I
was thinking about writing this post in French, for a change, but i
realized that the people who it is aimed at probably don't read
anyway.
There's
this big controversy in France about the national soccer team and the
national anthem. To make one long story short, they don't sing it.
Apparently, only the soccer players don't sing. When you watch a
rugby match, everybody in the team sings it. Well, I normally don't
talk politics, economics or religion in this blog, let alone on
Facebook. I don't think it's the place for it. But again, it's my
humble point of view. But I've have it up to here to hear people
complaining about it so I wanted to use my blog to express what I
think about it all. OK, fine, to complain about it all ;)
I
don't care if people sing or not the national anthem. Well, I do care
a little. You're representing a country and the least of the
courtesy should be to sing its anthem. If not, if you don't feel like
you belong to that country, well, you shouldn't make the team in the
first place. But a national team is made of people who are BORN in
that country. Whereas you're from different origins is not the point.
You're born in France, you're French, period. When I was in Mexico, I
always said I felt I was born in the wrong country and I felt more
Mexican than French. But that didn't make me Mexican. And when France
played against Mexico, I felt Frencher than I ever felt before. And I
sang the anthem.
But
that's not the point i'm trying to make here.
People
complain about those players (we're talking football here, I mean
football soccer) who earns big bucks and don't honor the country
they're playing for. To begin with, 80% (if not more) of the French
team is made of players from foreign origins (and mostly people who
are the grand-children of people from countries France colonized in
the past). And when you live in a country your ancestors are not
from, you often build up a strong bond with that other culture of
yours. But again, that's not the point i'm trying to make.
If
you're tired of seeing those dumb asses millionaires representing
poorly your country and your values, then stop promoting it. Stop
watching the games on TV, stop going to the stadium, stop buying
jerseys for hundreds of euros, stop idolizing people who are incapable of putting two sentences together properly, stop treating
them like gods. You're upset they don't sing? You're upset they
pretend to be injured on the field to get a fault towards the other
team? You're upset they make 10 times a year what you'll make in a
lifetime working? Then STOP PROMOTING IT.
Go
watch your local team instead. Go cheer on people who still do it for
the fun of it and not for the money. Go take your children with you
and show them what sport spirit really is about. National soccer
teams (and i'm talking about the French one but I guess it also
applies to other countries) are not the best example you can set.
It's a bad-to-the-bone rotten mafia. Is that what you want your
children to grow up with? Thinking that if you're famous enough and
rich enough, you can get away with it all? It's the path of a handful
of people in this world. The vast majority of us will remain the
small people, with humble incomes. And sadly, we're the ones who pay
for these moron's astronomical wages. You can do something about
it. But ranting about it on Facebook and the social media won't do
the trick.
