Archives for August 2004

My sons and I recently took a rock climbing class up in the Idyllwyld near Tahquitz Rock. Our guide, Bob Gaines, is the owner of Vertical Adventures rock climbing school. Bob is a little older than me, and has been climbing and teaching climbing for many, many years. He trained Sylvester Stallone for the film Cliffhanger, and was the climbing double for William Shatner in Star Trek V (the scene where Kirk is scaling some shear granite face — as if!).

I was surprised by how safe rock climbing is — or can be. If you “fall,” your belayer keeps you from falling more than a foot or two.

In spite of the safety, there is still an exhilaration in climbing. I didn’t want to fall, even though I knew I wasn’t in mortal danger. I was determined to push myself upward and stretch beyond what I previously felt comfortable attempting.

Life, lived well, is much the same. Find someone who will be there to keep you from falling, and you are free to push yourself to new heights.

MessageCast is beta testing an interesting service for bloggers called LiveMessage. It’s a subscription service that allows people using MSN Messenger to receive toaster-style alert messages whenever your blog is updated.

If you use MSN Messenger and would like to check it out, click the bright orange “LiveMessage Alert” button near the bottom of link column on this page. You can also sign-up yourself at www.livemessage.net (it’s free). Be sure to leave a comment and let me know what you think.

I admit that I don’t follow football very closely. Here in the U.S., our professional soccer league doesn’t hold a candle to most international leagues in Europe or South America.

I’ve been told that the soccer played in the Olympics isn’t on par with World Cup play (obviously). But I was still intrigued, as many people are, by the story of the Iraq team and their success in this year’s Olympics.

I don’t believe their success is the result of anything Bush did for (or to) Iraq. I don’t believe it’s a political statement. For me, it’s just interesting to hear about a team from a culture that we’ve only heard bits and pieces from. We’ve certainly heard a lot of misinformation, and that makes me wonder about the truth.

Are the players actually from Iraq? Are they better off now in an occupied, war-torn country than they were under Uday Hussein? Are they any good, or have they just been lucky?

First, I looked at the team. They range in age from 20 to 29 (Olympic soccer rules allow each team to have up to three players over age 23). Most of them play with clubs based in Iraq, although some play for clubs in Syria, Egypt, and Qatar. The predominent club is Al Zawra, which is, in fact based in Iraq according to (what else?) IraqiFootball.com

They are understandably angered by the Bush political commercial that implies they are now “free.” In the commercial, the flags of Iraq and Afghanistan appear as a narrator says: “At this Olympics there will be two more free nations � and two fewer terrorist regimes.”

Star player Ahmed Manajid asked “How will (Bush) meet his god having slaughtered so many men and women? He has committed so many crimes.” Mid-fielder and team leader Salih Sadir told Sports llustrated, “Iraq as a team does not want Mr. Bush to use us for the presidential campaign. He can find another way to advertise himself.”

As an U.S. citizen, I’m upset by Bush trying to squeeze political gain out of an event that is intended to unite people of the world. It’s a shame to see him use a people so brazenly to advance his own career.

So clearly there is no love between the team and Bush’s policy and our miltary presence in Iraq. Understandably so.

Is the team better off? What about the stories of Uday Hussein? Were they overblown? It’s hard to say without talking to the people who were on the team.

According to Global Security,

“Uday… reigned over Iraq’s Olympic Committee. In May 2001, Saad Keis Naoman, an Iraqi soccer player who defected to Europe, reported that he and his teammates were beaten and humiliated at the order of Uday Saddam Hussein for poor performances. He was flogged until his back was bloody, forcing him to sleep on his stomach in the tiny cell in Al-Radwaniya prison in which he was jailed. His account supported allegations made by Sharar Haydar Mohamad Al-Hadithi, a former Iraqi international soccer player, who stated in August 1999 that he and his teammates were tortured on Uday Hussein’s orders for not winning matches. In 2000, three soccer players who played for a team that lost an October game in the Asian Cup quarter finals, reportedly were whipped and detained for 3 days. In 1997, members of the national football team reportedly were beaten and tortured on Uday’s orders because of poor play in a World Cup qualifying match.”

I would hope that the current team doesn’t live under that sort of fear, but is life in an occupied country much better?

Iraqi soccer coach Adnan Hamad puts it this way: “My problems are not with the American people. They are with what America has done in Iraq: destroy everything. The American army has killed so many people in Iraq. What is freedom when I go to the national stadium and there are shootings on the road?”

We need to take Bush to task for taking credit for freedom where there is none. And yes, this part-time soccer fan will cheer the Iraq soccer team on, and hope they soon have the true freedom they deserve.

Postscript — I really prefer to hear from straight from the source, rather than filtered through the distorted lens of mass media. A good example is the Where is Raed? blog maintained by a Baghdad resident writing under the pen name of Salam Pax. His insights carry much more credibility than that of any foreign report regurgitating the wire services. Anyone have any blog links for any of the past or present Iraq football team?

I’ve lamented the sorry state of Chinese fortune cookie prognostication a couple of times before. But last night, not only did I find two fortunes in one cookie, but they weren’t half bad. Could the tables have turned?

“Good Fortune Lies Ahead”
That’s not very specific, but it’s hard to find fault with it. Fortune, of course, is in the eye of the beholder. Most people will think of monetary reward, but truly good fortune can be found in relationships, in personal achievement, or many other more meaningful areas than the almighty dollar.

“Participation in sports may lead you to a lucrative career…”
On the surface, much more specific, although it performs the typical fortune-cookie side-step by adding one simple three-letter word: “may…” Now that I’m 42, I can safely eliminate a number of sports right off the bat. You won’t be seeing me in the X-Games this week. I don’t have the height for the NBA, nor the sheer bulk for the NFL. I’m not really into hockey. Soccer looks like fun, but when I was growing up it wasn’t even in our vocabulary. I’ve been playing racquetball recently (and kicking both my son’s butts, thank-you-very-much!), but it’s hard to imagine the words “lucrative career” and “racquetball” being used in the same sentence.

So what does that leave? I own a set of golf clubs. Maybe I should grab a bucket of balls and head for the driving range. Some NASCAR drivers keep trucking into their 50’s, but I don’t have the requisite southern drawl. My eldest son suggested professional dodgeball. I did love that game when I was younger, but who really watches ESPN 9 anyway?

Maybe I’ll just take the flipside of the “may” option and settle for good fortune.

I have always been, ever since my earliest memories, a very self-reliant person. My family moved from Indianapolis to Cincinnati during the summer between second and third grade. Back in Indianapolis, we were scheduled to learn cursive writing in the coming school year. But in Cincinnati, they had already learned it in second grade.

I never told anyone that I didn’t know cursive writing. Not the teacher. Not the other students. Not my parents. I just decided that I would learn it, pronto! I did, and no one ever knew my about my little foray into self-reliance.

As I’ve grown, I’ve come to appreciate the fact that yes, I can do pretty much anything I want, but sometimes help is good.

This morning near the end of my 55 mile commute to Aliso Viejo, the Big Blue Beetle had a blow-out on the driver-side rear tire. I was shifting into fifth gear, northbound on the 5 during the busiest traffic of the day. The car handled wonderfully, and I pulled over to the shoulder without incident.

Now I’ve changed many tires over the years, so that is no real challenge. But with cars and trucks whizzing by at 60+ MPH, it’s intimidating.

So I pop open the trunk and (embarrassingly) examine the spare for the first time since I purchased the Beetle. It’s a full-size spare (amazing what those German engineers can do!). I start assembling the jack when a tow truck pulls over. The honorable Bernard Aguilar, servant of the Freeway Service Patrol offers to change the tire, at no cost. I could’ve argued that I was fine. Certainly I was capable of doing the job myself. Before I had a chance to object, he was changing the tire. Bernard made the job look easy, filled the spare with air (it was low…make a note to check the spares in the other cars), and in half the time it would’ve taken me I was back on the road. He wouldn’t even accept a tip. Was his help necessary? No, but it was very welcome.

So why should I be surprised when my day ends with help from a friend? Someone who listens, who cares, and who makes you think (even if your brain hurts afterwards). Yes, we self-reliant types can go it alone, but help is good… maybe even better than good.

Thank-you, stranger. Thank-you, friend. Your help was very welcome.