maybe I should stop listening to Ani...

It occurs to me, sometimes, that it might be a bit trite to be writing and dreaming about soccer at a time when the world is confronted with the earthquakes in China, the cyclone in Burma, and the litany of other ecological/environmental disasters occurring in the world today. The Economist, quoting Josette Sheeran of the World Food Program, labeled the global food shortage the "silent Tsunami" and violence in South Africa exposed the weakness, to everyone's deep concern, of the central government.

Yet I am writing about a small round ball. I am an avid reader of Rob Huges' column in the Herald Tribune, but he too, manages to spectacularly avoid just about all major global events, unless they are somehow directly linked to soccer. It's such a dilemma for me.

A man will go crazy thinking about all those things, all the time, though. What good is a person if they get paralyzed by fear and a feeling of helplessness to the point of inaction? Of course, this is a personal feeling, as it's not my job to convince anyone of anything, but I would rather ignore a few things and go be helpful in other areas.

Soccer, the troubling, unbelievably popular sport, is something I am good at, and can find ways to use it, to help out in places where people are not having much fun. I dare not say (anymore) that I think soccer is ever going to change the world, solve global problems, etc. It won't, if anything it might help keep the mechanisms of control and repression in place. It won't feed anyone, put a shirt on their back, or end genocide. What it might do though, is allow people to have fun - even of only briefly. It might help people forget for a moment that life is bleak. They can step onto the field and turn a magic trick, produce a volley, or just be part of something.

The paradox is still present however, even in these innocent moments. But then, it always will be, it's unavoidable. The point is that it can alleviate suffering for a few moments, and if it is done in a context where people are made aware of the paradox, then you have a chance that they will chose not to participate in its more sinister side.

So, I guess I can say it is ok to be thinking about soccer and writing about it, even in such dire straits. We of the bleeding heart variety will always be hard on ourselves for not doing enough for our fallen brothers and sisters. But we can't solve it all, so we shouldn't even try. Rather, focus on what you can do, and what might bring you a sense of achievement, and go do it.