CommentaryUSA wins; Landon Donovan becomes hero; I almost weep
More than an hour and a half of play had passed. The United States makes what will, in all likelihood, be its final run down the field, its final shot, its final chance at scoring, its final chance at advancing in the World Cup.
Until now, we, the USA, are pedestrian when it comes to soccer. We have no great stories, or at least, none I can remember. We have no great moments. We have no great heroes, even. Sure, I know the name Landon Donovan, and in recent weeks I've learned our goalie's name is Tim Howard, but that's about all I know.
Back home, Donovan and Howard and their teammates' country lies in turmoil. The Gulf Coast has been wrecked by oil, oil gushing from a broken well owned by a company that epitomizes the greed destroying America. There is no greater metaphor for our country; there is no more apt truth than the one contained in this catastrophe. The earth bleeds without abating. BP's swords cut her. They are sharp, for they are what give BP power. Those swords enable them to be the money-grubbing oil giant they are. And now that their swords are killing the people that gave them their money, their shields prove muddy and weak. That is, their PR has collapsed. They spent millions of dollars on "We'll make it right" ads while millions of people suffer, saying, "This will never be anything but wrong."
And those people are right.
But while we need never forget what BP has done, in the time being, a break, if only for a moment, if only in our minds, would do us well.
Enter Landon Donovan.
His teammate fired off a shot that was deflected by the Algerian keeper, and for a moment, America, it seemed, felt as though that was the clincher. Our team would exit Group C, with nowhere to go but home, without a loss, but without a win.
Then Donovan appeared, and the net was open, and he collected the rebound and drove the ball into the net, and every American watching in that moment forgot whatever problems they might have had. Sure, they still existed, and sure, we'd remember them later, but for one brilliant, euphoric moment, they were gone. They didn't exist. We felt nothing; we felt alive.
I didn't get to see the goal live. I saw it on YouTube the next day. It was spectacular.
Then I watched this video, which I found at Jeff Pearlman's blog, and I nearly cried.
Reader Comments (6)
Let's not overlook the fact that it is WE who are making the drilling possible, yes? "Drill Baby Drill!" That BP happened to F up is just chance. Remember the Exxon Valdez. Remember that all other oil giants are doing the same thing. BP just got pinched. Their containment policy (and I've read it), contingency plans for this kind of disaster, is the same as all the others'. America is addicted to oil. This is what happens. Same w/the drug war going down in Mexico, on our border. Who are those drugs intended for? And so we ALL bear responsibility for this, because we all use petrol.
I agree the US victory was a nice distraction, although in typical American condescending fashion Donovan went on to tell the media that the US can beat anyone and can win it all. We are an empire in quick decline, and no one seems to see that. Or seems to admit that.
P.S. I am lx69.
Great points, all of those. Thanks for stopping by.
I agree. We are declining. And our refusal to acknowledge that only keeps making it worse.
I also agree with what you said about our addiction to oil. Roger Ebert posted to Twitter a link to an interesting column by Johann Hari in The Independent: http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-we-all-live-in-an-oil-slick-now-2009644.html
It breaks down the devastation that is oil addiction, and looks at why our politicans won't let us break free from it. At least, that's what I got out of it from a first read-through. I want to read over it again soon. Alas, there's work to be done.
I love this country for everything it once stood, but I'm deeply disappointed in what's been happening with education, infrastructure, healthcare. Just look at the YouTube video you posted. It's titled: 'THE WORLD'S Reaction to Landon Donovan's..." Until 2:57 into it (Lyon, France) all the clips are from various states within the United States. How does that constitute "the world?" It is this insufferable degree of Ameri-centrism that infuriates me. We refuse to believe that other countries exist and that they matter. This is exactly how the Romans, The Greeks, The British Empire, The Soviets, saw themselves. Our insistence of fighting useless wars in countries such as Afghanistan (do we even realise the history of the demise of empires trying to conquer that country? Going back to Alexander the Great, The Soviets, etc.???) on weird, intangible and un-winable premises such as terrorism (seriously, War Against Terrorism? Never will be won, if you think about the concept of terrorism) and refusal to fund our own needs in our own country here (you mentioned in your tweets about our skyrocketing debt), makes us slaves to countries like China, Japan, Russia, the UK, and even Norway (they hold the most government-issued bonds, and therefore they own us...without them buying our bonds, we have no functioning government; we're broke!).
I am all for innovation, for finding new reusable resources and getting off oil. We have the best minds in this country; we are just ruled by multinational corporations, the finance industry, the NRA, the AARP (biggest lobbyists in Washington). Most of us are not interested in greater good beyond our homes. We are not interested in sacrificing anything. Cut off electricity or water....or electricity AND water to the average American for a week and see what happens. Cut off garbage removal for a couple of weeks and see what happens.
We used to be rough and tough peoples. We got through the Depression in the 30s, we fought and won TWO World Wars...what's happening? Are we that enamored with our comfy lifestyles? Our plasma TVs?
I totally believe we can innovate and manufacture durable goods in this country. We don't need to outsource. But companies don't want to pay. They'd rather exploit children in Indonesia and dish out a few cents per day. In the name of the Allmightee Benjamin.
Yeah. Again, I agree with all you said. Those are good points; if the majority of people here realized such things, we'd be better off.
Sadly, it's the men with money who almost always have the power. Whether it's governments, corporations, or insurance companies, everything is driven by, as you said, the Almighty Dollar. In God We Trust, our bills say, but even as a Christian, I'm pretty convinced that our nation's God isn't the one from the Bible. Or any religious text, for that matter.
No, our nation's god has no name, only a symbol. A dollar sign.
It used to infuriate me, too. I used to hate how powerless that made me feel. Then I realized the only power the government has is over the things I own, not who I am or how I feel. They can't take my peace unless I let them. So I quit letting them.
Don't get me wrong, there are definitely days, or at least moments, when I want to rail about something. It's an injustice and I hope one day it can be remedied. But instead, we'll fall in the way of the empires of old, and we'll become a continent of states, formerly known as the United States, while China takes its turn at running the world. It's a few decades off. But it's much closer than it used to be.
Meanwhile, here's to sports. If you can't beat something or fix something, ignore it and focus on something fun, right?
Just kidding about last part.
Sort of.