If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
The Blog
Why are we so afraid to acknowledge that the learning process is more dependent on simple structures, improvisation, and freedom than it is on complex structures, standardization, and fear?
OK, it wasn't exactly Mike Eruzione and the Miracle on Ice, but Landon Donovan's late goal against Algeria was one of the biggest goals in U.S. history.
If soccer is indeed a religion and the World Cup its church, then the U.S. has finally taken its seat at the pew.
U.S. fans can now stop flashing their middle fingers at soccer fate and lamenting lost opportunities in this World Cup. We've seen an evolution of fortunate events that forged perhaps the moment of most frolics in U.S. soccer history.
The US, in one moment, with one goal, became interested, invested, intrigued. And we have our very own hero, Landon Donovan, to thank.
Other than at the 38th parallel on the Korean peninsula, the closest proximity that Americans and North Koreans have recently found themselves is in South Africa at the World Cup. Of course there are some huge differences.
Yesterday was a rough day in the life of America, but it was also a day that began with people across the country waking up early to watch their soccer team play a do-or-die match against Algeria in the World Cup.
The World Cup provides an opportunity for Americans to shed some of the baggage of its global super power status and instead just be one of the guys.
On ESPN, anchor Kenny Mayne came on the air and asked: "Where were you when Landon Donovan scored the greatest goal in U.S. history?"
The draw has been very, very kind to The Yanks, who now have a great opportunity to make a run into the (gasp!) semifinals. Maybe, just maybe, soccer madness will stick around for a few more days.
The issue here is not about right and wrong or fair and unfair. It is about smart and productive versus one-sided and self-defeating.
Support for soccer in the US has been growing steadily and all that is needed is a deep run in the World Cup when everyone is watching. What for so long has seemed just a dream now is squarely within our grasp.
It reminded why these kinds of international competitions can leave me with such a sour taste. Why must an insanely miraculous athletic victory also be a reinforcer of cultural supremacy?
For those of us in the throes of World Cup fever -- dutifully waking for morning matches, even those featuring the woeful French -- is there a more joyful sight in sport than Lionel Messi?
Mets star centerfielder Carlos Beltran, who hasn't played all season after knee surgery, will play in his first Class A rehab game tomorrow in Port St. Lucie, Florida.
European anthems tend to be rather bloody. We all know about the Marseillaise with its warning of enemies coming to "slit the throats of your sons and wives" but Il Canto degli Italiani (The Song of the Italians) stays firmly on message.
