Torn between two loves

[unhappycamper]

First Lt. Alexander Mullin juggles a soccer ball in the streets of Mosul. Mullin has an invitation to join the U.S. National Team Handball squad and potentially play in the 2012 Olympics.


Torn between two loves
By Heath Druzin, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Wednesday, March 11, 2009

MOSUL, Iraq — When Iraqi children kick the ball to U.S. troops in this soccer-mad country, the Americans usually muff a pass or wildly blast a shot back.

But in the gritty streets of Mosul, 1st Lt. Alexander Mullin puts on a dribbling clinic, expertly juggling the ball from foot to foot in full battle gear as children look on, mouths agape.

Mullin’s first love was soccer, but the 25-year-old — who has made an amateur career of sports out of the U.S. mainstream — now has a shot to play in the Olympics on the U.S. team handball squad.

For now, though, Mullin, of the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, leads a platoon of soldiers through some of Iraq’s most dangerous neighborhoods in the insurgent stronghold of Mosul.

"It’s pretty much my dream, doing this," he says while riding down a sewage-filled street in an armored truck.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=61252