Here's my thought on the athlete versus player. A player plays the game, an Athlete lives it. Decisions in his life are made based on the next tournament, the next day of training, the next chance to prove yourself as a worthy competitor. Anyone can be a player, it takes dedication to be an athlete.

And World's, definitly a notch or two above anything you've ever played. The speed of everyone, the crispness of the passes on a consistent basis, the years of training to play two games a day, representing your country against the best the rest have to offer -- nothing compares.

To get there, do everything you can and then do a little more. When you're all done you're going to think you could have done more, started sooner, trained smarter, or done something else to help. So get out there and go. The nice thing is that no matter how many times you've done it, you still come back with that thought and a little more knowledge about the game.

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Just in case you weren't sure, it's official -- CMAS sucks.
Oh yeah, and now they're broke.