rantings & ramblings
Have I told you I’m coaching JV boys basketball this year?
It’s fun, they’re learning the game, and they’re improving; now, if we could just win a game. Continue reading “If Gilligan’s Island were a Basketball Game”
A natural introvert, I find solitude both refreshing and inspirational. It’s one of the reasons I come to work early: to enjoy some time in my classroom before my students arrive. I took this photograph when I arrived this morning:
The cold winds of winter blow across the empty field
where we once practiced: where we refused to yield
to oncoming storms, driven inside only when
the dying light overcame our fortitude.
The grass has grown longer & the lines worn away;
the court now sits empty awaiting the day
when the sun will shine & the team will return,
but for now, the ball sits alone:
in solitude.
At times, the World Cup appeared a battle of one-man teams:
Messi
Neymar
Pirlo
Robben
Rodriguez
Ronaldo
Suarez
And one by one they fell – to injury, to opponents, to hunger – until only one was left: Messi.
But Messi faced die Mannschaft:
Khedira
Klose
Kroos
Muller
Neuer
Schweinsteiger
Argentina had brought Messi, but Germany brought a Team.
Germany also brought Mario Gotze.
Gotze – substituted for Klose – scored the winning (and only) official goal of the match (113′).
Die Mannschaft hat Weltmeister bekommen.
Dear US Men’s National Team “Soccer Fans” on my Facebook feed,
Everything was fine until you showed up. Really, it was. I could cheer on my team in relative peace and quiet, free from threats and trolling. Absolutely nobody cared.
But now you are here, and all of that is gone. Now, you think you own me.
Let’s get one thing straight: I owe you neither an explanation nor an apology. In fact, I don’t owe you anything. But you seem to think I do.
Fact: I’ve been cheering for my team since 1994.
Fact: You’ve been cheering for your team since June 16.
Now, if this were any other sport, you’d have some very pointed remarks if I suddenly switched teams just because one of them was doing better than expected. You’d say that I was a bandwagoner or a fair-weather fan. Profanity might be involved at some point.
There’s only one American team I cheer for in any capacity: the UConn basketball team. I’ve cheered for them since I was old enough to know that college basketball was a thing. I can only imagine what you’d say to me if I started cheering for Duke or UNC or Kansas or Kentucky just because UConn was having a bad year.
In the same way, there’s only one team I cheer for in the World Cup: Deutschland. That’s Germany for those of you new to the game. Oh wait, that’d be all of you. And that was never a problem. At least, it wasn’t ‘til you came along.
You see, for years you didn’t care about soccer. I would argue that you still don’t care, but that’s not the point. You didn’t care because America sucked. And you didn’t care about America’s suckiness because soccer wasn’t an “American Sport.” You didn’t care about soccer because you couldn’t gloat. America wins the so-called “World Series” and “Super Bowl” simply because other countries don’t show up. Oh, all right, I know Canada may be involved in the World Series. I honestly don’t care for either baseball or football. At least now you might know the difference between football and futbol.
But now you care. So when you post a status update on Facebook or a tweet on Twitter, you get dozens – maybe even hundreds – of likes and retweets and support.
When I post the same in support of my team, I get things like
Turn in your America card.
You’re being unpatriotic. You know that, right?
You’re dumb.
You’re a moron.
You’re out of control.
You should be deported.
You’re a Nazi.
If you support another country the government should give you a one way ticket to live in that country since you love it so much.
USA! USA! USA!
And these are just the ones I can repeat.
I could counter your arguments with logical, thought out responses. However, that would imply they are worthy of debate. Suffice it to say your comments prove you know nothing of the sport or of history.
I don’t go trolling you every time you post something about your team; why must you do it to me? Let the score speak for itself. After all, that kind of is the point.
You know, I don’t really care that you support the USA. That’s fine. My friends support England and France and Brazil and Chile. One or two of them might even support the USA.
What I do care about is the fact that you’re bringing the traditional American arrogance and superiority complex to a sport that you haven’t cared about in decades, if at all. I can only imagine the terror you will unleash upon the world should you actually win.
Now knock it off before you ruin it for everyone.
Sincerely,
Me
I realize that not all American supporters act like this. Some have supported the team since day one. That’s great; it’s what the sport needs.
This letter is written from my personal experience and is directed at those on my Facebook feed (and those that act like them) and not necessarily to all American supporters in general.
This post is being published as part of Writing 101. Challenge 19: Write at least four-hundred words, and once you start typing, don’t stop. No self-editing and no second guessing: just go. Bonus points if you tackle an idea you’ve been playing with but think is too silly to post about.
I find the poem “Jabberwocky” to be quite conducive to keeping a steady running pace. I present it here for your enjoyment:
from Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There
by Lewis Carroll
Let’s get one thing straight: circumnavigation isn’t easy.
Ferdinand Magellan’s expedition took 3 years to sail around the world; the man himself killed due to his own arrogance and ineptitude in the Philippines. Likewise, Francis Drake spent 3 years and 3 months trying to prove “anything a Portuguese sailing for Spain can do, an Englishman can do better,” failing only because of his secret mission to find the Atlantis of the Sands in the Rub’ al Khali for Queen Elizabeth the First. Wait. Strike that. Naughty Dog’s Uncharted series is about as accurate as Wikipedia, albeit far more interesting. What is certain is that these men faced challenges like no other: uncertain winds, brutal climates, and native peoples. Add to these the “normal” threats of mutiny, debilitating disease, and the very real possibility of starvation, and going once around the world was no picnic by half.
Modern circumnavigators have it no easier.
In 2002, Steve Fossett became the first person to fly around the world alone, nonstop, in any kind of aircraft; his vehicle of choice was the 10-story high balloon Spirit of Freedom. From takeoff to landing, this journey took him 14 days 19 hours 50 minutes over a course of 20,626.48 miles (33,195.10 km). Of his entire aircraft, only the capsule survived the landing; it was later given the the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. In addition to the circumnavigation record, the voyage also set a number of ballooning records: Fastest (200 miles per hour), Fastest Around the World (13.5 days), Longest Distance Flown Solo in a Balloon (20,482.26 miles), and 24-Hour Balloon Distance (3,186.80 miles).
And then there’s Jason Lewis, who traversed the world under human power. Lewis and his companion Stevie Smith mountain-biked through France, Spain and Portugal; peddled a paddle-boat across the Atlantic to Miami; roller-bladed across much of North America; and then peddled the paddle-boat from San Fransisco to Hilo, Hawaii, where Smith ended his journey. Lewis then hiked across Hawaii; paddle-boated from Hawaii to Tarawa atoll and then – along with the boat’s builder – on to the Solomon Islands. There he was joined by April Abril, who helped him cross the Coral Sea to Australia. Lewis then cycled across Australia and had to spend some time raising funds to continue his journey. Once again, Lewis took to his paddle-boat, paddling from Darwin, Australia to East Timor; there he traded his paddle-boat for a kayak, with which he traversed the Indonesian archipelago. Landing in Singapore, he biked from Singapore to the Himalayas, where he hiked and biked to the Indian port of Mumbai. There, he was reunited with his paddle-boat and crossed the Arabian Sea to Djibouti. He faced legal problems in Africa and was forced to complete his journeys there mainly by night. Lewis finally reached Syria, where he completed the remainder of his circumnavigation by bicycle. Most notable in an expedition beset by hazards of all types, Lewis survived two bouts of malaria, septicemia, mild schizophrenia, and a crocodile attack. The entire expedition took roughly 13 years.
Now, I haven’t come close to the accomplishments of any of these men in any respect but one: I’ve gone the distance. Using the accepted distance of 24,091.5 miles as the distance around the world at the equator, I completed my 14 year journey at 4:15 PM EST on October 10, 2013.
I began running back in the seventh grade because I didn’t make the basketball team. Although I eventually succeeded, by that time running had become my passion. There’s something soothing about the rhythm and pace of placing one foot after another for miles on end. I memorized poetry, songs, and learned to be alone with my own thoughts. In that regard, my failure to make the basketball team is also responsible for this blog.
So, what did this circumnavigation cost me? By my count, I used at least 14 pairs of shoes, 60 pairs of socks, 5 rolls of duct tape, 20 large boxes of band-aids, hundreds of Cliff energy gels, and copious amounts of water. But at least I didn’t suffer from scurvy.
Running In My Head 