Just having a good time

Watch this.

The Salmon

If you didn't find that as funny as I do, you should probably stop reading right now. It's not going to get any better for you.

For those of you still with me, this is a soccer team from Iceland called FC Stjarnan. (Don't ask me how to pronounce it.) Since seeing a Sportscenter feature on these guys the other day, they've become my third favorite professional sports team. If you're keeping score that's: 1. Green Bay Packers, 2. Cincinnati Reds, 3. FC Stjarnan. (Sorry Red Wings and Pacers, you've both disappointed me in the last month.)

From what I can gather, these guys not only practice offense and defense, they practice their celebrations.

Let's admire some more of their work.

The Bicycle

It's had me wondering, though, what makes these guys so much more creative than American athletes? One theory is the overwhelming boredom of Iceland. Now, while I'll admit I know very little about Iceland, I do know it's far enough north that it's dark a lot. I also know a huge volcanic cloud has made it even darker there than it used to be.

And it's an island, so you're pretty limited in where you can go. There's ocean on all sides.

Instead, they have a lot of time to sit around in the dark, not surfing in the frigid waters of the north Atlantic. Instead, you come up with things like this:

Birth

But there seems to be a dislike in American althetics of "showboats." Perhaps it's a difference in the mindset of soccer: players spending 90 minutes on edge without the expectation of more than one or two celebrations.

While I'm just as tired as anyone of seeing Shawn Merriman do the "Lights Out" for a 1-yard tackle for a loss, I could go for a round of the Dirty Bird or whatever Ochocinco has up his sleeve these days.

After all, it's sports. Isn't it supposed to be fun?

Grenade

I guess I shouldn't worry about it too much in football this year anyway. Roger Goodell's "No Fun League" really will live up to that name if they cancel the season.