World Cup

The rest of the world calls it football. 

Today's Guest Post is written by a man who follows sports and politics. World Cup Football, or soccer as we call it, is a mix of both.

I have tried to get interested in watching soccer. I see fans around the world delirious with joy or grief at the games. I understand getting drunk in the stands and becoming belligerent and getting into fights. I don't understand raptly following people kicking a ball back and forth at midfield. That may because, like Jack Mullen, I never played it as a boy and never encountered it in schools we each attended. I am two years younger than Jack. I watched him play basketball and football in high school. He was a star athlete. 

Now he and his wife live in Washington, D.C. 

Guest Post by Jack Mullen                  

Off-sides in American football, I get. Off-sides in soccer, l do not get. Nonetheless, this past week I found myself drawn to a sport, soccer, of which I know little.

Today’s world is full of tribalism, excess nationalism, corruption in politics, business, and even sports. Yes, sports! FIFA, the world international soccer federation is acknowledged by many to be the most corrupt of all sport organizations, and that’s saying something. If I were able to draw a cartoon, I’d pencil one with many a fat-cat country soccer representative slithering out of a Qatar hospitality room in a Swiss Hotel carrying envelopes stuffed with cash.

So why did I, for the first time in my life, catch myself watching three U.S. soccer games from beginning to end. I surprised myself by letting out groans and cheers throughout the games.

My soccer knowledge dates back to my junior high Physical Education classes when we ran around the Hedrick Junior high football field chasing a ball and attempting to kick it in the right direction. The Medford school district placed a strong emphasis on physical-education. Even so, with P.E. classes taught by the likes of Fred Spiegelberg, Barney Riggs and Clifford McLean, soccer--the “beautiful game"--was merely an afterthought. Dr. Lee Ragsdale, an esteemed Medford school district educator, never once mentioned soccer in his doctoral dissertation on the Medford school system, with its strong physical education emphasis.

I think I know why now, after many years of neglect, I am engrossed in the World Cup. There is something about this current U.S. team that has rekindled my national pride. Even though I don’t know the names of the U.S. players, I love their indomitable spirit. They represent all that is good about a multi-cultural America. Not too much flash, no ugly Americanism. Now the world can see us, not as an economic or military powerhouse but as a country putting its best foot forward and doing so with long odds against us winning. How refreshing!

Of course, we aren’t the only country proud to be in the World Cup. My wife and I don’t watch all the games, but we try to tune in at the beginning of each game to savor the sights and sounds of each teams’ national anthems. Some anthems are inspiring like the ones from Canada and England. Others are a little tedious. All require some sort of recognition from the participating athletes. Here’s the rub: As the world watches and observes, athletes may sing loud and proud like all the British and Canadians do in Doha. But then, some athletes mumble the words, maybe because they don’t know the words, or, like the Iranians, because the message that they sending to the world is that all is not well in their country. After all, when the Iranians refused to sing the national anthem before their first match, word came to them that their inaction on the anthem would have repercussions on their family and friends back home.

Iranian team

 Societal repercussions in the United States occur when Colin Kaepernick kneels during the national anthem. John Carlos and Tommie Smith bowed their heads, clinched their fists, and raised one arm during the playing of the national anthem during their medal ceremony in the 1968 Olympics. The next day, Olympic President Avery Brundage put them on a plane and jetted them away from Mexico City.

Next to Stephan Curry, no athlete puts more money and time into underserved communities than does Colin Kaepernick. Tommie Smith and John Carlos are largely forgotten, but they support the Olympic movement. Smith has been a trainer of U.S. sprinters for years. Their actions are a much better example of contributing to the overall good than is the oversimplification of "let’s rally around the flag” credo that cannot tolerate civil disobedience.

From Jackie Robinson to Muhammed Ali, athletes can be on the forefront on social change. One can hope the Iranian soccer players are as well.

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