World Cup 2018 Thoughts

Every four years the World Cup sucks me in.  You Tube TV was an excellent place to watch the cup, except for the outage they had in the semi-final.  I managed to catch about 90% of the game play although not all of it live.  It was a fantastic cup to watch and although most of the teams I was rooting for departed early, I enjoyed watching the action.  France deserved the victory and it was fun watching them dismantle teams (after the group stage) with their multi-faceted attack.  


VAR has been a great addition to the game.  Correcting game changing and World Cup changing bad calls has been a good thing and the VAR hasn't slowed the game down and in fact adds a little bit more drama and a greater sense of justice.  The next frontier for VAR is to review for "simulation" aka flopping on all called fouls and then hand out yellows and reds for those fakers that nobody likes.  That would make the contest even better.

Japan had some things that Mexico didn't but could have within a generation of players.  Japan almost punched a ticket past Belgium.  Coming out of the group stage, Belgium was my pick to win it all.  Japan and Mexico share the distinction of both being a big fish in a small pond.  They both easily qualified for the 2018 World Cup.  However, Mexico can learn from Japan by sending more of their players to the European leagues.  Aside from gaining familiarity by playing alongside and against the European players and teams which clearly dominated this tournament, Mexican players will pick up a different style of play.  Japan proved in the game against Belgium that they can be dangerous from outside the box and on the break-away with some amazing long distance strikes and blazing speed on counters.  Mexico needs these two things badly.  With their shorter stature they can't compete in the air game yet they keep trying.  The Japanese players have also learned in Europe to develop a hard shot and shoot the ball when they get a half good look.  The Mexican front line holds the ball entirely too long and misses too many shots it never takes because they're holding out for something better.  They also pose little threat when outside the box because they lack players that can hit a great strike from distance.

Familiarity Breeds Contempt

Today's Gospel instigated some deep reflection and understanding about many situations, current and past.  Jesus returns to his native place and in the reading, he is astounded by the lack of faith in his own home town and says, "A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house".

This often seems true in our own lives.  How often are those that understand us the least, those that we have known the longest?  Perhaps even those that are in our own family that have known us all of our lives seem like foreigners and regard us with incredulity.  I feel well understood by some that I've known less time but that are striving for the same things, those that can set aside their own prejudices to see the truth, beauty and good in my world view.  I find myself in good company when I am with people that can respectfully listen with an open heart and mind.  Those people are rare and are often the quietest voices, especially online. 

This Gospel reading also alludes to false or dated constructs we have in our hearts and minds about ourselves and others.  Sometimes a person may "reinvent" themselves or come to a change of heart but this isn't immediately apparent to the world and others see them as they always have.  This change may be perceptible to others but often others with limited or different world views may see the change but not comprehend it.  Often the only thing perceived by others is the change.  Others intuitively sense the increased distance between their own and the changed person's world view.  This breeds contempt and this gospel warns us about it.  Christians feel this contempt because as you move toward Christ you will further set yourself apart from the culture, you will be different and this difference brings with it contempt.

We see this contempt on full display in today's hyper-politicized, social media environment where an intelligent discussion is rare and posts quickly lead to personal attacks.  This is a shame because in this fallen world, we have an obscured and partial perception of reality and have something that we can learn from each other.