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I'll just be honest: I don't care for soccer. I've never liked it. Maybe it stems from the fact that my parents drug me to my brother's soccer games when we were in elementary school. I have never been so bored. When he had to come watch me play flag-football, at least he had an entertaining game to watch. You know, one where the score ended up something like 42-35 rather than 1-0.
Anyway, I married someone who loves soccer. Thankfully she just loves playing it, not watching it on TV. That significant point, I believe, has kept us from needing counseling. Anyway, all that to say, if I ever had to watch soccer - or care about it - or pretend that it even existed, I've found my favorite player (Does Pele still play? I like him too, I think...wasn't he kind of like the Michael Jordan, or Wayne Gretzky of soccer? Maybe not. Plus, I think he would be something like 86 now, so he probably isn't still playing...so I'll just stick with the guy I'm writing about - sorry for the sidetrack).
His name is Tim Howard, the U.S. team goalie.
And in the politically correct world of sports (if you want to meet the most liberal reporters in the country, check out the vast majority of sports media) where athletes get a slap on the wrist for punching, but are nearly evicted from the league for using something perceived as "anti-gay slang," this Howard guy spoke it like it is after the Americans lost the Gold Cup (whatever that is - I thought it was the World Cup?) to Mexico.
Keep in mind as you read this that the game was playing in the United States - Los Angeles, to be precise.
Goalkeeper Tim Howard was still upset after the U.S. lost the Gold Cup final, but his strongest reaction had nothing to do with the four goals Mexico slotted in his net.
After El Tri's 4-2 victory at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., Howard blasted CONCACAF officials for conducting the title ceremony in Spanish.
"CONCACAF should be ashamed of themselves," Howard said. "I think it was a [expletive] disgrace that the entire postmatch ceremony was in Spanish. You can bet your ass that if we were in Mexico City, it wouldn't be all in English.
The story went on to note how even though the game was played in California, the crowd was heavily weighted towards Mexico. And while that could be interpreted as a depiction of the concerning lack of assimilation of Mexican immigrants into the United States (and I'm not even talking illegal immigrants here), as well as the lack of love and loyalty towards their adopted country, I'm even willing to ignore that in this account.
After all, it is soccer. Mexicans love soccer. Americans don't. So, it's distinctly possible that the largely Mexican crowd was truly made up of Mexican citizens who bought tickets and made the trek to watch the game. Who knows?
What I'm focusing on in Howard's completely legitimate complaint. This was an American sponsored and hosted event. And right there in one of our largest cities, our own players had to look around at each other clueless, because the ceremony was held in a foreign language. Howard's right. If it was in Mexico City, they wouldn't have held the ceremony in English. And no one would expect them to. No one expects such a bizarre "courtesy" anywhere but the United States, where our politically correct task masters have made us feel like there's something racist to acknowledge that our language is English.
Howard's frustration is something that should extend far from the playing field. It should be felt by every taxpayer in America who is ponying up cash so that major cities (like L.A.) can print ballots, petitions, textbooks, tests, and government forms in whatever "native tongue" a person requests. To fail to do so, we're told, would be nativist and insensitive. Bull.
I'm with Howard. It's a disgrace.
