Dear Empire United Soccer Academy of evil,
I must admit, our relationship never really went anywhere. I think we can all agree that we were never really fond of each other since day one. While you were talking about your latest lover or the next big teen heart-throb, I was thinking about the themes of the last book I had read or how I would create a time machine out of string for our next Odyssey of the Mind skit. Clearly we were on different pages.
Despite our differences, we were a team and I made sure that I worked my butt off at practice to become a better player and teammate. I made sure that I sprinted to every cone, focused on my first touch, and tried to make a perfect pass every time I got the ball. I'll admit that I wasn't the best on the team, but the lack of understanding when I did mess up felt as though a lion was scratching at my heart with every glare that you shot in my direction.
I didn't help that you all had perfect hair, makeup and clothing. While you sported the new Total 90s in the season's latest color running up and down the field like a supermodel on a runway, I wore my 3-year old adidas spikes that were ripping on the side like a bum on a city sidewalk. While you came to practice in your brand new Uggs, I wore my boots from Target, hoping that no one would notice the absent name-brand tag on the back. After all, there wasn't much money left over after you sucked thousands of dollars from my parent's wallets.
I think the thing that pained me the most out of relationship was the fake niceness that you showed towards me. Remember that time that you excluded me from your vicious circle of gossip? Or the time your smile exuded an air of superiority? Or what about that time when you looked up, and passed the ball in a different direction just so that you din't pass it to me? I'm sure you don't remember these instances, but they will forever we stored in my mind next to the day of my first communion, 9/11, and my first concert.
Then there was the time commitment. My social life was nearly obliterated when I joined the squad. The phrase, "I can't, I have soccer" poured out of my mouth on a daily basis, even though I dreaded going to practice everyday. My stomach would churn with anxiety hours before a practice due to a fear of the unknown. What mistakes would I make? Would I have a partner for the drills? Would I get yelled at? The questions filled my head.
And so, as the season ended I knew that our relationship would have to be terminated for my sake and for yours. I guess this decision would be a lot more difficult if we had had more tallies in the win column, but alas we did not. I know my departure will be filled with adjustment for both of us as you will have to find someone new to blame everything on, and I will have to get used to playing soccer without the constant anxiety paralyzing my body, but I sure that with persistence we'll get through this. Although I'd love to reminisce about our not so fond times together, I must run.
Literally, my track team's counting on me.
Abby
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Sweet Revenge
One way or another I'm gonna find you. I'm gonna getcha getcha getcha getcha.
I'm sure you've got this popular revenge song by Blondie is stuck in your head right now. You're welcome. Although we all hate getting songs stuck in our head, it seems that often times we find ourselves listening to bitter anthems that encourage a fire to burn inside of us. A fire that says, "you hurt me and now you will pay." Although we've all been taught to turn the other cheek and do unto others as we would want done to ourselves, we've all gone through times in our lives where we want to get back at someone.
I'm here to tell you that a desire for revenge is not always a bad thing. Especially during sports.
Ever since I can remember, one of my mom's favorite sayings was "two wrongs don't make a right." And in general, I whole-heartedly agree with this statement. However, during the sport of track and field, I believe that it is my spirit of revenge that makes me as competitive as I am, thus making me a beter runner. During my track career, I am ashamed to admit that more than once someone has beaten me at the line and I've been hundredths of seconds away from coming in first, or scoring points from my team. But, I can also tell you that every time a situation like this occurs, I will remember the person that edged me out, and the the next time that I race her, I will push harder and make sure that if she does beat me again, she's going to have to earn it. It's the revenge inside of me that gets the adrenaline in my body pumping and puushes me to run harder the last fifty meters. It's nothing personal. I just want to win. And in order for that to happen, people have to lose.
The same thing is true for me in soccer. If an opponent gets by me, or if I get beat, you better believe that the next time that me and the same opponent are in a 1v1 situation, I will be the one that come out with the ball. It's that revengeful attitude that fuels me into doing well in a game where the one who has more gut and and wants it more is the one who usually comes out on top. Every time I get beat, it's revenge that gives me that extra bit of energy that is needed that makes me a good athlete.
Take Abby Wambach, United States Women's Soccer National Team Player, FIFA Woman Player of the Year in 2012, and my favorite soccer player ever, for example. Abby is a fighter, and when the USWNT lost to Japan in the World Cup in 2011, it was Abby that made sure that when the 2012 London Olympics rolled around, the United States team would end up on top.
Abby Wambach and USWT Seek Revenge in London | Video - ABC News
Abby Wambach probably had a lot of respect for the women on the Japan team. But that didn't mean that the fire of revenge did not burn inside of her every day for a year, encouraging her to work hard and make sure that the US team would bring home a gold metal. And that's exactly what happened.
There's no doubt that revenge has even been around since the 16th century when Shakespeare was writing Hamlet. In this play, Hamlet, after much debating, decides that he must seek revenge in the name of his father by killing his uncle Claudius, the man that murdered his father. A bit more of an extreme example of revenge as compared to playing soccer, huh? In killing Claudius, Hamlet is also getting revenge on his mother because she married Claudius a few weeks after King Hamlet's death. Hamlet is hurt that his mother would do such a thing, and killing Claudius will allow him to make her feel the same pain that he feels by her actions. Hamlet feels that the only way to make the situation right, is to, "give Claudius a bit of his own medicine."
We all feel revenge. And whether we use this feeling for good or for bad is up to us. Sure, the next time I get beat in a race I'm going to feel revengeful towards my opponent, but I'm not going to go as far as to murder her like Hamlet plans to do.
I am however going to say, "So What?" You Oughta Know that next time we meet, you're going down.
Sources:
Abby Wambach and USWNT Seek Revenge in London (ABC News)
"So What?" (Pink)
"You Oughta Know" (Alanis Morsette)
"One Way or Another" (Blondie)
I'm sure you've got this popular revenge song by Blondie is stuck in your head right now. You're welcome. Although we all hate getting songs stuck in our head, it seems that often times we find ourselves listening to bitter anthems that encourage a fire to burn inside of us. A fire that says, "you hurt me and now you will pay." Although we've all been taught to turn the other cheek and do unto others as we would want done to ourselves, we've all gone through times in our lives where we want to get back at someone.
I'm here to tell you that a desire for revenge is not always a bad thing. Especially during sports.
Ever since I can remember, one of my mom's favorite sayings was "two wrongs don't make a right." And in general, I whole-heartedly agree with this statement. However, during the sport of track and field, I believe that it is my spirit of revenge that makes me as competitive as I am, thus making me a beter runner. During my track career, I am ashamed to admit that more than once someone has beaten me at the line and I've been hundredths of seconds away from coming in first, or scoring points from my team. But, I can also tell you that every time a situation like this occurs, I will remember the person that edged me out, and the the next time that I race her, I will push harder and make sure that if she does beat me again, she's going to have to earn it. It's the revenge inside of me that gets the adrenaline in my body pumping and puushes me to run harder the last fifty meters. It's nothing personal. I just want to win. And in order for that to happen, people have to lose.
The same thing is true for me in soccer. If an opponent gets by me, or if I get beat, you better believe that the next time that me and the same opponent are in a 1v1 situation, I will be the one that come out with the ball. It's that revengeful attitude that fuels me into doing well in a game where the one who has more gut and and wants it more is the one who usually comes out on top. Every time I get beat, it's revenge that gives me that extra bit of energy that is needed that makes me a good athlete.
Take Abby Wambach, United States Women's Soccer National Team Player, FIFA Woman Player of the Year in 2012, and my favorite soccer player ever, for example. Abby is a fighter, and when the USWNT lost to Japan in the World Cup in 2011, it was Abby that made sure that when the 2012 London Olympics rolled around, the United States team would end up on top.
Abby Wambach and USWT Seek Revenge in London | Video - ABC News
Abby Wambach probably had a lot of respect for the women on the Japan team. But that didn't mean that the fire of revenge did not burn inside of her every day for a year, encouraging her to work hard and make sure that the US team would bring home a gold metal. And that's exactly what happened.
There's no doubt that revenge has even been around since the 16th century when Shakespeare was writing Hamlet. In this play, Hamlet, after much debating, decides that he must seek revenge in the name of his father by killing his uncle Claudius, the man that murdered his father. A bit more of an extreme example of revenge as compared to playing soccer, huh? In killing Claudius, Hamlet is also getting revenge on his mother because she married Claudius a few weeks after King Hamlet's death. Hamlet is hurt that his mother would do such a thing, and killing Claudius will allow him to make her feel the same pain that he feels by her actions. Hamlet feels that the only way to make the situation right, is to, "give Claudius a bit of his own medicine."
We all feel revenge. And whether we use this feeling for good or for bad is up to us. Sure, the next time I get beat in a race I'm going to feel revengeful towards my opponent, but I'm not going to go as far as to murder her like Hamlet plans to do.
I am however going to say, "So What?" You Oughta Know that next time we meet, you're going down.
Sources:
Abby Wambach and USWNT Seek Revenge in London (ABC News)
"So What?" (Pink)
"You Oughta Know" (Alanis Morsette)
"One Way or Another" (Blondie)
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
This Blog is Not About Satire
Satire-the
use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's
stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and
other topical issues
Let's
face it. A large majority of us, myself included, do not undertand satire
at first glance (or second or third or fourth glance). Although difficult,
satire is used in our everyday lives, and can be very effective in opening
people's eyes about different themes. That is, if they understand
it.
I'll admit, satire is a very effective literary device to use if you want to get an important message across. But it also can create some problems. Let's take the articleNewest GOP Attack on Women: Just Say No To Tampons that was posted just before the 2012 presidential election. The article was posted on the website freewoodpost.com, a website known for satire. The article says that Governor Romney was looking to ban tampons. He is even quoted to have said, "It is unnatural for a woman to insert a foreign object into her body for the sake of stopping the menstrual flow. I, as well as several others seek to eliminate the sales of such objects. Women should let nature take care of itself the way that our Almighty Creator intended." Now, this seems like an impossible task, but many American took this to be true. Twitter blew up with tweets from people such as "Hey Romney why don't you sit in your own blood and filth for a few hours and tell me why tampons should be illegal" and "if romney bans tampons i will menstruate on his face" just to name a few. Although it would have been very interesting twist to the presidential debate, this article was published mainly to criticize how absurd Romney's "war against women" was.
I'll admit, satire is a very effective literary device to use if you want to get an important message across. But it also can create some problems. Let's take the articleNewest GOP Attack on Women: Just Say No To Tampons that was posted just before the 2012 presidential election. The article was posted on the website freewoodpost.com, a website known for satire. The article says that Governor Romney was looking to ban tampons. He is even quoted to have said, "It is unnatural for a woman to insert a foreign object into her body for the sake of stopping the menstrual flow. I, as well as several others seek to eliminate the sales of such objects. Women should let nature take care of itself the way that our Almighty Creator intended." Now, this seems like an impossible task, but many American took this to be true. Twitter blew up with tweets from people such as "Hey Romney why don't you sit in your own blood and filth for a few hours and tell me why tampons should be illegal" and "if romney bans tampons i will menstruate on his face" just to name a few. Although it would have been very interesting twist to the presidential debate, this article was published mainly to criticize how absurd Romney's "war against women" was.
Another example of Satire in our everyday lives is the novel The
Hunger Games. Unbeknownst to many, The Hunger Games is
not just a story about teenagers fighting to the death. It also has a
deeper message that is enhanced by the author, Suzanne Collins', use of satire.
The novel dives into the corruptness and over-extravagant lifestyles of
those who live in Hollywood, which parallels life in the Capital. The
novel also criticizes how controlling the US government is with it's
portrayal of the gamekeepers. Those who don't live in the Capital and aren't
Gamekeepers are seen as being so unworthy that they must be possibly
chosen to fight to death. Suzanne Collins' satirization of modern society
is very accurate, and has really opened the eyes of many. Yet still some people
don't understand the satire in the novel, and more or less think that the
novel's purpose is to promote fighting as entertainment. A mother
criticized a school for allowing students to read the nove,saying , “Twenty-four children are
pitted in a life-or-death struggle with each other. The reason? Entertainment.
That’s sick….You guys don’t want Columbine, but you’re putting forth material
that will totally desensitize the children to murdering other children." Clearly
this woman did not understand the satire in the novel, and the lessons that
could be taught from reading the book.
The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn is well known for having satire throughout it. Mark Twain,
being the literary genius that he was, knew that he had to creatively critique
society without offending anyone, so he turned to satire. After all, he
probably knew that most people would not understand that their society was
really being made fun of, and he would still be able to talk about
sensitive subjects such as slavery and racism. From the very beginning of
the novel, Twain satirizes how corrupt Christian society is by
including Miss. Watson. Although she is supposed to be a good Christian
by treating other's the way that she would want to be treated, she owns slaves.
He also uses satire when the Granderfords and the Shepardsons are
introduced. The families are fighting to the death over nothing.
This criticizes how irrational people of society can be when
they get angry. Again Twain uses satire with Tom Sawyer, who always talking
about murdering and killing people like real robbers, but ends up just
pretending. This is bringing up the fact that many times people say that
they are going to do something, but are too coward to do anything. Through
these uses of satire, Twain is able to get his point across about society while
still being witty creating a well developed plot.
I think that we can all agree that satire extremely difficult
to understand. It is often misinterpreted or just simply
overlooked. However, when used correctly, satire is extremely effective
in criticizing society in a humorous and funny way.
Although satire is difficult to understand, our lives are way
more difficult as seen by this extremely accurate video!
Sources:
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