Today I came across a Facebook status that read, "finally proud to be an American." After discussing with a friend, we both agreed: "'Finally'?? WTF?"
Now I know it was tough for some people to be proud of their country lately, for reasons so vast and complicated that I’ll never summarize them in a silly Facebook note (their disdain/disappointment in so many Bush administration decisions; perhaps general disagreement in the concept of nation-states in general; fear of being “thrown in” the stereotype of post-9/11 patriotism; among others). Sure, I get it.
And I also “get” that there is nothing wrong with discovering a new meaning to an old symbol, and the inspiration felt across many minds and hearts due to Obama’s uplifting candidacy and election is enough to move people to certain new actions and motivations.
But part of me finds it appalling as well – not appalling to see so much “patriotism;” rather, the opposite: Appalling that so many could decry the flag pins and magnetic ribbons over the past few years, and now suddenly be “proud” of America and being American.
Being a proud American means keeping the hope and faith that Obama has held up as his platform – even when times are tough. Even when it seems like someone is spitting in the face of all that you believe in. Even when Bush - or whoever - is president and things seem terrible. And even when it gets “better” (whatever that even means.)
Being an “American” means so many virtuous things, as it has since 1776. The manifestation of our collective ideas in the form of policies hasn’t necessarily resulted in things to be 100% proud of, but the fact that we exist and our country has always been the most democratic place on this earth, is something to be proud of regardless of the trees.
So see the forest. And if for some reason you only became proud today, I’m happy for you. It’s a good feeling, right? But just like the Stars and Stripes themselves, keep it with you forever. Because if this wasn’t America (in the historical, contextual, emotional, and even philosophical sense), this wouldn’t have even happened in the first place.
20.1.09
14.10.08
gravity
I left home when I was seventeen
I just grew tired of falling down
And I'm sure I was told
The allure of the road
Would be all I found
And all the answers that I started with
Turned out questions in the end
So years roll on by
And just like the sky
The road never ends
And the people who love me still ask me
When are you coming back to town
And I answer quite frankly
When they stop building roads
And all God needs is gravity to hold me down
I just grew tired of falling down
And I'm sure I was told
The allure of the road
Would be all I found
And all the answers that I started with
Turned out questions in the end
So years roll on by
And just like the sky
The road never ends
And the people who love me still ask me
When are you coming back to town
And I answer quite frankly
When they stop building roads
And all God needs is gravity to hold me down
29.9.08
I ask of ye a favor:
Dear Blog reader -- all 1-3 of you. I read your blogs and I listen to your musings. It's fun and I like it. I would never ask you to read through an entire posting of mine; I know I get a little wordy. Also, I don't really ask people to read my blog in the first place. But if you're going to read one thing I put on here in its entirety, I would ask you to read every word of this. I don't care if you respond or hate it or what. But I would put it up there as an "important" post. Funny thing is, I didn't even write it. I found it while doing work but thought it was really important to share because if I had to -- or had the ability to -- articulate my thoughts on life so far, this would be it.
It's way cheesier than I would word it -- the overflowing sarcasm inside of me would never be so kum-ba-ya -- and in some ways, a little more active than I actually describe this "life philosophy." So it's definitely not 100% the way I would describe it. But it for all intents and purposes, I think it's a great integration of all of the "great" life philosophies that have been written on (you can find a little bit of everything in there. Go ahead, you'll see).
Do I walk around thinking of all of these things like a smiling hippy who just came from yoga? No. Do I think life is a big deal? Not all the time. Do I love the Pittsburgh Steelers? Yes. Is this a realistic post? Most definitely.
So I would agree most with this article I found: That happiness isn't that complicated, and that LOGICALLY, each moment is pure. I mean, what about this moment -- right now -- isn't OK? Every answer you can give me will necessarily be related to the past or future. But tell me about just this moment RIGHT NOW and try to find a reason why it's not OK. Why you can't do what you want. Why you can't, can't, can't. Sure, there might be some things that feel like reasons -- but are they? Maybe they're good to notate as hurdles. But that don't mean you can't clear 'em.
Before I make this sound like a logic puzzle, I'll stop. It's really not that complicated.
And now, for the article. Thanks for reading and feel free to roll your eyes (it's not like I don't roll them at you from time to time)...that shit about the beach and some language is definitely a little over the top. But I don't care, as long as you read it.
There is a thread of certainty that runs through most lives. It is sensed as a measured and anticipated rhythm of predictability built upon our notions of how things have been and how they will continue to be.
While this is comforting and provides a sense of continuity to our lives, it is also limiting and not conducive to unleashing our creative selves. Here are five steps you can take to break the mold of predictability and expand your horizons in ways you never imagined.
1. Acknowledge And Release The Past
The mundane concerns of existence that propel us through our days often leads to a deadening of exhilaration; a striping away of the possibility for anything out of the ordinary. Walking in a haze of memories, expectations, assumptions, guilts, worries -bombardments on our psychological and emotional centers - we are often oblivious to moments of complete amazement and wonder. We are wholly unaware and uninterested in seeing what is already there, but not yet recognized.
By bringing the preceding moment into this moment, you are unfairly coloring the outcome of this moment to look the same as before. Creating true change in your life begins by acknowledging and releasing the past, whether it be good or bad.
In fact, see the bad things for what they really are: revelations of what is truly good. For if life were all rosy and nothing bad ever happened, how would you know things were rosy? You would have no reference point; nothing to compare rosy against.
Release the past and you are free from a linear, pre-ordained future.
2. Say Thank You
Appreciate your life for what it has been. Give yourself a pat on the back for everything that brought you to this exact moment. Congratulate yourself on doing the best you could.
Give thanks to yourself, for the people around you, and to the source of life that allows you to say, "Here I Am!"
Practice sincere gratitude several times throughout your day. In this way you are able to stay connected with your creative energies and recognize abundance in the world.
3. Create Your Day
Imagine yourself awakening each morning to exclaim, "This is how I shall create my day!" How many people aspire to create moments that shape the day around them, rather than allowing the moments of their yesterdays to serve up the ordinary menu of today?
When you awake each morning, start out by deciding on the outcome of the day. We have been taught from an early age that the outside world determines our actions and our state of mind. This is not true. You have freewill. Use it.
Decide for yourself how you will feel and what you will accomplish. Do you want to be happy that day? Do you want to begin writing a operatic ballad? It doesn't matter what it is. Just declare it. Simple as that.
If you don't know what to declare on a given day, always start with happiness. Affirm your decision to be happy. Remember that happiness is a state of being, not a reaction. Don't allow outside events determine whether you will be happy. Create the commandment in your mind and you will find that happiness exists in the strangest of places.
Fully expressing your creative self takes practice, especially if you are in the habit of reacting to the moments of your day. You are rewiring the neural connections in your brain. You are breaking old connections. With practice, creativity becomes a habit.
4. Expect The Unexpected
Consider the clarity and simple freedom that comes from being unattached to the unfolding of a moment in your life. How does it feel to be an observer; an inconsequential witness? Most of us have experienced these special moments to some degree. Can you recall such moments? Do you remember how it felt to be completely in the world, but not an immediate player within it? Simply watching. Uninterested. Non-judgmental.
At these times it is not unlike staring without prejudice into a fish tank. It makes no difference in what direction the fish swim. It matters not the size of the bubbles percolating from the bottom. It's of no concern the manner in which the water ripples on the surface.
If the moments of your life were observed in such a manner, you could then decide the meaning of circumstances in your life with fresh eyes. Moments would exist within the space of a moment. The meaning of the next moment could then be nothing, or anything. There are literally no limits.
Therefore, aspire to be an unattached observer each day. This doesn't mean you can't feel things. By all means, feel things with passion. Yet, be the observer of your passion. Be in your emotions, but not swept away by them. Watch your reactions, say hello to how you feel, and watchfully move on under the creative mandates you set for yourself at the beginning of the day.
What happens when you let go and be the observer? The unexpected happens. The clarity of purpose you defined at the beginning of the day is ever-present around you. Now you are free to notice, from among the thousands of pieces of information entering your brain each moment, the meaning of things which encapsulate your purpose.
5. Believe
What if the meaning of your moments was like the first flush of rapture found in the eyes of a new-found lover? Can you imagine such wonder and amazement, such endless depth, in the moments of your day?
When moments are free of preconceptions that have been brought forward, then the possibility of infinite futures take form. These are the times when you can indulge the ending of your story however you choose.
What is the ending? It is no more or less than the extent of your belief in what is possible. It is the ending that holds meaning for you; void of conjecture that your environment might not relinquish the prize of your choice.
It is an illusion to think that the environment around you exists without you. The environment exists because of you. You are the master. The stimuli that enters your brain through your senses is timeless, formless, and meaningless. You bring to your environment the meaning of your choice.
Your environment is like sand on a beach, smooth and undisturbed until your footprints change its landscape. A few come to build castles in the sand, while most simply wonder the water's edge while their footprints wash back into the sea.
The universe listens to those who ask. And of those who ask, it is those who expect to be answered who will receive. Do not say you want the thing you desire. For the universe will deem your request already answered. To want is not to have. Do not say you will have it. That is the same as wanting.
Instead, have the thing you desire. Make up your mind it is already yours. Believe it is so because it is so. There is no elaborate, complex formula. It is as simple as breathing.
Now watch. Your desire has been granted. The universe has delivered it. With your new, unfiltered, of-the-moment vision, your steps lead right to it.
Putting it all together, here are the steps to fully expressing your creative nature:
1. Acknowledge the past and release it from this moment.
2. Give thanks to yourself, all things, and all persons.
3. Create your day on purpose. Decide and resolve.
4. Be watchful and expect the unexpected.
5. Believe.
Do you know the most wonderful thing about creating your life on purpose?
You are in fact changing the world in no less significance than the achievements of the greatest teachers through all the ages.
For when the masses transform the beaches into glistening and interweaved towers of sand then the world will change in indescribable ways. The unknown becomes infinite. Chaos becomes opportunity. Improbability becomes possibility. Certainty becomes purpose. Creativity becomes boundless.
-Written by some guy named Brett Krkosska
It's way cheesier than I would word it -- the overflowing sarcasm inside of me would never be so kum-ba-ya -- and in some ways, a little more active than I actually describe this "life philosophy." So it's definitely not 100% the way I would describe it. But it for all intents and purposes, I think it's a great integration of all of the "great" life philosophies that have been written on (you can find a little bit of everything in there. Go ahead, you'll see).
Do I walk around thinking of all of these things like a smiling hippy who just came from yoga? No. Do I think life is a big deal? Not all the time. Do I love the Pittsburgh Steelers? Yes. Is this a realistic post? Most definitely.
So I would agree most with this article I found: That happiness isn't that complicated, and that LOGICALLY, each moment is pure. I mean, what about this moment -- right now -- isn't OK? Every answer you can give me will necessarily be related to the past or future. But tell me about just this moment RIGHT NOW and try to find a reason why it's not OK. Why you can't do what you want. Why you can't, can't, can't. Sure, there might be some things that feel like reasons -- but are they? Maybe they're good to notate as hurdles. But that don't mean you can't clear 'em.
Before I make this sound like a logic puzzle, I'll stop. It's really not that complicated.
And now, for the article. Thanks for reading and feel free to roll your eyes (it's not like I don't roll them at you from time to time)...that shit about the beach and some language is definitely a little over the top. But I don't care, as long as you read it.
There is a thread of certainty that runs through most lives. It is sensed as a measured and anticipated rhythm of predictability built upon our notions of how things have been and how they will continue to be.
While this is comforting and provides a sense of continuity to our lives, it is also limiting and not conducive to unleashing our creative selves. Here are five steps you can take to break the mold of predictability and expand your horizons in ways you never imagined.
1. Acknowledge And Release The Past
The mundane concerns of existence that propel us through our days often leads to a deadening of exhilaration; a striping away of the possibility for anything out of the ordinary. Walking in a haze of memories, expectations, assumptions, guilts, worries -bombardments on our psychological and emotional centers - we are often oblivious to moments of complete amazement and wonder. We are wholly unaware and uninterested in seeing what is already there, but not yet recognized.
By bringing the preceding moment into this moment, you are unfairly coloring the outcome of this moment to look the same as before. Creating true change in your life begins by acknowledging and releasing the past, whether it be good or bad.
In fact, see the bad things for what they really are: revelations of what is truly good. For if life were all rosy and nothing bad ever happened, how would you know things were rosy? You would have no reference point; nothing to compare rosy against.
Release the past and you are free from a linear, pre-ordained future.
2. Say Thank You
Appreciate your life for what it has been. Give yourself a pat on the back for everything that brought you to this exact moment. Congratulate yourself on doing the best you could.
Give thanks to yourself, for the people around you, and to the source of life that allows you to say, "Here I Am!"
Practice sincere gratitude several times throughout your day. In this way you are able to stay connected with your creative energies and recognize abundance in the world.
3. Create Your Day
Imagine yourself awakening each morning to exclaim, "This is how I shall create my day!" How many people aspire to create moments that shape the day around them, rather than allowing the moments of their yesterdays to serve up the ordinary menu of today?
When you awake each morning, start out by deciding on the outcome of the day. We have been taught from an early age that the outside world determines our actions and our state of mind. This is not true. You have freewill. Use it.
Decide for yourself how you will feel and what you will accomplish. Do you want to be happy that day? Do you want to begin writing a operatic ballad? It doesn't matter what it is. Just declare it. Simple as that.
If you don't know what to declare on a given day, always start with happiness. Affirm your decision to be happy. Remember that happiness is a state of being, not a reaction. Don't allow outside events determine whether you will be happy. Create the commandment in your mind and you will find that happiness exists in the strangest of places.
Fully expressing your creative self takes practice, especially if you are in the habit of reacting to the moments of your day. You are rewiring the neural connections in your brain. You are breaking old connections. With practice, creativity becomes a habit.
4. Expect The Unexpected
Consider the clarity and simple freedom that comes from being unattached to the unfolding of a moment in your life. How does it feel to be an observer; an inconsequential witness? Most of us have experienced these special moments to some degree. Can you recall such moments? Do you remember how it felt to be completely in the world, but not an immediate player within it? Simply watching. Uninterested. Non-judgmental.
At these times it is not unlike staring without prejudice into a fish tank. It makes no difference in what direction the fish swim. It matters not the size of the bubbles percolating from the bottom. It's of no concern the manner in which the water ripples on the surface.
If the moments of your life were observed in such a manner, you could then decide the meaning of circumstances in your life with fresh eyes. Moments would exist within the space of a moment. The meaning of the next moment could then be nothing, or anything. There are literally no limits.
Therefore, aspire to be an unattached observer each day. This doesn't mean you can't feel things. By all means, feel things with passion. Yet, be the observer of your passion. Be in your emotions, but not swept away by them. Watch your reactions, say hello to how you feel, and watchfully move on under the creative mandates you set for yourself at the beginning of the day.
What happens when you let go and be the observer? The unexpected happens. The clarity of purpose you defined at the beginning of the day is ever-present around you. Now you are free to notice, from among the thousands of pieces of information entering your brain each moment, the meaning of things which encapsulate your purpose.
5. Believe
What if the meaning of your moments was like the first flush of rapture found in the eyes of a new-found lover? Can you imagine such wonder and amazement, such endless depth, in the moments of your day?
When moments are free of preconceptions that have been brought forward, then the possibility of infinite futures take form. These are the times when you can indulge the ending of your story however you choose.
What is the ending? It is no more or less than the extent of your belief in what is possible. It is the ending that holds meaning for you; void of conjecture that your environment might not relinquish the prize of your choice.
It is an illusion to think that the environment around you exists without you. The environment exists because of you. You are the master. The stimuli that enters your brain through your senses is timeless, formless, and meaningless. You bring to your environment the meaning of your choice.
Your environment is like sand on a beach, smooth and undisturbed until your footprints change its landscape. A few come to build castles in the sand, while most simply wonder the water's edge while their footprints wash back into the sea.
The universe listens to those who ask. And of those who ask, it is those who expect to be answered who will receive. Do not say you want the thing you desire. For the universe will deem your request already answered. To want is not to have. Do not say you will have it. That is the same as wanting.
Instead, have the thing you desire. Make up your mind it is already yours. Believe it is so because it is so. There is no elaborate, complex formula. It is as simple as breathing.
Now watch. Your desire has been granted. The universe has delivered it. With your new, unfiltered, of-the-moment vision, your steps lead right to it.
Putting it all together, here are the steps to fully expressing your creative nature:
1. Acknowledge the past and release it from this moment.
2. Give thanks to yourself, all things, and all persons.
3. Create your day on purpose. Decide and resolve.
4. Be watchful and expect the unexpected.
5. Believe.
Do you know the most wonderful thing about creating your life on purpose?
You are in fact changing the world in no less significance than the achievements of the greatest teachers through all the ages.
For when the masses transform the beaches into glistening and interweaved towers of sand then the world will change in indescribable ways. The unknown becomes infinite. Chaos becomes opportunity. Improbability becomes possibility. Certainty becomes purpose. Creativity becomes boundless.
-Written by some guy named Brett Krkosska
26.9.08
I'm scared, but not for the reason you may think.
Wow.
The economy is really going down the tubes (duh). I believe in economics as a science, as a study, as an art...and I believe that there are really smart economists and economic and social scientists out there who can probably fix it. I picture them squirreled away in their ivory towers, oaken studies, corner offices, and government cubicles reading and computing and rubbing their smudgy glasses on their ill-fitting oxfords.
We really need to be focusing on finding these people, kidnapping them, and setting them up in some high-tech collaborative Google-like campus so that they can debate and figure and FIX our economic shit day.
And then it dawned on me, and when it dawned on me, it scared the bejeezus out of me:
The person who has to be in charge of doing this round-up and making it happen via real policy manifestations -- bless his heart -- will either be John McCain or Barack Obama. Now before you think I'm going to say, "so I'm scared that neither is qualified"...hold on a sec.
That's not my fear.
My fear is that they CAN'T actually focus on this issue as much as they need to because their priority is actually not fixing the economy...it's getting elected. Sure, they sincerely want to lend a hand. They want it to get better. They really, really do gosh golly gosh gee!
But, they can't.
Getting elected and fixing the economy are two very time- and energy-consuming undertakings, and I really don't think either one of them (or, um, any human being for that matter) is the kind of multi-tasker who could tackle them both at the same time.
The person who has to fix this economy, who has to be RIGHT NOW dedicating 20 hours a day with a panel of experts and scientists, is instead roaming around the country talking in dumb third grader's language about abortion and trying to get elected. What this means is that it is almost guaranteed that the economy will not get the attention it needs.
Scary.
The economy is really going down the tubes (duh). I believe in economics as a science, as a study, as an art...and I believe that there are really smart economists and economic and social scientists out there who can probably fix it. I picture them squirreled away in their ivory towers, oaken studies, corner offices, and government cubicles reading and computing and rubbing their smudgy glasses on their ill-fitting oxfords.
We really need to be focusing on finding these people, kidnapping them, and setting them up in some high-tech collaborative Google-like campus so that they can debate and figure and FIX our economic shit day.
And then it dawned on me, and when it dawned on me, it scared the bejeezus out of me:
The person who has to be in charge of doing this round-up and making it happen via real policy manifestations -- bless his heart -- will either be John McCain or Barack Obama. Now before you think I'm going to say, "so I'm scared that neither is qualified"...hold on a sec.
That's not my fear.
My fear is that they CAN'T actually focus on this issue as much as they need to because their priority is actually not fixing the economy...it's getting elected. Sure, they sincerely want to lend a hand. They want it to get better. They really, really do gosh golly gosh gee!
But, they can't.
Getting elected and fixing the economy are two very time- and energy-consuming undertakings, and I really don't think either one of them (or, um, any human being for that matter) is the kind of multi-tasker who could tackle them both at the same time.
The person who has to fix this economy, who has to be RIGHT NOW dedicating 20 hours a day with a panel of experts and scientists, is instead roaming around the country talking in dumb third grader's language about abortion and trying to get elected. What this means is that it is almost guaranteed that the economy will not get the attention it needs.
Scary.
11.9.08
it's true what they say about assumptions...
Please, can anyone give me one example in which an assumption that was made that was:
A) correct
2) healthy
III) productive
and, last but not least....
NECESSARY??
It's really frustrating living in a world where assumptions drive everything. Assumptions are...NOT FACTS. So WHAT THE EFF are we doing running around basing everything off of assumptions? If NASA built a spaceship and assumed it worked, that would be ridiculous. The same logic applies in life.
So why do we live our lives, do our jobs, engage in relationships (friends, family, whatever), eat our food, vote for candidates -- everything -- based on assumptions? Assumptions produce every single negative thing I can think of.
It makes no sense to me and I fear that I am doomed and/or cursed to tread water in a world driven by assumptions.
That's all. Happy Thursday.
A) correct
2) healthy
III) productive
and, last but not least....
NECESSARY??
It's really frustrating living in a world where assumptions drive everything. Assumptions are...NOT FACTS. So WHAT THE EFF are we doing running around basing everything off of assumptions? If NASA built a spaceship and assumed it worked, that would be ridiculous. The same logic applies in life.
So why do we live our lives, do our jobs, engage in relationships (friends, family, whatever), eat our food, vote for candidates -- everything -- based on assumptions? Assumptions produce every single negative thing I can think of.
It makes no sense to me and I fear that I am doomed and/or cursed to tread water in a world driven by assumptions.
That's all. Happy Thursday.
9.4.08
next time, making Baggio proud
Between the recent college basketball season and the current baseball season, I've been watching something sports-related almost every day of 2008. I thought yesterday would be an exception, since the Nats had an off-day...but around 9pm I needed to unwind, so I turned on the ol' boob tube and started scrolling around. When I noticed the NCAA Women's Baskeball Championship was on, I hit "enter" on my remote and settled in to catch the second half of the game.
The last time I watched women's basketball was in early March, when a friend was visiting and we were flipping through the channels during the commercial breaks of the Syracuse/Marquette men's game. I changed it deliberately to whatever women's game was on and he -- although not a mean or sexist person -- snickered lightheartedly a little and said something to the effect of "isn't it ridiculous how much sloppier girls' basketball is?"
While I hadn't noticed on my own, once he mentioned it I guess I could see what he meant, and he being someone with whom I enjoy a great deal of laughter and who frequently makes these kind of over-the-top remarks in general, I ended up laughing a bit as well.
This sillier mindset carried over to last night, when I was discussing the championship game on the phone with a good friend. I lightheartedly repeated the earlier comment but soon realized how serious the words actually were. In fact, what I thought was funny actually went against not only an entire lifetime of my own experience, but also a century of hard-fought progress by political and athletic heroes alike.
###
Since I can even remember, there was only one thing I wanted in the entire world: to be the first woman to play on the U.S. men's national soccer team. I was obsessed with guys like Pele, Maradona, and Baggio (as well as our own Lalas and Jones) and since there was no women's team, I figured I would just have to step up to the plate and join the fellas.
Fast-forward to 1989. That's when FIFA finally established the Women's World Cup (almost 60 years after the men's!), and Miss Akers & Co. brought the first gold medal home from China in '91. I simply couldn't believe the good news! With this, my mission had been tweaked and my new goal was to instead join the likes of Akers, Hamm, and Lilly someday out there on the pitch. Yes, I still cried myself to sleep when Baggio missed his kick in '94 (I also vowed I would never bring my country that kind of over-the-crossbar shame), and I still wrote fan mail to that red-headed defender of US fame all throughout middle school, but my new dream -- and the dreams of entire generations of girls -- finally had its own place.
Now, more than a decade and a half later, that place is more stable than ever, according to the latest study by two Brooklyn College professors. In fact, in 1970, (prior to the 1972 enactment of Title IX under the Carter Administration), the national average of women's sports teams per school was only 2.5. Currently the number sits at 8.65 -- an incredible total increase of 346%. Additionally, there are now more than 180,000 female athletes competing on more than 9,000 sports teams in our country's colleges. These three figures are historical highs.
While this is all fine and dandy on a pretty bar graph, what does this mean in blood, sweat, and tears?
It means that more young women will spend hours after school kicking a ball against a wall hoping to improve their first touch, because they have more forums in which to pursue their dreams.
It means that more young women will have access to team sports because youth leagues and high-caliber development programs are forming and growing stronger every year to support these dreams.
And it means that The Worldwide Leader in Sports will broadcast on national television every game of the tournament in which one team will end up realizing its ultimate dream, as the Lady Vols did last night.
###
Unlike a free throw or a penalty kick, there really are no extra chances in life, and mistakes and regret cannot be mollified by a gigantic "re-do." Nope, them's the breaks of the real world...um, just like the fact that I never even made the varsity squad in college.
But there is always a next time, an off-season, another game.
So next time I hear a comment like that, rather than laughing I will look my friend in the eye and tell him that what he just said is disgusting. That if the play was, in fact, "sloppy" at all, it sure as hell has nothing to do with the fact that it's "girl's" basketball. I will tell him that even comparing one to the other is like comparing apples and oranges, from which no rational juice could ever be gleamed, and which for such a smart guy is quite the dumbass remark.
I know this isn't the same as a game-winning goal scored at the buzzer, but at least it's not over the crossbar on the final shot.
And sometimes it takes one bad game to come out on top next time.
The last time I watched women's basketball was in early March, when a friend was visiting and we were flipping through the channels during the commercial breaks of the Syracuse/Marquette men's game. I changed it deliberately to whatever women's game was on and he -- although not a mean or sexist person -- snickered lightheartedly a little and said something to the effect of "isn't it ridiculous how much sloppier girls' basketball is?"
While I hadn't noticed on my own, once he mentioned it I guess I could see what he meant, and he being someone with whom I enjoy a great deal of laughter and who frequently makes these kind of over-the-top remarks in general, I ended up laughing a bit as well.
This sillier mindset carried over to last night, when I was discussing the championship game on the phone with a good friend. I lightheartedly repeated the earlier comment but soon realized how serious the words actually were. In fact, what I thought was funny actually went against not only an entire lifetime of my own experience, but also a century of hard-fought progress by political and athletic heroes alike.
###
Since I can even remember, there was only one thing I wanted in the entire world: to be the first woman to play on the U.S. men's national soccer team. I was obsessed with guys like Pele, Maradona, and Baggio (as well as our own Lalas and Jones) and since there was no women's team, I figured I would just have to step up to the plate and join the fellas.
Fast-forward to 1989. That's when FIFA finally established the Women's World Cup (almost 60 years after the men's!), and Miss Akers & Co. brought the first gold medal home from China in '91. I simply couldn't believe the good news! With this, my mission had been tweaked and my new goal was to instead join the likes of Akers, Hamm, and Lilly someday out there on the pitch. Yes, I still cried myself to sleep when Baggio missed his kick in '94 (I also vowed I would never bring my country that kind of over-the-crossbar shame), and I still wrote fan mail to that red-headed defender of US fame all throughout middle school, but my new dream -- and the dreams of entire generations of girls -- finally had its own place.
Now, more than a decade and a half later, that place is more stable than ever, according to the latest study by two Brooklyn College professors. In fact, in 1970, (prior to the 1972 enactment of Title IX under the Carter Administration), the national average of women's sports teams per school was only 2.5. Currently the number sits at 8.65 -- an incredible total increase of 346%. Additionally, there are now more than 180,000 female athletes competing on more than 9,000 sports teams in our country's colleges. These three figures are historical highs.
While this is all fine and dandy on a pretty bar graph, what does this mean in blood, sweat, and tears?
It means that more young women will spend hours after school kicking a ball against a wall hoping to improve their first touch, because they have more forums in which to pursue their dreams.
It means that more young women will have access to team sports because youth leagues and high-caliber development programs are forming and growing stronger every year to support these dreams.
And it means that The Worldwide Leader in Sports will broadcast on national television every game of the tournament in which one team will end up realizing its ultimate dream, as the Lady Vols did last night.
###
Unlike a free throw or a penalty kick, there really are no extra chances in life, and mistakes and regret cannot be mollified by a gigantic "re-do." Nope, them's the breaks of the real world...um, just like the fact that I never even made the varsity squad in college.
But there is always a next time, an off-season, another game.
So next time I hear a comment like that, rather than laughing I will look my friend in the eye and tell him that what he just said is disgusting. That if the play was, in fact, "sloppy" at all, it sure as hell has nothing to do with the fact that it's "girl's" basketball. I will tell him that even comparing one to the other is like comparing apples and oranges, from which no rational juice could ever be gleamed, and which for such a smart guy is quite the dumbass remark.
I know this isn't the same as a game-winning goal scored at the buzzer, but at least it's not over the crossbar on the final shot.
And sometimes it takes one bad game to come out on top next time.
21.3.08
"Good" Friday
It's Good Friday, party people!
Actually, I could care less (no offense) about the religious thing. But I just felt like making a list of things I think are good.
Things I Think Are Good, by Emilie Cole:
-beer (except Fat Tire. Blech.)
-sarcasm
-the practice of following one's gut (by practicing the policy of following one's gut, one will inevitably learn lessons (yes, some very hard). As a result of this learning, one's gut will evolve to include more and more "right" decisions, which in turn will arm one with an even better gut to follow)
-the resulting redevelopment of Southeast DC due to the new Nationals Stadium
-saying "please" and "thank you"
-moderation (itself in moderation)
-laughing until you can't see or breathe, whichever comes first
-having bad days and hard times
-Kraft Mac-n-Cheese Spirals, preferrably with a hot dog cut up
-true alone time once in a while
-feeling exhausted from physical exercise
-Web 2.0 and Google
-extreme right- and left-wingers. Both are a beautiful part of our collective dialogue
-doing nothing sometimes
-if you have kids, to have more than just one
-Cat Stevens
-equality in marriage
-use of the serial comma
-Bush's vegetarian baked beans
-Syracuse not making the tournament (you got to earn it to own it, kiddos)
-the Classical Renaissance
-onion rings with ranch dressing
-trying new things and even retrying things you didn't like before once in a while
-The Wire
-serving in the military (I didn't)
-spending a little more for green products
-these Girl Scout cookies: Thin Mints, Samoas, and Tagalongs
-the Ten Commandments, as read secularly
-immigration
-the people in my life
-the American system of checks and balances, especially the idea of three separate branches of government
-immigration reform
-knowing how to drive manual transmission
-knowing Spanish (I don't)
-direct-service non-profit organizations and huge internationals banks
-the fact that The New Yorker just exists (I don't necessarily need to read it)
-pub appetizers, especially pub appetizer sampler plates which include lots of fried things
-bacon
-All, It's
Actually, I could care less (no offense) about the religious thing. But I just felt like making a list of things I think are good.
Things I Think Are Good, by Emilie Cole:
-beer (except Fat Tire. Blech.)
-sarcasm
-the practice of following one's gut (by practicing the policy of following one's gut, one will inevitably learn lessons (yes, some very hard). As a result of this learning, one's gut will evolve to include more and more "right" decisions, which in turn will arm one with an even better gut to follow)
-the resulting redevelopment of Southeast DC due to the new Nationals Stadium
-saying "please" and "thank you"
-moderation (itself in moderation)
-laughing until you can't see or breathe, whichever comes first
-having bad days and hard times
-Kraft Mac-n-Cheese Spirals, preferrably with a hot dog cut up
-true alone time once in a while
-feeling exhausted from physical exercise
-Web 2.0 and Google
-extreme right- and left-wingers. Both are a beautiful part of our collective dialogue
-doing nothing sometimes
-if you have kids, to have more than just one
-Cat Stevens
-equality in marriage
-use of the serial comma
-Bush's vegetarian baked beans
-Syracuse not making the tournament (you got to earn it to own it, kiddos)
-the Classical Renaissance
-onion rings with ranch dressing
-trying new things and even retrying things you didn't like before once in a while
-The Wire
-serving in the military (I didn't)
-spending a little more for green products
-these Girl Scout cookies: Thin Mints, Samoas, and Tagalongs
-the Ten Commandments, as read secularly
-immigration
-the people in my life
-the American system of checks and balances, especially the idea of three separate branches of government
-immigration reform
-knowing how to drive manual transmission
-knowing Spanish (I don't)
-direct-service non-profit organizations and huge internationals banks
-the fact that The New Yorker just exists (I don't necessarily need to read it)
-pub appetizers, especially pub appetizer sampler plates which include lots of fried things
-bacon
-All, It's
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