My Fourth of July: beer, barbecue and soccer

For the Independence Day holiday, I drank a lot of beer, grilled steaks and watched soccer.

First, it was the World Cup semifinal featuring Italy and Germany. Italy won 2-0 in extra time. Later, my brother and I walked over to Robertson Stadium to watch the Houston Dynamo fight the Columbus Crew to a 1 - 1 draw.

During the day, I also watched the Space Shuttle liftoff as well as the annual hot dog eating contest from Coney Island (they really televise these things!).

Later that evening, my brother-in-law and I ended the holiday by going to Buffalo Wild Wings and filling up on wings, potato wedges and more beer.

Some would probably say that I am a subversive un-American pinko commie bastard since I spent the 230th anniversary of this country's creation by watching not one but two soccer games. But I had a good time, even if I do continue to find soccer an exceedingly frustrating sport.