Culture Of Blame Is Lame

My sister keeps sending me emails about how crazy Sarah Palin is and how utterly destructive (apparently) the GOP are. It's a constant stream of links to Huffington Post (now there's a site I don't get) and Daily Kos (another one I can't quite get me minds 'round) about the GOP.

I don't know. It's weird how the left (and my sister is totally leftist) focuses so much on their opponents as opposed to ensuring their own ranks is operating properly. They obsess over whatever the right is up to.

Here's why I'm singling out the left. They just managed, in the States by the way, to win an election with a charismatic figure at the helm in a landslide plus control of the house. They had control of the god dang country and they still wasted time arguing, contemplating and reminding how stupid Bush was and how the GOP is in disarray.

I keep seeing articles about how the GOP is obstructionist and this and that. Yet, very few critical analysis of how this administration fucked up the power they enjoyed - all by itself.

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Story time!

And it's sports related too!

We were a dominant team for three years. My soccer team was. I was consistently in the top three in scoring and even won a few MVPs along the way. As I've already probably mentioned in the past on this blog, Bruce Wilson, captain of Team Canada, once presented me with an MVP award at a tournament in 1986 - the year Team Canada thrilled us all by making it to the World Cup.

Naturally, we had a cross-town - well, more like cross-burrough - rival. We simply bitched slapped them every time we met. It was like that for a few years.

As it were, we spent little time worrying about them. We just went about our business. We weren't much of a trash talking team; they were though. We would always meet and discuss tactics. Stuff like that. We didn't want to be predictable. They on the other hand, were constantly telling us how we were "lucky" and in some case "cheated." Funny that. They constantly were caught inserting ineligible players into the team and lacked sufficient discipline to avoid yellow and red cards. Apparently, it was all our fault.

Lord, did they complain. Boy did we hated each other. Even in major tournaments we wouldn't support one another. Sometimes if you're from the same region or association teams would close ranks taking on teams from abroad. Not us. We felt we weren't respected and they had an inferiority complex - couldn't blame them. I'm not sure how we would have been if the tables had been turned.

Part of the reason why they kept losing was because they were a culture of losers. They were so convinced they were done wrong by they never adjusted their tactics. They kept putting the same lame ass defenders back there which we would rip to shreds every single time. The more they talked, the more we strenghtened our resolve.

I can't explain it. Anything we did worked. Any field, venue or style, it just happened for us. I guess you can say were lucky in that sense. I couldn't explain it. It's not like they had bad players. Heck, the probably had the best player of all. Some Jewish kid. He was curved balls around walls like a Brazilian.I think he split for Israel that same year or something. They were so desperate that a warm up game at an indoor tournament they let it out they had a "secret weapon from Italy." We still won. 5-0. Or something like that.

That guy from Italy? He ended up coming to my high school. He wasn't from Italy, though he was of Italian origin. And yes, he was a very good player. Like most Italians are.

Then one season- my last incidentally. They beat us two out of three. They acted like it was natural this happened. As if we never beat them. They were among the league leaders and we were languishing in mediocrity. Yet, they kept up the same terrible attitude. Still making bad tackles, mouthing off at the refs, trash talking us and all that.

They were winning and they still were unhappy.

They lost the championship that year to another one of our rivals. A mean bunch of SOBs. Working class French-Canadians with a shinny mentality. They were awful but they were the new power.

A couple of years later, one of their players recognized me at a pool hall and began talking to me. He was that team's best player and was SOB numero uno. I mean, a real bad ass. He would make our blood boil everytime.

He still was arrogant, the way he talked, but he said something that was interesting. He said, out of all the teams they played, they respected us most. We had "class" as he put it. Not like our cross town rivals who were plain uncouth. He never encountered a team with such a chip on its shoulders even when winning. No. We didn't become buddy-buddy. In fact, it was the last I would ever see of him.

Just felt like telling that story. When I see the Democrats I can't help but think of those losers we used to beat all the time. With a little attitude adjustment, they could have been good. Real good.