By request, here they are, the long-awaited Far East High School Soccer Tournament round-robin pools:

Boys Class AA
May 19-23, Lower and Upper Field, Kadena High School, Kadena Air Base, Okinawa
Pool A
Kadena varsity, Kubasaki JV, Yokota, Guam High, Nile C. Kinnick, Seoul American
Pool B
Kubasaki varsity, Kadena JV, Christian Academy In Japan, Robert D. Edgren, Zama American, Hong Kong International

Girls Class AA
May 19-23, Yokota Middle School and Bonk Field, Yokota High School, Yokota Air Base, Japan
Pool A
Kubasaki, Seoul American, Yokota, Robert D. Edgren, Hong Kong International
Pool B
American School In Japan, Kadena, Zama American, Guam High, Seisen International, Nile C. Kinnick

The last big track and field event of the Pacific season, the Kanto Plain Association of Secondary Schools Invitational, is drawing nigh.

Who will win the following matchups Saturday at Niiza Park in Tokyo's western suburbs, based on Pacific's best times/distances and expected attendance at Saturday's meet:

Boys shot put, discus -- Miles Peterson, Christian Academy In Japan; Cliff Collins, Nile C. Kinnick; Mark Lieberg, Seoul Track Club; Lawrence McClain, Kubasaki; Simon Ruiz, St. Mary's International.

Boys high jump -- Brandon Brown, Nile C. Kinnick; Shorai Ash, Christian Academy In Japan; Brandon Lightburn, Yokota; Miles Atkinson, St. Mary's International.

Not much movement in the boys Top Ten, plenty of leapfrogging on the girls' side as we approach Sunday's kickoff in the Far East Class A Soccer Tournaments at Iwakuni; Class AA tournaments begin next Monday.

Here we go: 

For the Mother's Day edition of Spouse Calls, hear from a mother of two who has put her own career on hold to support her husband's demanding job. She waves good-bye to him often as he flies off to foreign countries -- sometimes flying overseas herself -- and she lives in government housing: Mrs. Laura Bush.

Click here to read the Spouse Calls e-interview with the First Lady.

This week Military Spouse Appreciation Day was observed at The White House by President George Bush, while his wife was preparing for the wedding of their daughter, Jenna, in Texas.

There's a saying about Ginger Rogers that she did everything Fred Astaire did, except backwards and in high heels.

I used that phrase in this week's Spouse Calls to describe the busy life of First Lady Laura Bush. When I went online to find out where the quote came from (It has been mistakenly attributed to Ginger herself, but may have originated with comic characters Frank and Ernest) I discovered a blog entry called "Backwards and in high heels" by Julie Negron, who draws "Jenny," the comic strip about military spouses.

Letter-writer George S. Robinson of Heidelberg threatens to take the riding crop to the "lazy" Stars and Stripes sports staff for not giving him enough coverage of the Kentucky Derby, run last week. He says there's too much "boring" baseball coverage, and even the National Hockey League gets more space than the Derby -- "the greatest two minutes in sports." The paper didn't even run a list of entries, he complains.

Did you ever struggle with word in a foreign language, finally get around to looking it up, and realize that the English equivalent leaves you equally baffled? It’s been like that for me with the German words Bärlauch (bear’s garlic?) Sanddorn (sea-buckthorn?), the Russian brusnik (lingonberry?), kvas (bread drink?), and a host of others.

The Berlin Airlift was launched on June 26, 1948, following a blockade imposed by the Soviet Union on the Western zones of the divided city of Berlin. To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the date, numerous events are in the works by both American and German organizers.

Something happened among the hallowed graves at Arlington National Cemetery on April 22 that could serve as a Rorschach test for people’s feelings about the Iraq war, government bureaucracy, the right to privacy, and the media.

What happened was the burial of a war hero, Lt. Col. William G. (Billy) Hall, a Marine killed by an improvised explosive device in Iraq on March 29.  It seems that Hall’s family was asked, as all families are in these circumstances, whether the media could be present. They said yes.

Reporters and cameramen were indeed present, but were only allowed to observe the pre-burial procession. They were held far away from the graveside service and the family, so far away that they could not hear the chaplain’s words or take close-up photographs.

In an opinion piece for the Washington Post, writer Andrew Carroll suggests one way Americans can use their tax stimulus checks: Donate them to an organization that helps the military, such as Fisher Houses or the USO.

Click here to read his editorial: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/01/AR2008050102902.html