And I was complaining about OUR sports?????

Chanting "Osama, Osama". Pelting players with objects. Riots in the streets and in the stands. Government officials publicly berating teams for losing. This is the all encompassing, world wide sport of soccer, or Futball as it is known everywhere but here. We are sheltered. We have our own sports. Ones that we made up. Soccer is not one of those games. The Osama chants? Not from a Middle Eastern country in a world cup match. MEXICO! You know, the country kind just under us. The country where hundreds flee through OUR borders daily. Yet our soccer players are treated to this just because we play a match against our southern neighbors. Wow. I was complaining about Barry Bonds a few days ago. I apologize for making Barry's childish remarks and pouting seem important. I did a bit of research about the international "sport" and found out that there are people, towns, cities, and even countries that shut down when a match is taking place. A government publicly admonished the players for losing on its state run TV show. The post game rioting was THIER fault for not winning the match. They will pay for thier failure. I am sorry, I know this has been going on for years and years but it kind of put things in perspective for me when I read the latest news blurb after I ranted about Barry. True he might be a baby. True he is overpaid. But we don't riot in the streets when his team loses. We invite our WINNERS to meet the president. They have a parade. They give the pres a jersey (which by the way is one of the cooler perks of THAT job). But we do not trash our capital city and then have W tell the team that they are losers of the worst kind as every citizen watches.

I am sheltered. I admit that. I have been to Mexico, a couple of times, but never to Europe or any place else across any of the ponds that seperate us. Therefore I have no idea of the furvor this sport holds in other areas. We are a different country, sports-wise. We pay our professional athletes, very well. We hold them as idols, as role models, even if they don't want to be or don't deserve it. We have several sports that any child can choose to participate in. Baseball, Football, Soccer, Basketball, Water Polo, Racing, even Ping Pong so I guess having just one and concentrating all of my emotional energy on that one is foreign to me. But I do know that an athlete, any athlete that tries and fails has done just that, tried.