We set aside all pending responsibilities to be certain we would be in front on the TV to watch this game, but almost before we could change the channel, the United States had scored. Then scored and scored and scored. Our gesticulating and screaming frightened the dogs almost as much as the fireworks from the previous night. When Carli Lloyd kicked that fifty-four yard goal we lost our minds. Has anyone ever seen a kick like that before? Maybe the NFL could polish their tainted image by hiring the first female field-goal kicker. Going in to the match, we didn't even know the players names, but we do now. Carli Lloyd, who had struggled in earlier matches, scored the fastest goal ever and had the first hat trick in World Cup history. Aptly named goalkeeper Hope Solo won the Golden Glove award for allowing only three goals in seven games. The US Woman's Soccer Team is the first to win three World Cups and get payback for Japan's World Cup victory win in 2011. What an inspiration this must be for young girls everywhere and for woman's sports in general. People used to criticize soccer for a lack of action- not any more.
Truth be told, I felt a lot more patriotic on the fifth of July than the fourth. I watched all the usual festivities and squirmed through Lee Greenwood singing "I'm Proud To Be An American" for the thousandth time, but I don't participate any more because downtown Memphis on the fourth of July is no country for old men. But we still ate hot dogs with relish, both literally and figuratively, and as it turns out, it wasn't necessary to go downtown at all. The continual massive explosions around our neighborhood made us feel like we were right in the middle of the fireworks display. The family pets turned into mad-dogs alternatively howling at the ceiling or trembling in fear. There was a meme going around on social media that said that on the fourth of July, the citizens of Memphis can play their favorite guessing game- is it fireworks or gunshots? I feel that Independence Day, like Halloween, is just another opportunity for grown people to get drunk and run wild. Is this the way we demonstrate patriotism? What those women did on that soccer field, playing for their country, was patriotic. The soldiers who serve us and the families that support them are patriotic. Blowing up shit is not patriotic.
In full disclosure, I'm not much of a patriot. Samuel Johnson in 1775 and Bob Dylan in 1983 said "patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel," and I tend to believe them. Most of the patriotism I had was kicked out of me during the Vietnam War era when we had a paranoid-schizophrenic president who refused to listen to legitimate protests or admit that he was wrong. I didn't feel very proud to be an American back then. When Nixon's conservative "Silent Majority" hijacked both what it meant to be patriotic, and the American flag as symbols of the divisive "my country, right or wrong" sentiment, the flag turned into a pro-war symbol or a bumper sticker indicating loyalty to the administration. It was then when I realized that you can separate love of country with whomever happens to be in power at the time. Politicians use patriotism for their own cynical purposes, so it's illogical to pledge allegiance to a transient regime with an ideological agenda. I can simultaneously love my country while opposing the politics of those who would use patriotism like a cudgel. But after that incredible victory in the World Cup, I have found something to be patriotic about- devoid of war, politics, or division- just joy. That group of women did their country proud, which is something we can all relish.
