My Dad once loaned me a book titled, "How Soccer Explains the World". The conclusions this piece of non-fiction came to were largely on a macro scale and dealt with macro issues: racism, fascism, idealism, patriotism, and a hobnob of other isms. I'm wondering if a sequel titled "How Soccer Explains Parenting" might be a worthy endeavor.
To wit: as the girls are in their nascent stages of learning the ever-confusing line between right and wrong, I'm constantly wondering if I have the proper tools to teach them what "the right thing" is. Thankfully, I now have the prism of Thierry Henry, France, Ireland, Diego Maradona, FIFA, Robbie Keane, the papacy, and the world at large to look through for the perfect analogy of how to properly decipher what to do in any number of sticky situations.
"Girls," I can now ask, as I sit them down to watch the youTube video (see below), "is the dependence on authority a valid reason to set aside your ethics?"
"Meow!" they'll likely respond.
"Suppose, then, you succeeded in circumventing the rules of society and did something you weren't allowed to: would you then blame us, your parents, for dereliction of our duty to catch you in the act?"
"Color!!!"
"Girls, are you going to try to get away with things because you think you can, or because you think I'll catch you anyway? Now be aware: it's a damning question. There is no right answer. Either you tried to do wrong and get away with it, or you were just doing it to test me. Both don't fly."
"..."
True lessons can be learned from this handball and the fallout that is still occurring. Henry admitted blame - deftly claiming, though, that it was unintentional - and capitulated that the Irish have a legitimate claim in requesting a rematch (the winner of this game goes straight to South Africa for the world cup. Heady consequences indeed). Should Henry, right then and there on the pitch, raised his own hand in fault? In every pickup game of soccer, with every person I've played with, I have no doubt that this would happen; in the absence of oversight, people will inherently fall back upon their ethics. Not even ethics, but belief in the game, in the knowledge that allowing a cheap goal will further cheapen the fabric of the sport itself. And these are pickup games, where the ramifications of a goal are about who has to walk to go get the ball.
In a telling quote which highlights exactly the moral quandry that is this goal, Thierry Henry stated that it's up to the refs to catch him in the act. Everything else is fair game. You see where I'm going with this, the lessons I want to teach the girls? And is he vindicated for admitting wrongdoing, but not until after the match? Tough questions.
I didn't used to try and transpose normal everyday life into super life lessons that I can pass on later. But I think I'll bookmark the video.
In more normal blogging news, the girls are good. There is a great deal of talking, and in the next few days I'm going to need to rundown some of their favorite phrases.
Jen was making a buzzing sound tonight, due to seeing a bee in a book. Abby, mouthful of milk and unaware of the consequences of physics, tried to buzz and spewed milk all over herself. Delightful.
Day two hundred and eighty seven.
The good replay starts at 1:00. Also note the fact that the French are totally offsides during this play. Also remember: this is to decide who goes to the world cup. And for a backstory, Ireland totally owned the rest of this match.
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