Why is it we need 72 ounces of coffee a day, massive cars that either can tow your house or go 0-60mph in 0.76349 seconds, basketball to score 100 points a night, 4 million baseball game seasons, legal fighting in hockey… ? Do you ever notice that we are more concerned with finding that one player in basketball who displays massive selfishness just so he can score 87 points a game - or PGA courses being set up on a weekly basis so that they can shoot -28 under par? [tangent]Or why Heavy-Weight boxing isn't as popular as it once was… could it be the fact that each fight, all they do is hug?[/tangent] Our sports climate has become rainy and cloudy with a chance of hurricanes and flooding in the near future.
I have resigned myself to banning the NBA because there is no defense. I mean, why play defense if that makes you tired and limit your chances to get on ESPN and score a million points… and if you lose, blame your team for not doing their part? Hey, no accountability and multiple sponsor possibilities seem to be the American Sports dream. Basketball has been a sport that the US has a distinct advantage in, at least until just a year ago. How we lose any games is baffling… that is what I WISH I can say; however, it is quite obvious. Our "All-Stars," for the most part, whine and complain about going to the Olympics, or playing on any sort of World stage. And when they do, you'll see them jog up and down the court and go one on one to please the fans, who for whatever reason, consider these individuals some form of deity. Now, we have players who live in countries all over the world who have the knowledge and the training to compete. They also have the one thing that America used to cherish… heart. While we watch reruns of the famous 1980 Hockey Upset, the rest of the world is beginning to live it. We have lost that which is essential in any competition: Heart- The willingness to put your whole mind/body/soul into a competition to not only bring out the best in yourself, but the best in those around you without giving a crap about the material rewards it reaps or the matters of consequence in between. To work your ass off and strive for greatness in even the worst of scenarios. We immerse ourselves in the fact that we believe we have more of it. Has that changed?
Our fascination with this celebrity (let's face it, it's more celebrity than it is athleticism at this point) has led our legal system to disregard the fact that those who dope themselves and who are not athletes go to jail - while our sports hero's who dope themselves here get a book deal! The rest of the world bans players from ever playing their sport again if they are caught doing drugs at the highest level or sanctions them from playing full seasons… some even, heaven forbid, go to jail if caught in possession. I applaud what recently happened with the doping scandal around the Tour de France where cyclists were banned from the race. In fact, the penalties enough have caused some riders to retire altogether because their career and honor is so tarnished, that it is a must out for them. I can't remember who the writer was that said this (so I apologize for my paraphrasing) but I agree that if Barry Bonds was found guilty of steroid use and was banned from the the next season and the World Series (assuming the Giants made it that far) would cause mass panic here. Instead, the bottom-line and profit margins come before honor, and come before integrity. This, is troublesome to me and is quite a shame.
So on to Soccer (Futbol): The US has the training facilities, MLS (which is a joke, but I'm sure I'll talk more about that later), and all the money in the world to compete. But, we don't do as well as we should - and the majority of the US is not behind the team to do so. Why? Because there aren't enough goals - because it takes too long for chances for goals to develop, because there aren't commercial breaks to flip through 596 channels, pee and get a drink, because it is too slow, because it's stupid, because the crack-like adrenaline rush necessity that plagues US sports outweighs actually taking the time to learn about the sport and understand the history and the rules.
I tell all of my friends, who I got some the "because's" above from, to watch the Premiership League in England. There, the stadiums hold the right amount of fans, are extremely very close to the action and have Drinking Songs as the team fight songs! You don't hear the percussion from bands in massive American football stadium (which can afford large stadiums because of the short NFL season where every game ACTUALLY matters) where the first row is a mile away from the action. To our credit, we have begun making stadiums similar to those in England and other baby steps to achieve the ambiance of this sport; however, until every team has an owner and isn't owned by the league, we will never see great players come to the MLS to play during their prime, just to retire and play in NY or LA so their career can last a few more years because the competition is certainly much less fierce then where they played in their prime. Plus, they can get the celebrity and endorsements so they can stay in the media limelight for as long as possible. I would really like to see MLS teams make Soccer Pro's like David Beckham have to try out for MLS teams here when they retire… I mean, play here for the MLS, wouldn't that be a breath of fresh air?
Of course, not every player is the way I describe, in fact there are a ton who aren't and keep the integrity of sport alive. I'm just mad that my generation those around it started a trend of non-accountability / victim-like mentally. I dream to see the Integrity back into the Corporate bodies that house our Professional Sports and have that seep back into the players themselves. Come on us all, it's time for us to educate ourselves and give a crap about the beauty of something rather then how fast or how often you can move from one thing to the next because there isn't a fire inside to stick with something in hopes to reach for greatness.
I'm tired and will probably read this tomorrow and make massive changes so the point is much more clear, but until then I'm going to get in my car - race over to Starbucks to get a triple-shot Mocha Frapha Boogie Woogie no whip extra milk not too hot skim baba bubu soy enormo so I can speed home to my TV - where I can flip through 597 channels while blaming my the networks for the commercials being too loud - wishing my dogs could understand English - and yell at the Miami Heat for playing wwwwaaaaayyyyyy too much defense.
Buh
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Author: Chad Beall
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