Let the Blogging Begin

It is Tuesday - a beautiful sunny day here in the Bay Area and I am inside blogging. Why? Because of my commitment to blog every day for the next 30 days. Earlier in the year when I did this, I couldn’t seem to find the time until after midnight. But now … I am blessed with a new Au Pair that lives with my family and helps take care of my son and other things. Whewww! It has been tough to get work done this past year without much childcare assistance. Now I will have free time to dedicate to empowering people in their lives. Yipppeee!

So … where to start? Hmmmmmm.

I did promise I would write some things about the World Cup and how it all relates to our every day worlds. Let’s start with Zinedine Zidane. An obvious choice since his headbutt hit all the major media in the U.S. after the France lost in the final.

The question is: Did France lose because he lost his temper and got thrown out? Would Zidane’s teammate had more confidence to make the penalty shot if Zidane didn’t create that headbutting spectacle that flabbergasted the audience. I was sitting in the English Garden in Munich Germany watching the game on giant TV’s with a crowd of thousands. There was such a sigh of disbelief when that happened and we watched him get thrown out of his last professional soccer game. He walked by the World Cup without even looking at. Very sad.

Throughout the tournament I have noticed a lot of this type of behavior in our male superstars. They have the championship title and millions of dollars on the line as well as an obligation to their fellow players to behave, and they still can’t seem to control their ego aggression. Whether it is the captain of the Brazil team - Cafu - yanking on opposing team player’s shirt to bring him down, or the English soccer star Rooney stomping on his competitor’s privates, or another player slide tackling his opponent, these men seem to have difficulty controlling their emotions in the heat of the game with all the testosterone flying around.

I think part of the draw for soccer is all these shenanigans. I caught a snippet of a hockey game last night and it was really brutal with all the fighting. My husband said that why a lot of people like to watch hockey. So I figured it could be the same thing with soccer. Have we really evolved that much from the Gladiator days in the Coliseum?

If you are new to soccer, you will laugh out loud the first time you see a player “draw a foul”, which means that the competitor barely touches them and they go reeling through the air and land with a quadruple twist roll screeching in pain as if they were just shot through the leg with a ten foot spear. Their gymnastic skills would give Paul Hamm a run for his money. The funny thing is (or not so funny if you are rooting for the other team) – is that a lot of time these fake antics work. That means the player gets a free kick at the goal because the ref believe the other player must have really hurt them. I have seen many World Cup games won because of this.

I ask myself, is this really fair? The good looking Portugal player Ronaldo was booed every time he was passed the ball after he pulled these drama tactics and then laughed at the TV cameras when his opponent got redcarded out of the game. When interviewed by the press, he said he didn’t care – he was pleased he was booed.

We give these superstars too much credit. We have the perception that because they make millions of dollars of year that they are somehow these demo-gods – all knowing, all powerful. When in fact, that couldn’t be farther from the truth. As a society we equate money with knowledge and even more so with happiness. Money doesn’t bring either. If anything, it could exaggerate the negative personality traits because the owner of all that cash gets the feeling that they are superior.

When you have a billion eyes watching you compete how do you sleep at night? What is it like to be a sports superstar of this magnitude? I only have a tiny bit of an inkling after receiving a little media attention with MsMoney.com and I know that personally I didn’t sleep well. Fame has its own set of problems attached with it. The money that comes with fame or success might help solve some issues in the short-run (like being able to pay the mortgage), but in the long-run it is replaced with an exponential number of new problems and things to think about that keep you up at night.

We are a celebrity society in the United States. We love to watch and read about the stars and how they spend their enormous wealth. Then we try to emulate them and buy what they buy. The problem is most of us can’t afford their lifestyles or anything close to it. However, we delude ourselves in the short term and buy a little piece of the dream on credit. And then the bills come and our smile turns upside down. Until we get a chance to enmesh ourselves into the life and times of another celebrity even if to just forget our troubles for a little while and dream a little dream.

Soccer stars are celebrities on a global scale and attract attention like nothing else in this world. (even more than Bradgelina) The good news is that most of the time the players from different countries all over the globe get along great. I love it when I see a player hold out his hand to lift up his opponent. Germany this year really focused on the say no to racism and this is a time to make new friends.



The World Cup theme song played at all the games was “Be the Love Generation” by Bob Sinclair, which strangely enough was my favorite song before the World Cup.

Right now I have a tear in my eye as the video runs in the background of me writing this. The words are so powerful. On that note, I say goodbye for today. Thanks for your patience with my rambling on without always having a cohesive theme to tie it all together. I am not writing for the New York Times afterall. The great thing about a blog is the informality.

Be the Love Generation
by Bob Sinclair

From Jamaica to the world,
this is just love,

Why must our children play in the streets,
broken hearts and faded dreams,
listen up to everyone that you meet,
don't you worry, it could be so sweet,
Just look to the rainbow, you will see
sun will shine till eternity,
I've done for much love in my heart,
No-one can tear it apart,
Yeah,

Feel the love generation ...

Don't worry about a thing,
it's gonna be alright,
Don't worry about a thing,
Gonna be, gonna, gonna, gonna be alright,