Here we go again… from the “Biggest Fire Fan in Kabul, Afghanistan”…
Well, stranger things have happened and we have a new MLS champion, congrats to the Colorado Rapids. I doubt anyone was predicting this at the beginning of the playoffs!
Our locker room continues to change through the post season -- losing four more players since season’s end.
As a Navy guy, I say “fair winds and following seas” to Collins John and defender Krzysztof Krol, both players were released this past week. Also, we bid farewell to two midfielders, John Thorrington and Peter Lowry (who just happens to be my daughter’s favorite player…partly due to pure aesthetics I am sure!) making it obvious where some of the scouting must be done now! As much as I will miss these guys, I am sure that they’ll all fair well in the future – good luck boys!
Hopefully many of the Fire faithful had a chance to get to Toyota Park this past weekend and watch the U.S. Women’s National Team secure their spot in the World Cup! Hopefully the loss to Mexico will prove to be a fluke and we will see our ladies prevail next summer in Germany!
Thanksgiving in Kabul was a bit different, however we did get a traditional meal that was served up pretty good! We even had Lester Holt from the Today Show filming from my base, a lot of folks made it onto TV. Many of us started our morning with a “Turkey Trot” on base, not unlike many folks back home. The downside for my base -- it takes 10 laps for a 10K -- makes things a bit rough!
We are still making forward progress with our Afghan partners in the National Police force. Many of the big policies that we have been working on are coming to fruition. It is always great to have a discussion with the senior Afghan leadership and have them work out all of the problems. This is happening more frequently now.
One of the biggest hurdles that we must still get over is the lack of a communications infrastructure. Very few of the police headquarters in the small villages across the country have a computer, much less internet connectivity. You just cannot imagine how hard it is to get personnel reports from a remote village when it must come via messenger or hopefully, a cell phone.
I hope that everyone is getting ready for Christmas We have a lot of people on base here putting up small trees and lights.
I’m wishing for a good draft and some quality off-season signings for the Fire!
From Kabul, GO FIRE!!!
