draw me in. What really got my attention first though, was not the game, but a word.

Manchester United was already two goals up when the announcer remarked that "the organization of the Arsenal back line has been shambolic". Shambolic? I got the meaning - in shambles, but I'd never heard the word before.
It was juicy, it was derisive, it was rambunctious - and he practically spat it out. I had a British co-worker who often used the word ' bollocks' (nonsense, rubbish) - that connotation came careening at me too, as did shame, bullshit, along with, yes, shambles.

The announcer would use the word at least two more times during the course of the game as Man U broadened its already commanding lead to 8-2. Arsenal truly was in shambles and Manchester United was a beautiful picture of precision, unison and heart. The young Danny Wellbeck, who I've seen perform extremely well in the last few games, delivered two goals before he pulled up with a hamstring injury. Nani -who came out a little selfishly at the start, recovered to produce a nice chip into the goal at close range right over the keeper's head. Ashley Young deposited two flawless goals high into the corners, and Jay Sung Park wowed himself and South Koreans everywhere by sinking one in as well. And then, there was Wayne Rooney.

I think hardcore soccer fans would have a much better analysis of this than I ever could, but I swear something has happened to Wayne Rooney. Obviously, he has matured from a talented hot-headed kid into the current captain of the Man U team. But looking at his face and demeanor, I think something much more fundamental has changed in this man. In the yoga tradition that I follow, it is believed that when one's energy changes, so does one's physicality, especially one's face and 'eye-light'. As I sat watching him play, I was more and more drawn in by him. When he scored ( two free kicks and one penalty) he was like a child. No bravado, no chest thumping as before, just unbridled shining joy. Not shambolic, more like Shambhala. I do believe I fell in love.