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It may seem slightly incongruous to imagine nerd king Rivers Cuomo of Weezer sliding into cleats and bicycle kicking his way onto a soccer field next to professional athletes, Carlos Mencia, and that "Extreme Makeover" guy with the frosted tips. But hey, charity makes people do funny things from time to time.

Cuomo took to the field at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California Saturday afternoon (January 26) for the Mia Hamm and Nomar Garciaparra Celebrity Soccer Challenge. Yep, the guy from Weezer. The one in the sweater, with the butterfly!

Still, score one for Team Geek, quite literally: According to ESPN.com, Cuomo netted his team's first goal. Rivers told ESPN, "It was a dream come true. Passing with [the L.A. Galaxy's] Landon Donovan and going against [former soccer pro] Mia Hamm -- it's just unreal. I was terrified, but I was so excited that the excitement overcame the terror."

Who's that funky dude staring back at you now, Rivers? It's all you, buddy! GOOOOOALLLLLL!!!

Cuomo's team was coached by the L.A. Dodgers' Garciaparra and also included skateboarding video game mogul/occasional skater Tony Hawk, actor Anthony LaPaglia, comedian Carlos Mencia, former pitcher Jim Abbott, and many others.

Alas, the ragtag bunch couldn't deliver the win, staying competitive throughout but losing late to a squad consisting of Hamm, Ty Pennington, Andy Samberg and Seth Meyers of "Saturday Night Live", baseball player Mike Lieberthal, actress Elisabeth Shue, actor Milo Ventimiglia, and others.

Win or lose, it was for a good cause, as proceeds from the event went to Children's Hospital Los Angeles via the Mia Hamm Foundation.

In other Weezer news, Rivers' Alone was just released, and the band will have a new album out eventually, though I wouldn't go trusting just any old website to tell you about it. However, this here website just posted an interview with Rivers by Pitchfork contributor Jason Crock, and believe me, it's worth a read.