Real Salt Lake

This past weekend I went to a Real Soccer game. I got invited last minute by my friend Andrew. We also went with his friends Missy and Daniel. I didn't know much about soccer. I didn't know it was split into two 45 minute parts and they keep the clock running constantly, and I didn't know many of the rules. Luckily Andrew explained most of this to me and I have since gained respect for the game.

We had pretty decent seats, row 20, considering we got the tickets for free. This was the sold out game of the season; although, it was kids night. Apparently all kids got in for free or cheap or something. Seriously, tons of kids everywhere. There was a little girl's soccer team sitting in front of me the whole time. And of course their fanatic soccer coach with them, who still wishes he was in the game. The girls were either chanting Real or singing Hannah Montana songs. It got old quick, but I tried to pay attention to the game. It was actually quite interesting.

We played the Kansas Wizards. (their small section of fans sure did have some spirit. They must've brought a smoke machine, I thought they were on fire until the smoke kept going the whole second half and no seemed to care.) We lost 2 - 0, but made a valiant effort. We almost made three goals, but unfortunately they like kicking it at the posts instead of the goal. No, I'm sure the Wizards were just great competitors. It was a very interesting game to watch. It is amazing to me how fast they can run, and I loved seeing the ball fly across the field. Its quite a long distance. And they can kick and hit it with incredible accuracy. Aren't athletes amazing. I have a new deep respect for soccer.

Sternutation

"What the heck is that?" you may ask. It is a sneeze. And if looked up on Wikipedia the following definition would be given: a semi-autonomous, convulsive expulsion of air from the lungs through the nose and mouth, most commonly caused by foreign particles irritating the nasal mucosa. Well put. Sneezing really isn't that interesting of a thing. Everyone does it; it is quite common.
What I do find interesting are the rumors about sneezing. Such as, if you look at light it will make you sneeze. I'm not sure if this is true or not but my trusty research companion Wiki told me that this may be believed because some people have photic sneeze reflex. This is a genetic trait that causes you to sneeze when you see a sudden bright light. Approximately 37% of individuals have this trait. So looking at a light does not work for everyone. Another myth says that your heart stops. This is not true. The pressure created in your chest during sternutation cause the rhythm of your blood flow and heartbeat to change slightly. This may make it feel like your heart skipped a beat, but it did not cause it stop.

Other interesting facts:
You cannot sneeze at night because during REM your motor neurons are not signaled to send the reflex to your brain.
The world record for sneezing is held by Donna Griffiths from Worstershire in the UK, who sneezed for 978 days in a row.
A sneeze can spread up to 5 feet and exits your body at 100 mph.
What I find particularly interesting is the belief that if you don't close your eyes while sneezing they will pop out. It seems like such a preposterous idea. Could the force expelling the tens of thousands of droplets from our bodies be enough to rip our eyes out of their sockets? And could the action of shutting our eyelids be enough to fight that force? It doesn't seem likely to me. But, a few weeks ago I had a cold and was sneezing quite often and I had the idea to experiment sneezing with my eyes open. So every time I felt the urge to sneeze I placed my index finger on my top eyelid and by thumb on the bottom and stretched my eye open. Not a very comfortable or attractive position, but it was for the good of science, and when is a sneeze comfortable or attractive? Every time I did that nothing happened; I couldn't sneeze anymore. It was quite odd and bothersome. When you gotta sneeze, you gotta sneeze. Its the worst feeling when a sneeze won't come out. My body must've known I was forcing my eyes open and consequently wouldn't let me sneeze as to not let them pop out. This may or may not be true, but thinking about it, sneezing is a difficult reflex, using most of your upper body to do it:diaphram, lungs, esophagus, mouth, and nose. Closing the eyes may make it a little bit easier to accomplish the task. I believe it is just apart of the reflex and don't think my eyes will fall out, at least I hope not.