Mama mia - what a month! The last four weeks, FIFA hitting the Americas, along with thousands of soccer fans, meant more than just mega-bucks to our economy. It was the ambassador for JOY!
The world-wide event - roughly translated as “The French Federation of Soccer Association“ - was even more than the advance publicity touted. It was absolutely heart-warming to see the deluge of visitors glomming on to the American way of life and appreciating what we have and who we are. The picture painted by some countries was patently false.
Everything, including ranch dressing, was on the winners list! The reception that America gave visitors proved why the USA is at the top of places to come and become.
On the downside, it’s particularly sad to see the current administration denounce every émigré as being unfit of citizenship. Even valid FIFA tourists were concerned about possible attacks from ICE commandos, because well, anything is possible in DJT#47’s government. Despite caution, they came anyway.
Especially interesting was seeing how team rosters included a mélange of players from around the globe, each vying against their own countryman playing against them on different national teams. No one gave an inch, and their job was to win.
Every team’s players wore jerseys with an unfamiliar name that didn’t seem like they were from that country. And they weren’t - they got recruited from around the world to boost their odds of winning the Copa Mundial!
So what? Everyone played as if their name was French or Brazilian or English, even if they didn’t look like it. That was their team for the FIFA game. They could go home and speak something else, but for FIFA they communicated. It made me - and maybe you - realize how international we all are, and how much we are all the same.
Human people. Working together, whether playing a game, or hoping to run a country equitably, all using the same rules.
Kind of like the U.S. Constitution used to be before, well - before DJT#47 tried to fix every game in sight.
FIFA officials seemed to maintain equal rules for everyone. How refreshing is that?
One sports page brief quoted a Colombian federation official stating, “Football must be a space for unity, respect and hope - never a setting for hatred, intimidation or violence, the federation said, calling on fans to ensure that sporting disappointments never translate into real-world aggression.” Amen to that.
This past month was so - nicely - different. It was touching to see 48 nations from every continent competing fiercely on the pitch (you know, the grassy field) and shaking hands with the referee who carded them when the game ended. Folks rubbing shoulders in the local pubs at every game location, and no one getting shot or bad-mouthed because they were a different color and spoke an unknown tongue.
Players and fans alike were just respected competitors jousting to advance to the next level. And having tons of fun singing their team chant or national anthem!
So I wonder, why can’t our elected representatives - at every level - do that too? Is it too late to request that FIFA be in charge of getting NATO reorganized and start doing inter-nationally what it was meant to do?
The games this year (every fourth year) were not a cheap trip, for one person or a family. Most fans were avid believers who had been saving for four years to be able to afford the multi-thousand-dollar ticket price, not to mention travel expenses while here. Tickets to the finals that happened this week were selling for $20,000 up in the nose-bleed section of Dallas Stadium (nee AT&T/Jerry World Stadium), IF they could snag one.
Maybe it’s just that international soccer sprinkles magic dust and gets spectators fired-up to bring that trophy home! FIFA puts the Super Bowl to shame in superlatives, and its operation had few hitches to mar the experience. Even the unnecessary intrusion from our president trying to alter a red-card penalty was handled smoothly by FIFA ignoring the White House call. And the game went on.
JOY has been my focus this year, and July has had its hands all over TOUCH. Certainly FIFA has touched everyone in the USA, but especially Texas being the most central site hosting nine games.
Any idea how many emotions this evoked this last month?
Touch can be physical, kissing your spouse, stroking your pet, feeling your baby’s hand clutching your pinky.
Touch can be emotional, when your heart strings are pulled seeing your loved one turn and walk away, feeling the horse you’re riding begin to gallop, or sensing the heartbeat under your fingertips.
Touch is also visual, as you reach toward a person or thing near to your heart. Touching sensations become a personal internal event.
All of which are why anything can become “touching” if it brings you joy.
Shelly has worn more hats in the communications field than Carter had pills but forgot to retire when she closed her promotions business. She earned a BA in Journalism at NTSU (before it became UNT) and has never lost her love of words.