“It's no use saying, 'We are doing our best'. You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary”.
- Winston S. Churchill
“If you're not gonna go all the way, why go at all?”.
- Joe Namath
I love sports. I was kind of forced to, actually. Physical activity was the go to answer to having an active, inquisitive, tireless, yet cute, young boy roaming around the house and yard.
I had no one to play with. So, I found stuff to play with. Trees, rocks, dogs (a pack of 4 German Shepherds) , chickens (Cornish hens), rabbits (started with 2 then we started having rabbit dishes), fish (they were hidden in my tree house), peacocks (2, both males, beautiful and vicious), ducks, and Chichi the one eyed Chihuahua.
The back yard soon became too small to hold me and when I started taking apart electrical appliances, the powers that be decided it was time to let me loose on the world. It was always made sure that I always be enrolled in after school activities on penalty of death. This intervention on the part of my Mom, Aunt and Uncles kept me safe from la chancla.
My young life was filled with football, basketball, volleyball, canicas. My summers were Little League filled. Dudes and Dudettes, I was kept busy. My roster was full. Thanks to my family I am happy to say I was able to survive my childhood unscathed. Well I did get hit by a car but that’s another story.
I learned to love sport. I loved the camaraderie. I learned to move as a part of a team. My early sporting victories were shared. That sort of satisfaction only comes from busting your ass for the guy or gal sitting next to you.
Sport in general is characterized by demonstrations of cooperation, being one of the scenarios that ooze camaraderie on all four sides. When we do sport, many of our most positive instincts are awakened and strengthened, including the ability to help both our teammates and our opponents. The continuous secretion of endorphins and other natural drugs, which reinforce our emotions help us put aside the rivalries inherent in competition. Athletes are capable of sacrificing themselves for their teammates in an infinite number of situations.
That, my friends, seems to be what was lacking in last Sundays game. Everybody was there in body but not everyone in spirit. Mostly it is just details which need to be dealt with. Running the posts correctly, recouping, circulating and attacking as one. Details that will improve through practice and with time. The muscle memory of sports can be dealt with easily. What goes on in the mind not so easily.
As I have mentioned before, the suits, Amaury Vergara and Ricardo Pelaez and their team, have done a magnificent job of bringing together a fine group of young players with a world of possibilities ahead of them, who, in turn, have had the luck of being able to play and learn from another group of experienced footballers. The icing on the cake was the inclusion of Victor Manuel Vucetich and his vast knowledge of the game, an analyst, an alchemist looking for the right ingredients to turn led into gold.
So what’s the problem? Belief? It is the SPARTAN aspect of sport which needs to be worked on. The Spartan state represented the Greek archetype of a correct and disciplined community, since from its origins it directed the life of its citizens - from the moment of their birth until their death - in the inculcation of three fundamental values: courage, discipline and austerity.
The courage is there undoubtedly. No one who has fought hard to find a place in professional sports can be judged a coward. That leaves two other values which need filling. Discipline to do what needs to be done and not let their fellows down. The other is austerity which can also be interpreted as humility and openness to the needs of the team and not those of the individual.
The Campeonisimos earned that title. They did everything as a team. They cared about what happened to each other. They cared about the institution they played for and the ideals represented by the Chiva Shield. They believed it. We Chiva Brothers and Sisters de cepa believe it. Vuce’s Crew has the physical makings of a New Campeonisimo. It’s not the spirit I am worried about, it is the flesh that may be weak.
