Thursday, September 27, 2012

What if the shots were only fired on the field?



How much of the anti-American sentiment in Egypt would subside if the country’s soccer team qualified for the 2014 World Cup?

Granted, the question is well beyond the realm of group think, and certainly not on the mind of diplomats trying to resolve a delicate situation in the Arab world. But, it was nevertheless interesting.

Considering, Egypt is coached by a New Jersey-born man whose last job was leading the U.S. Men’s soccer team. And considering Egypt has qualified for the World Cup only two times, the last of which was 1990, it seemed a totally legitimate question.

The Pharaohs have a long way to go when it comes to securing their ticket to Brazil. Egypt is in the second of potentially three rounds of qualifying for the 2014 World Cup.  At the moment, they are in good shape to advance to the third round of qualifying.

Egypt was 38th in the most recent FIFA World rankings, five places behind the United States. Sandwiched between the two countries — Libya. Yes, war-torn, Libya.

It wouldn’t be the first time politics have been the elephant in the room when it comes to African soccer.
Didier Drogba is hailed as a hero in Cote d’Ivoire, not because he scored the winning penalty kick to win his club the European Cup last spring, or the fact he’s been a world class soccer player for the past decade.

Drogba is revered in his homeland because he encouraged warring factions in his country to suspend their civil war and support the national soccer team back in 2005.

The north was dominated by Muslims and the south was predominantly Christian. The policies and divisiveness of former president Laurent Gbagbo led to the southerners resenting the mostly immigrant class that lived in the north producing cocoa. The warring started in 2002 and didn’t subside until the star striker pleaded with his compatriots to stop the fighting moments after The Elephants qualified for the 2006 World Cup.

Clearly, the Anti-Americanism displayed in northern Africa will not be eliminated solely by soccer — or speeches at the United Nations.

The resentment is too entrenched, the politics of the current situation are more complex and too many lives have been lost for a few games to wipe away recent history. However, it does make one wonder how much diplomacy could be accomplished through sports.

Besides, if North Korea and South Korea can face off in a meaningful soccer match, anything is possible.

Laughs and liveliness,

-Wb

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Why did it take four plane crashes to unite America?



We were in the locker room talking about how the New York Giants had a black punter. My teammates joked Rodney Williams was proof that I just might make the NFL one day.

I told them I went to bed early Monday night, so I didn’t see much of the Giants 2001 season opener.

Since we were all changing after our first period weightlifting class when this conversation happened it had to be a little after 9 on that Tuesday morning. That is when someone mentioned a plane crashed into the World Trade Center.

Clear as day, I remember dismissing the news, and telling others to do so, because someone tried to down the World Trade Center eight years earlier. I figured it was something similar to that.

As I cleaned up and walked to my second period class it seems there were whispers in the halls about what was going on in New York. But, they were just whispers. It wasn’t until my Algebra teacher turned on the television that we realized September 11, 2001 was not anything like 1993.

Almost everyone remembers where they were and what they were doing when it was apparent America was under attack. Time does not erase the memories seared in our minds.

But, as we solemnly remember those who lost their lives through no fault of their own, and especially those who lost their lives trying to save others, let’s not forget the supposed togetherness America displayed in the days and weeks after the attacks.

To me, the enduring lesson of that Tuesday morning in September had nothing to do with “terror”, “patriotism”, “liberty” or other politically loaded terms.  It was our unity.

On a day that shook America to its core I watched a Canadian broadcaster disseminate the news.

The specifics evade me, but that night, while watching Peter Jennings, ABC News cut to a stirring tribute on Capitol Hill. Immediately after the then Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Senate Majority Leader said their obligatory remarks politicians from both sides of the aisle collectively and instinctively sang “God Bless America” as a sort of defiance to those responsible for attacking America.

In the 11 years since 9/11 I think about how that would never happen today.

This country has become so polarized along political lines. We are apparently incapable of respectfully disagreeing with someone. Our congressional and legislative leaders have been some of the architects of this divisiveness.

If most of us are honest, our elected officials are a reflection of the people they represent. Many of us pull the same tactics in our personal lives, albeit on a far smaller scale.

This summer the Pew Research Center published its 2012 American Values Survey where it found the thing that divides America is not class, or race, or religion, but our politics.

“…The defining change in American politics over the past quarter-century is not in overall public beliefs, but how these beliefs are increasingly being sorted along partisan lines,” is what the Pew study stated. “Today, the partisan bases are more homogeneous and less cross-pressured, and hold more consistently liberal or conservative views across a wider spectrum of values.
This polarization along partisan lines stands in contrast to other social divides such as race, ethnicity, gender, class and religion, all of which remain significant factors, but which have neither grown nor receded in importance.”
Pew’s American Values study has been conducted annually since 1987. This study predates America’s first invasion of Kuwait, the series of terror attacks, domestically and abroad, in the 90s, before 9/11 and before the hyper-polarization of the George W. Bush and Barack Obama presidencies.
Many of us say we will “Never Forget” those who lost their lives on 9/11. And we shouldn’t.
However, the best way to honor the dead may not be to wrap ourselves in the flag and all the self-righteous beliefs that are uniquely American. We would be better served wrapping ourselves in understanding of others, so no one has so much hate in their heart as the 19 terrorists did that Tuesday morning 11 years ago.
Laughs and liveliness,

-Wb