One year ago

... I gave up membership in my adult soccer league, and stopped playing soccer regularly.

I really miss playing soccer, but I was no longer able to continue playing in that league. Most of the players were 15 years younger than me, I couldn't keep up, and I was worried about sustaining a serious injury.

I'm still trying to stay active and healthy, and I've still got a number of activities I can participate in, such as hiking, bike riding, lifting weights, etc.

But I really miss playing soccer.

In other soccer news, were you wondering why you weren't able to watch the U.S. vs Jamaica game on TV last night?

The game was televised in the U.S. on the new beIN Sport network, available to only a small fraction of television households that receive certain tiers of DirecTV, the DISH Network and, in some cases, Comcast.

Another ESPN article explains the changes in more detail: U.S. TV limited for La Liga, Serie A

the U.S. television rights to Spain's La Liga have switched from GolTV to the new beIN Sport USA network, launched this week by the Al-Jazeera Sport Media Network and available in only about 8 million homes to viewers of DirecTV and DISH Network.

...

Imagina USA, a Miami-based company that is part of the Mediapro Group, is beIN Sports' production partner. The English network launched Aug. 3 in an online preview at www.beinsport.tv and beIN Sport announced Wednesday -- the official launch date -- it will be carried on DirecTV's sports tier in high and standard definition and beIN Sport en Espanol will be distributed on DirecTV Mas in standard definition. A day later, it said DISH Network will televise beIN Sport on its America's Top 250 and DISHLatino packages.

...

Qatar, where Al-Jazeera is based, is making a giant push in soccer. Qatar beat out the U.S. two years ago in bidding to host the 2022 World Cup, and the Qatar Investment Authority took control of Paris Saint-Germain and has spent about $200 million in transfer fees for players to strengthen its roster.

Can't play anymore, can't barely watch anymore.

Bummer.