Tag: Anti-Racism

Week 25: Goals, Goals, Goals!

Week 25: Goals, Goals, Goals!

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Recap

Minnesota Aurora 5 – 1 Bavarian United (F)

Aurora managed to balance their attack again with five different goal scorers (including the usual suspects of Cat Rapp, Mariah Nguyen, Hannah Adler, Maya Hansen, and Tiana Harris). These highlights do an excellent job of showcasing Abby Ostrem and Cat Rapp providing passes so dangerous they come with a surgeon general’s warning.

Lyn Football 2 – 0 Rosenborg (F)

Rosenborg took a third defeat this season, a sign that the Toppserien is much more equal than it has been in the past. Though it was a bit surprising that the loss came to Lynn who is currently just above the relegation zone, a rare occurrence as the TrollKvinner tend to drop points to others competing for the title instead. Perhaps this is a sign that the Toppserien has becomemore competitive, and a more competitive league means more fun for everyone

Deportiva Cuenca 3 – 2 Emelec

Los Bombillos wrapped up their spring season with another defeat. They got two goals back from their early goal by Cuenca, but despite Alejandro Cabeza’s best work, Deportiva came back again and Emelec settled into 13th place.

Arna Bjornar 0 – 5 Rosenborg (F–Cup)

Lyn may just have woken up the sleeping giants in Trondheim. Pouring 5 past the weakened Arna-Bjornar side gave them a much needed boost heading into the quarterfinals. The surprising star of the show: Defender Sara Horte, who notched a defender’s hattrick just a few days after being named to Norway’s World Cup team.

RKC Soccer Club 1 – 8 Minnesota (F)

After thumping Racine by ten the last time out, the Aurora might have taken their foot off the gas by falling behind early and only scoring two in the first half. And then came six in a row in the second half. Hannah Adler and Kenzie Langdock each got a brace and the team saw Addison Weichers and Arianna Del Moral get goals off the bench.

News & Notes

Weekly Alex Highlights

It seems that big A has discovered a taste for scoring goals (3 of them). It helps when your team wins the game and you finally get a reason to gloat.

I made a lot of fatherly comments about “if you’re happy with how you played then you can always win,” and “I’m just proud that you played well with your teammates and supported them”. Which led to Alex groaning, “ugggh…fine dad, whatever.” (If only there was professional sassing, you’d be a prodigy.)

International Update

Teams are still warming up for the North American Gold Cup, and while he didn’t get on the field in Nations League finals for Canada, Dayne St. Clair will be at the ready for the second tournament.

Obviously, this comes from IMAGO (but it shows Adamu and Gregoritsch so I’m happy to provide a plug)

Fellow goalkeeper Mark Flekken also stayed on the bench for Holland and so did Mathias Ginter for Germany. Michael Gregoritsch and Phillip Lienhart did well in Austria’s Euro Championship qualifiers, getting a draw against Belgium and a win over with Sweden (they may also have made the final pitch to new Freiburg signee/Gregoritsch’s Austrian strike partner Junior Adamu). Roland Sallai wasn’t able to catch fire against Montenegro but did find the net to seal the win against Lithuana.

Beyond the west, Ritsu Doan got a goal in Japan’s drubbing of El Salvador, and Blongokhule Hlongwane put in a solid 15 minutes in South Africa’s win against Morocco, and Michael Boxall…well…

Standing with Boxy

The worst news that came out of this week of international soccer came from our favorite Minnesotan-Kiwi, Michael Boxall.

In the first half of a match against Qatar (yes, the same Qatar I snarked about all last December), Boxall reported being called a racial slur. When referees did nothing about it, the New Zealand team left the field and abandoned the match.

Qatar officials spent a couple days pretending that nothing happened, then claiming that it was just between two players, then claiming that the player in question (Yusuf Abdurisag) was actually the target of a slur from Boxall. Obviously, I’m not in a place to judge something that happened thousands of miles away, but given that New Zealand walked out when they were winning and that Boxall has never been accused of similar actions in six years within one of the most diverse leagues in the world…I have my doubts.

It doesn’t mean much, but we also stand with Boxy.

Player of the Week

As we look to honor often over looked talents, it’s worth saying that Boxy has helped lead the third best defense in MLS’ western conference (which would be even better if it didn’t have the 13th offense in the conference). But setting aside the field, Michael Boxall is imminently worthy of being saluted particularly because, in leading a protest, Michael Boxall did so much more than play a soccer game. He showed the kind of character I hope you boys do too.

Standing

Emelec will get a much needed break after their Copa Sudamericana tie this week and then it’ll be a summer of Minnesota and Rosenborg! (And a summer where Punjab keeps looking over their shoulders)

TeamWDLPPGGFAGAA
Punjab–b12232.242.290.94
Minnesota16571.892.391.14
Rosenborg156101.651.740.90
Legon Cities–b9781.421.251.29
Grenoble–b156171.341.161.13
Emelec5871.151.201.20
Freiburg–b127191.131.241.66
Alebrijes–b5581.111.331.39
Ross County–b64121.001.231.50
Vozdovac–b43110.830.671.65
Montana–b000———
Table Updated 6/22/23
b–Team is between seasons

What’s Next

Thursday, June 22nd

Friday, June 23rd

Saturday, June 24th

Rosenborg BK v. Asane (F)

Real Salt Lake v. Minnesota United (M)

Bavarian United v. Minnesota Aurora (F)

Sunday, June 25th

Rosenborg v. Sarpsborg 08 (M)

Monday, June 26th

Tuesday, June 27th

Wednesday, June 28th

Emelec v. Danubio (M-Copa Sudamericana)

Plus tracking results for Gold Cup matches and the impending Women’s World Cup.

58. Forgiveness and the Tolerance Paradox

58. Forgiveness and the Tolerance Paradox

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As you grow up boys, you should know that every thing you say and do has consequences. Missteps and misdeeds are shared more broadly and more quickly than ever. And more and more people are ready to denounce those people they find lacking.

Some see that as overreacting. But as one of my colleagues told me: If you tolerate intolerant people, then you are tolerating intolerance.

Dear Boys,

There is an ideal symbol for this debate right now in the manager’s office in Dingwall, Scotland (not far from where your centuries-past MacKenzie relatives tilled the field and apprenticed to tailors). Malky Mackay is officially the Staggies manager, and he has said and done more than a few things that are blatantly, obviously, intolerant.

These statements (reviewed in more detail here) aren’t tone deaf moments, or failures to understand. They’re straight up, no questions asked, racist, sexist, anti-Semitic, and homophobic. Mackay’s offenses are clear. But County’s hiring him is less so.

Photo from Ross-Shire Journal

If you agree that tolerating such an intolerant man is, itself, an act of intolerance, then County’s decision to hire him, suggests tolerance for those abhorrent views. Fans decision to cheer the Stags who execute his game plan suggests the same. But things aren’t that simple.

The strongest complicating force is that many people, myself included, feel a philosophical, almost spiritual calling to forgive others. I believe, truly, that others deserve not just second chances, but third, fourth…infinite chances.

That seems inherently unfair in some cases. After all, if everyone knows they will get more chances, than those who make racist, sexist, anti-Semitic, or homophobic statements/actions may never really face consequences. If people know that we’ll tolerate their misdeeds, then everything we do will enable intolerance.

But here’s the distinction I make, and I hope you boys consider as you make up your own mind: you don’t tolerate the intolerance, you tolerate the people.

The word “tolerance” has come to mean “authorizing the existence of something unpleasant”. But the word’s Latin root (and another meaning of the word) is “endurance of pain”.

There’s a flawed logic in the idea that we can authorize or de-authorize any person. It assumes that we have a power to make other people do what we want. It suggests that some people are superior to others [better, holier, etc.].

Endurance is more passive, and more realistic. We don’t like to admit or face the fact that we CAN’T change the world, or even other people. But the truth is we can’t. Sometimes, all you can do is endure the relationship with a man who makes your skin crawl and stomach churn. And that is the stage we are at with Mr. Mackay.

I don’t authorize MacKay’s statements. I haven’t found a Staggies fan yet who does. I hope the Ross County board was explicitly clear with him. I hope they made clear that any such repeated statements, in public, or in his capacity as team manager (ie. discussing players/agents/owners/opponents/fans, etc), will not be tolerated. The penalty should be swift, and immediate, including termination of contract and repayment of wages (preferably to be donated to organizations that do reflect the club’s goals and mission). Such a requirement makes clear that Mackay is being tolerated, but intolerant actions will not.

Original Obelisk to the Earl of Cromarty (Sir George MacKenzie)…endured 200 years (a smaller replica has stood for 100 years itself)

I hope Mackay does well. I hope he apologizes for his past intolerance and works to build a better community in the weeks and months ahead. I hope he coaches a team that stays up. I hope his players learn from him and grow toward their full potential. (Given his half-hearted apologies and lousy managerial record, I anticipate doing much more “enduring” than admiring, but time will tell.)

I have no power over Malky Mackay, or the Ross County board, or anyone else anywhere on the planet. I cannot authorize or de-authorize anyone. I will oppose his intolerant actions/beliefs by not paying for any County seats or paraphernalia during Mackay’s tenure. But I will endure Malky Mackay. Managers come and go, but love for heritage, love for people, love for the Staggies, will endure.

Week 24: Nevermind

Week 24: Nevermind

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Scores

Emelec 0 – 0 Barcelona SC [F]

Las Electricas showed up to play in the Guyaquil Clasico. It was only their 5th point all campaign, but even sweeter for coming against their long time rivals.

Karela United 2 – 0 Legon Cities FC

The goodtimes ran out for the Royals as Karela continued to vie for a spot in the African Champion’s League. Despite the recent strong form, Legon is still just 6 points clear from relegation with ten games to play.

Stromsogodset 2 – 1 Rosenborg BK

Rasmus Wiedesheim Paul got the Trolls off to a great start by capitalizing on a defensive mistake. But it all came undone in the last half hour when our dreamboat Kristoffer Zachariassen ceded a penalty and then Stromsogodset continued their near ceaseless pressure to win it in the end.

News & Notes

International Affairs Update

Three matches is our low mark for the year, but let’s take a moment to recognize the other players in international duty.

Asian World Cup Qualifiers

Kiran Limbu Chempjong wrapped up Nepal’s campaign with a strong showing against Australia. (Nepal lost 3-0, but making 9 saves was a pretty good shift for Kiran.) We hope to see him again someday and wish him well as he leaves Punjab.

Chang Hoon Kwon had a short shift in the lopsided drubbing of Sri Lanka and another great outing in South Korea’s win over Lebanon to top their World Cup Qualifying group (next to our most favorite-est player right now: Hyung Min Son)…Chang Hoon is, like Kiran Limbu, headed back home to play for Suwon Bluewings in Korea. But may not stay there for long.

North American World Cup Qualifiers

Dayne St. Clair didn’t get another go in goal as Canada let top keeper (and Red Star Belgade’s choice man) Milan Borjan, complete the first step and help the side get all the way in to the final stage of qualifying.

South American CopaAmerica

Getting the start in the opener of the CopaAmerica, Pedro Ortiz was unlucky to give up the only goal of the match to Colombia, and unluckier still to get zero offensive support in the match.

European Euro Championships
It’s easy to pick on him…

The Euro Tournament is in full swing and so are some of our favorite players. Well..not Christian Gunter, who has has still yet to see the field for Jorgi “Love my Boogers” Low (though let it be a sign to you that you can pick your nose and still win a world cup). Rolland Sallai was vital to helping Hungary keep reigning champs Portugal scoreless (until he left the field and they ran up a 3-0 lead). Jan Gregus got a late run out to shore up the defense in Slovakia’s win over Poland. Meanwhile in two first ever tournament wins, Phillip Leinhart kept the defensive shape while David Alaba ran rampant for Austria, and Jakku Raitalta and Robin Lod stood side by side in their victory over Denmark (though that win was…awkward).

Major Tournament Moments

It’s worth noting that Finland’s victory came after Denmark’s most dynamic playmaker (and another of our favorites), Christian Eriksen suffered a mid-match heart attack. Eriksen’s teammates wanted to play on, and Finland made the most of it…but clearly there are a lot more important things than a game winner in that moment.

Speaking of more important things: Structural Racism! England has created a routine of kneeling in protest of said racism, and…because people will do stupid things when they don’t understand something…some are booing that (notably, supporters of anti-immigrant British politics, and hard right wing Slavic countries (looking at you Hungary)). Kneeling won’t end racism, but creating an antagonistic atmosphere against calling it out actively prolongs it. So, again, Screw You Systemic Racism.

Player of the Week

With very little to choose from in the club side, let’s shout out Chang Hoon Kwon coming into his own for South Korea this last week. Well done Kwon!!

Chang Hoon Kwon in the win over Lebanon, we’ll miss him in the Red/Black of Freiburg

Standings Update

An unimpressive week doesn’t drop anyone down the standings, but Legon is right to notice that their fourth place position is slipping ever closer to the mid table.

TeamWDLPPGGFAGAA
University of Montana–b9022.52.10.6
Rosenborg BK7222.12.81.3
Emelec14671.81.41.2
Legon Cities10581.51.20.8
Grenoble Foot-b10781.481.21.1
Punjab FC–b7461.471.20.9
Freiburg–b124131.381.71.6
Ross County–b8291.371.31.5
Alebrijes-b4761.121.42.1
FK Vozdovac–b5691.050.91.6
Minnesota United2141.000.91.6
Table Updated 6/15/21
b–Team is between seasons

What’s Next

Wednesday, June 16th

Thursday, June 17th

Friday, June 18th

Saturday, June 19th

CS Emelec v. Guayaquil City FC [F]

Dallas v. Minnesota United

Sunday, June 20th

Rosenborg BK v. Sarpsborg 08 [M]

Monday, June 21th

Tuesday, June 22nd

Rosenborg BK v. Avaldsnes [F]

35. Black Lives Matter

35. Black Lives Matter

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I mean, I could write more, [and I will, it is my way to process] but really that’s it. That’s the thing I want you to learn this week.

Dear Boys,

Black Lives Matter.

I had other things to write about today, but again it seems insignificant. Like professional athletes across the country from Antekokounmpo to Zusi, sports are just a game, this is about life. It’s about serious things that at 2 years old and 9 months old you may not fathom. But you should.

Earlier this week, Jacob Blake was returning to his car. He was looking at his sons in the backseat. Boys not much older than you. He saw them, and he was shot seven times in the back. Jacob Blake’s life matters.

Blake has survived, he’ll see with his boys again, but I don’t know if I’ll ever buckle you in again without feeling the privilege that comes with just being white. Or without recognizing the privilege you have in being white. The trauma those boys witnessed chills my blood. Black fathers’ and sons’ lives matter.

They matter here.

Two nights ago, officers surrounded a man in downtown Minneapolis. A few miles from us. A few blocks from where I used to work. Right outside a Dairy Queen I would take the cross-country team too after races. The man was a suspect in a homicide, and rather than face arrest, he shot himself.

He did so next to five teens. Teens like my students who would congregate in the same spot. Teens like the ones who love every post I share of you two. Teens who were laughing, flirting, checking their reflection in the shiny marble. Teens who now have that trauma over their heads every day. Their lives matter.

We say that black lives matter not, as some pretend, because we think other lives don’t (looking at you fascist Vozdovac supporters). Not because we are being trendy or “woke”. We say it because it is true, and it bears repeating.

Mason Toye of MNUFC (Pioneer Press)

We repeat today when victims of violence suffer.

We repeat it tomorrow when the news-cycle moves on.

We repeat it in a month when the mourning stretches on for the community while others wonder why they’re so emotional.

We repeat it in a year when the bystanders confront their trauma without supports that taxpayers decline to fund.

We repeat it in a decade when those involved and those associated and everyone who has seen and feared and worried about injustice have faced it again and again and again while an ignorant and ambivalent country glides by.

Black Lives Matter.

26. Silence the Roar

26. Silence the Roar

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Dear Boys,

In soccer, as in most things, the rush of a crowd’s support is a special type of thrill.

Professional athletes know this. There are plenty of trite claims about the roar of the crowd or effect of the fans like an extra player. But it’s true. An audience can inspire greatness. It does it for amateurs and in other arenas too. My biggest audiences–a couple dozen parents at ten year old soccer finals, a few hundred at a school play, thousands of neighbors strung along a 26 mile marathon course–certainly had an effect on me. I felt bolder, braver. Every kick or joke or stride brought a jolt of excitement and purpose.

Marathon Sunday (from City of Minneapolis)

But we must do without crowds in the age of pandemic. It is strange to see players playing their trade in front of a sea of empty seats. Many leagues have turned to ambient match sounds to replace the cavernous echoing thump of cleat against ball.

Still there’s something to appreciate in the absence of crowds and something to avoid in their presence. Despite the excitement that comes with being the center of attention, never confuse a crowd’s approval with your virtue.

Think of Vozdovac, where fans have been back at stadia for three weeks (despite serious health professional opposition–because Serbia).

Racist symbols at Rad (from Linglong Superliga Youtube)

In the three matches where fans were present, we have several highlights of fan sections adorned with far right racist symbols: Celtic crosses, Confederate stars and bars, Reichskriegsflagge. While I loved seeing those behind the confederate flag go silent after a goal, I know that Vozdovac’s Invalid section use similar imagery.

That makes cringe. It also reminds me that crowds create corrupted logic. The entire stadium is a crowd. The fans use the flags. The club tolerates them. The players build affinity for supporters and their symbols. It all creates a vicious circle.

The acceptance by all parties at a stadium makes it okay to wave symbols of hate, which makes more people fly it, which makes it easier to accept. The crowd has created a mass delusion that racist symbolism is fine, because its theirs and the crowd validates them.

Those same cycles occur in our own neighborhoods as well.

Hundreds of protesters have torn down monuments to vile, bigoted, people. Statues that honor those who pillaged, murdered, enslaved, and belittled people of color deserve to come down and I’m glad they did. However, the image of toppling statues to cheers can invite a generalized belief that such grand actions do good on their own. Across the St. Croix river, Wisconsinites angry at an unjust arrest tore down sympathetic statues. They didn’t have reasons why. The anger of the crowd vindicated these illogical actions which incite more anger, which leads to more illogical actions.

These muddled motivations are nothing next to those who defend the racist symbols. That includes our president who called statues of slave holders, military bases named after traitors, and symbols of racial animosity “our beautiful heritage.” (Just to make this clear: Serbian football fans aren’t advocating for a more agrarian society and decentralized government…they know it’s a racist symbol, that’s why they like it.)

If all you want is applause, what you do to get it says a lot about you. (From the Oklahoman)

Again, the crowd corrupts the logic. A group that wants so badly to be different than the protesters ends up defending an indefensible target. A man who thrives on the applause of others lauds the inane logic, breeding more distrust and enmity because the cycle of cruelty, to a cheering crowd, to cruelty continues without end.

A group of politically engaged citizens, protesters, or soccer fans is not, by itself, a dangerous group. But confusing the collection of people with the confirmation of righteousness is dangerous. Crowds aren’t bad. What we do to join, to animate, or to earn the praise of a crowd is.

As a counterpoint to Serbian Hooligans and racist dogwhistles, consider Vincenzo Grifo from Freiburg. He has long been a top tier player, thriving on big Bundesliga stages, and appearing for the elite Italian national team.

Now, even in empty stadia he continues to do his best. Among all the empty stands, he know who he is and loves what he does. He doesn’t need a crowd to spur him on, and one goal suggests why.

Grifo (from SempreInter)

Consider the curling wonderstrike against Hertha Berlin. At a moment where many players might use the crowd to urge them on, the absence of support might mute your performance. Not so Grifo. He stands tall, delivers a great goal, and then runs to the nearest camera. He screams a greeting to his family and hometown. Even with an empty stadium, the inspiration and encouragement exists in his heart, his history, something far beyond a few thousand fans on a Friday night.

Grifo doesn’t need a crowd to do great things, and neither do you. By all means, enjoy a crowd, revel in the roar. Just don’t conflate a crowd with correctness.

24. Stick to Society

24. Stick to Society

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Dear Boys,

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been focused almost entirely on talking to you about the serious work to be done confronting systemic racism, and working to dismantle it. And yet, I also work in references to and lessons from sports.

That might seem incongruous. Serious issues deserve serious consideration, and sports is anything but serious. These are children’s games being played for the amusement of the masses. Some wonder if the distraction of sports would allow us to pursue the change we have to make.

They have a point that Nancy Armour sums up well. Too often we flip past the dire news of death, destruction, and dehumanization in favor of a quick recap of the days scores and highlights. We shouldn’t be consumed with sports.

Always smile when I think of George and Timothy Weah.

But we also need to remember that without solace, entertainment, or amusement we wouldn’t have the capacity to keep working as we do. Taking a break from the protest, even for five minutes to talk about who scored a screamer or how to contain a problem like Bayern Munich, isn’t selfish, it’s a momentary act of self-care, one that can lighten a heavy heart and give us a new way to see things. Some people find that in art, some in music, and you can see it in sports too.

Of course, there are those who bemoan using sports for anything more than the distraction it provides. There are people who want to safe-harbor of sports to shield them from the stormy world beyond. You’ll recognize them groaning every time an athlete says more than “you know, you gotta play as a team” or “we just gave it our all.” If they have the temerity to speak up, or speak out, there’s major frustration all encapsulated by the phrase “stick to sports”.

But sports have always been political because life is always political.

Sports were political in 1936 when Adolf Hitler tried to assert the dominance of the white race only for Jesse Owens to crush the Aryan champions and the world records.

Jack and the Little Colonel

Sports were political in 1947 when Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier and Pee Wee Reese stood beside him in front of every hostile stadium. (As well as in 1901 when Charlie Grant tried to play, only to be abandoned by manager John McGraw when things got tough.)

Tiny little green armbands incurred the Ayatollah’s anger

Sports were political in 1968 when when Tommie Smith and John Carlos held up black power fists to show their pride after winning medals, and in 1972 when terrorists attacked Israeli athletes at the games in Munich. It was political when countries boycotted competitions out of political animosity, and when players who came out as gay were blackballed from competition. When Charles Barkley said, “I am not a role model”, and Michael Jordan said, “Republicans buy sneakers too,” and we all rallied around the New York Yankees after 9/11, and when players on Iran’s national team were briefly banned for supporting democracy, and when North Korea’s team reported torture after losing in the world cup.

Sports are political because life is political. Asking athletes to not share opinions and simply amuse you is like asking people to shut off one part of their humanity. Asking anyone, especially people of color, to stop being human is absolutely the problem.

So, don’t stick to sports. If you stick to sports, you succumb to the distractions and abandon the work we have to do. If you stick to sports, or demand that athletes do the same, you are complicit in dehumanizing others.

Stick to society. Share sports in a society, where we unite and cheer and are inspired to get back to work. Use sports as a tool to understand society, dig deeper, and explore our common humanity. In particular, remember that those who play, and amaze, and engage our sports-loving minds, aren’t just there to amuse us. They don’t serve us. They’re part of our society. Listen to the opinions they share, and go from there.

23. Ask to Help

23. Ask to Help

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Dear Boys,

After the last three months, I know you can see the ways that life will be hard for you. Rarely have we had as long or as unsettling a series of experiences as we have had in 2020. While you are insulated from most of it now by your age, your sex, your family’s financial status, and your innocent age, I know that you’ve gathered some of the pressure that’s on your parents, grandparents, and neighbors every day.

At times like these the pressure often pushes us to do one of a few things: look outward to find someone to blame, or look inward for support. Please, please, please boys look inside yourselves and ask “how can I help?” as often as possible.

In the last week, our neighborhood has been on fire, our block has teemed with men and women carrying guns, our streets have been covered with heavy duty army grade equipment. I know you loved the sight of so many different trucks, Alex, but I also know that you saw your mama and I looking stricken, confused, and worried. Owen, I’m sure you could feel the anxiety in our arms and urgency in our whispers.

But more than think about what has happened or assigning blame for why, what matters now is helping with doing something next. This is where sports provide us with a reflection on life.

Hope Solo (Left)

When things go wrong, some players ask who’s to blame. They turn around and point fingers and demand that others change to serve them. Think about the best goalie in American soccer history: Hope Solo.

Solo was excellent for the Women’s National Team, and she knew it. If the team won, it was because she was great. If the team lost, she often put the onus on dirty playing opponents or incompetent teammates and coaches. In particular, she lambasted her predecessor (and Minnesotan Soccer saint) Briana Scurry after a 4-0 loss.

St. Briana of the Blackhart

Some people will tell you that such focus and ego is essential to being an all-time great. That may be true. Certainly Solo is an all-time legend. But sports, especially soccer, like life, isn’t about your own individual greatness, it’s about the community around you.

The most dominant player today…and Lionel Messi.

Consider the two players named the best in the world last fall: Lionel Messi and Megan Rapinoe. Each is excellent sure, and certainly, each has an ego. Messi’s competitiveness is legendary, but his memory for failure is short. He has the most goals in the history of Spanish football, he also has the most assists, providing opportunities for others and making his team (like himself) successful.

Likewise, Rapinoe is a dominant, tenacious competitor. Likewise she can be an imperious goal scorer and a tremendous distributor. But unlike the antagonistic Solo, or the quiet Messi, Rapinoe still speaks up, but does so to promote and support, rather than to diminish or blame.

She knelt to oppose police violence when no other women or white athletes were taking such a position. She questioned the expectation that her team celebrate with a divisive and crude leader. She repeatedly risks her own income to emphasize equal pay for all the women on the team. Rapinoe doesn’t just focus on her own greatness, she works for a greater society for all.

We could take this time to think about ourselves. But our discomfort doesn’t come from the peaceful protesters who camped out on our yards on Monday, or the frustrated few who broke things across the river last week.

It’s not something that the mayor, the police chief, the governor or even the president could control, and we shouldn’t waste time parceling out responsibility to them.

Even the officer, whose callous indifference to cries for help cost George Floyd his life, doesn’t shoulder the blame for our unease. We weren’t physically harmed by him and our unease is nothing compared to the Floyd family’s loss. He is simply the embodiment of a larger, heavier, inescapable system that fostered a belief that what he chose to do was right. It’s the system that makes us uneasy, and all the people, organizations, and inner voices we want to fight against that cause us this conflict.

Rather than assigning blame and absolving ourselves, like Hope Solo or our All-of-the-Credit-None-of-the-responsibility president, we can take this moment to ask how can we help. We can give, we can volunteer, we can agitate and advocate. We can assist others like Messi, we can fight for change like Rapinoe. And if you’re not sure what to do, start by asking “how can I help”, then do the needful.

22. Screw Systemic Racism

22. Screw Systemic Racism

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“The fault,

Dear Boys,

Lies not in our stars, but in our selves.”

I’ve been repeating a short phrase to you both. One that your grandparents would rather I revise, and one that some of my friends will scoff at for its timidity. Still, I want you to learn it:

“Screw you systemic racism!”

You are 7 months and 2 and a half years old. Your strengths are cuteness and innocence and your audience is indulgent. People listen to you because of what you look like. If they are going to listen, say something that means something: “Screw you systemic racism”

Make no mistake, systemic racism is why our cities are unfair, why our cities are in a fury, why our cities are on fire. It’s not because of some secret police conspiracy, or because of out of town instigators, or because of one cop killing one defenseless man. It’s because of systemic racism and all the people who play a role in sustaining it either through our words or our silence, our action or our inaction.

So say it again: screw your systemic racism!

While you do that, I have a lot to do. My strengths are privilege and power and my audience is attentive because of habit, not because I deserve it. People listen to me because of what I look like, not because I’m cute, but because I’m white, and a man, and often in a position of authority. I have done nothing to deserve this audience, but if people are going to listen I better do something that means something.

So you say it, while I do it: “screw you systemic racism”.

I am not going to post my thoughts and prayers to social media. Not going to complain or opine or theorize or joke. For too damn long I thought that was helpful, but it just echoes around my small circle, building a sound and fury while signifying nothing.

I’m going to disrupt the system. I’m going to talk with and challenge everyone: your great-grandma, your great-auntie, my cousins, our fellow citizens. I’m not going to document these conversations for the approval of others. I’m going to challenge them because for too damn long I thought that gradual references would soften them up. But that has just let them stay comfortable and let me be complacent and let systemic racism hold on longer and longer.

I’m going to listen with love to the unheard oppressed and to support and amplify their voices whenever I can. I’m not going to suggest actions, or turn their pain into my personal growth. It’s not about me, or you, or any of our stuff. it’s about the unheard, unappreciated, unaddressed concerns of our brothers and sisters who don’t feel safe, who know no peace, who can’t breathe beneath the knee of systemic racism.

I’m going to fight like hell, every day, however I can. I know education. I believe in education. I want to do what I can to fight for an end to systemic racism in education every day in my work. Through funding, through instruction, through student supports, through family communities, through personal interactions and public structures. This is my life’s work.

When work is done I’m going to fight like hell to avoid comfort, to push for inclusion, to amplify forgotten chapters of history, and to make even distractions and amusements meaningful. You may not know it, but you need it, and I need it, if it’s going to stop being words and start being reality.

And when you handle saying the words, I’m going to help you make a change too.

So screw you systemic racism.

Let’s go.

14. On Love and Change

14. On Love and Change

by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

It struck me that I ought to explain a little bit about why we cheer for the teams we do. Well, in part, it’s because I thought we ought to, and I’m the one of us most capable of complex thought and logic. But also, each team has a special something that captures part of what I love about life, and part of what makes you who you are.

So periodically (like during international breaks, long summer holidays, or say, global pandemics that completely alter everything we understand about our lives and ourselves), I want to introduce you to the teams we are tied to.

Our second team to meet: FK Vozdovac from Belgrade, Serbia. A team that reflects how we love our family.

Dear Boys,

Wherefore FK Vozdovac?

You should know that you boys are deeply loved.

Not just by your parents (obviously), or your grandparents (certainly), or your uncles and aunties both of blood and affinity. You are deeply loved by people half a world away who have never met you.

Gozpic in Winter

You are loved by your Grandma Di’s cousins Mariana and Dragana in Serbia. Their grandparents were related to your grandma’s grandparents (your great-great grandparents). Great-great grandfather Mane and Great-great grandmother Sofia Dimich left Gozpic in the Lika Valley for America and (eventually) Red Lodge, Montana.

Your great-greats were Serbs before there was a Serbia. Before the Lika Valley and Gozpic were part of Croatia, or all of these kingdoms and places were part of Yugoslavia. They were people who started over on a new and different frontier, while kept the old ways and old family close to heart. So while the family is built on love, the truth is changeable.

Mariana and Dragana don’t live in Gozpic, or the Lika Valley, they live in Belgrade. They live among no fewer than 8 local clubs in one of the most feverish hotbeds of soccer in the entire world. Some are casual. Some are legendary. For you I chose FK Vazdovac.

FK Vozdovac

Who are FK Vozdovac?

FK Vazdovac are neither a legendary Serbian side, nor are they a casual crew of weekend warriors.

“Master Daca” with a great mustache

One of the oldest clubs in Serbia, Vozdovac can trace it’s origins back to 1912: two years after your Great-Great Grandpa Dimich headed west and two years before Sofia joined him. Its one of four clubs founded, in part, by Danilo Stojanovic. The forefather of Serbian soccer ran clubs, managed teams, and even played a rather adept goalkeeper from time to time.

The Old Vozdovac Stadium

For the next century, the team bounced around lower levels of Serbian, Belgrade, and Yugoslavian leagues. It would combine and merge with several other neighborhood sides when times were tough, but results never matched their more prolific neighbors: Partizan Belgrade and Red Star Belgrade.

It was only in the early 2010s that Vozdovac became a fixture in the top tier of Serbian football. This at the same time Serbian football began to face a serious split between how much of the games were organized for the owners, and how much for the Ultra Supporters.

The New Vozdovac Stadium

Vozdovac’s new owners helped them leave behind a tiny ramshackle field, for a rooftop arena perched above a lucrative shopping complex. Their money and vision helped the team remain stable and improve their performances.

But that doesn’t mean the fans are thrilled. After all, it’s not all about the winning, and many Vozdovac fans loved the club wherever they played and however they fare. The new ownership seemed to abandon long standing traditions and stadia which smacked of disrespect to the fans. Fan support in Serbia is much more about the community than the club, sometimes to the good, and sometimes to the terrible.

The past twenty years has seen a long, long, long, long, LONG stretch of ugly events around Ultra Supporters Clubs in Serbia, especially in Belgrade (whose largest clubs Partizan and Red Star, offer the fiercest groups: The Gravediggers and the Heroes).

Some groups provided recruits for the late 1990s Bosnian genocide, others for gang violence and illicit drug deals. Some engage in grim racist attacks, others in gross assaults of opposing fans and police. Through it all there’s an ugly strain of white nationalism, neo-nazism, and criminality broadly tolerated by the government because these supporters also crack down on protesters.

How are we FK Vozdovac?

I couldn’t ignore your Serbian heritage. I can’t forget that your uncles and I had a host of Balkan coaches and classmates in Montana who taught us to love the game, our teammates, and opponents. I can’t gloss over the tremendous pride in Serbian heritage that comes out in your Grandma and her family. I won’t insult the love that Mariana and Dragana show you by inviting you to love the whole wide world of football…except their country.

But I can’t talk about the beliefs and values we hold and blithely tolerate or ignore the Ultras that make football in Belgrade so bloody and bitter.

Choosing a team meant eliminating Partizan and Red Star straight away. The rest of the Serbian leagues can’t compete with those two teams’ trophies or their rap sheets. I looked at some other teams, but FK Vozdovac stood out early because of their unique stadium and the dragon badge I thought was a great reflection of your mother’s love of dragons. (For the record “Dragana” comes from the word for precious or dear, but the word play is nice to have.)

The Invalids

Still, like seemingly all teams, Vozdovac has an Ultras group with a little more love of violence and fascist imagery than I’m comfortable with. They call themselves Invalids (far less fierce or grim than “Heroes” or “Gravediggers”), but they still encourage a fight with the police and revel in sexist chants. They loathe the club owners, but the team owners completely accept their behavior, using the Ultra’s own language to describe fans on the official team page.*

So why stand alongside “The Invalids”?

I think we should be fans of Vozdovac because it offers a strong symbol of the kind of love for family I hope you grow into. Proud regardless of the trophies. Strong and precious as a dragon, but not blind to the problems we have. Above all, like your Great-Great Grandparents, like your Grandma, your Mother, and your Aunties around the world: lead with love and be willing to change.

Football in Serbia can be an ugly thing. If we choose to ignore it, it stays that way. If we amplify the love we have for our history, our heritage, our values, we can make sure that the team isn’t just for the Ultras. It’s for all of us.

All of us

*(I recognize you boys won’t get this until you are much older, but the performative analysis of the group posted on their own website is fascinating…and not nearly as positive as they seem to think it is…)