But it has felt like there has been a theme developing…

I remember Sean Penn getting upset for the Academy Award for Best Actor award a few different times over the years, most notably for his role in I am Sam in 2001. I also remember that he finally won the award in 2008 for the film Milk, so I figured it was probably worth watching. It turns out that the movie is based the true story of the first openly homosexual elected official in the city of San Francisco in the 1970′s. The acting was nothing to get excited about, but I found myself really engaged in the story.

A film about the discrimination of homosexuals? Hmmmmm….

Sometime this summer, I caught part of an interview with Colin Firth on NPR’s Fresh Air mid-day program. It was the type of interview that has you sitting in your car for a few minutes after arriving at your destination, just waiting for something to break your interest free. He was speaking mostly of his motivation and experience in playing the title role in the 2009 film A Single Man. A couple of weeks ago, I decided to see this film for myself, my interest being piqued from the interview. While the cover of the film just shows Firth in the foreground, with a woman nuzzling his neck in the background, I didn’t know what to expect from the movie, other than this character being single, or (gulp) becoming single. This time, it turns out that Firth’s character is a closeted homosexual man, struggling in seeming solitude over the sudden death of his long time boyfriend.

A film about a homosexual man grieving the loss of his lover, with fear of judgement and persecution from society? Hmmmmm… Maybe there is a pattern forming here.

Penn and Teller have a controversial show on Showtime, designed to challenge and frustrate the status quo. They take many cherished and popular ideas and beliefs, examine them, and then finally pronounce them as B.S. One episode recently took the Boy Scouts of America to task for discriminating against homosexuals and atheists. The basic premise of their argument was not that discrimination was never acceptable, just that organizations that are government funded should not do so. It’s a fair point, and one that led me into a nice little debate on Facebook with some Christians who were appalled by President Obama’s choice to appear on the view instead of at the Boy Scouts’ 100th Anniversary Jamboree.

Christians wanting the President to support an organization that openly discriminates against homosexuals? Egads! The stars are beginning to align!

As I scoured the T.V. series shelves for the next season of Penn and Teller’s B.S., I came across an interestingly titled show called One Punk Under God. It’s a six episode reality show, documenting one eventful summer in the life of Jay Bakker, son of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker. It was a pretty riveting series, with several intriguing and fascinating story lines. In keeping with the theme of my summer, Jay (who is a preacher at a church in Atlanta) is grappling with the issue of homosexuality and the Christian church. If he goes with his heart, and announces a complete acceptance of homosexuals into his church. None of this “love the sinner” language. We’re saying that homosexuality is not a sin. Jay’s apprehension of fallout and the actual fallout are worth the time it takes to watch this show. I highly recommend it. In fact…

God has told me that homosexuality is a beautiful form of love between two people and that the church needs to reconcile it’s beliefs to reflect this! All the signs point to this! It has to be true!

This was confirmed for me when a friend from bible college posted this video by America’s Best Christian, explaining the biblical view of marriage.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I shared it on my Tumblr feed, and it subsequently garnered 300 times more attention than my next highest tumbl. (Really? Neil Patrick Harris posting a self picture with a double rainbow gets no love? If you still don’t know about the double rainbow, click here. Whatever. I digress.) So what if that was only 300 notes? It was a big deal to me.

You know how sometimes it seems like fate/destiny/the universe/God is really trying to get your attention with something by bringing it in front of your face over and over and over again? It almost feels like some sort of invisible hand is trying to give you a “sign” that you are supposed to acknowledge? Well obviously I’ve been having some of that lately, and it all came to a head this week, with the revocation of Proposition 8 in California that had previously banned gay marriages.

Does all of this sound a little fishy?

This is the part where I confess.

I should admit that I don’t believe in these cosmic signs some sort of transcendent meaning. Well, I guess I do believe in the transcendent meaning part, except I believe it to be completely a psychological phenomenon based on the function of the reticular formation of the brain. We give things meaning, and then they seem to jump out of the bombardment of stimuli that we see, hear, and smell as we live our lives. We decide that something is important (even at a subconscious or barely conscious level), and we start to see it everywhere. We make all of this transcend everything else we experience.

If you give a crap about civil rights in general or homosexual rights in particular, your feelers start to tune in to anything and everything that could help to inform or fortify your opinion. At least, that’s what my summer has been filled with. Every summer needs a theme. This is mine. Love who you love, and I will support you.

This week, Interview with the Vampire author Anne Rice officially outed herself from Christianity. Naturally, she did so via her Facebook wall. Here is the text of her post:

“For those who care, and I understand if you don’t: Today I quit being a Christian … It’s simply impossible for me to ‘belong’ to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten years, I’ve tried. I’ve failed. I’m an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else.”

Conscience? What exactly is it about Christianity that violates Rice’s conscience? Well, a few hours later, she posted this:

“As I said below, I quit being a Christian. I’m out. In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life. In the name of Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen.”

Much like her return to the Roman Catholic church a decade ago, her stark about-face in regards to the church has stirred up a bit of discussion and opinion. Many wondered if she was mocking Christ and returning to her atheist beliefs of yesteryear. Again, via Facebook, Rice offered additional insight into her decision and her remaining devotion to the “Christ” of Christianity:

“My faith in Christ is central to my life. My conversion from a pessimistic atheist lost in a world I didn’t understand, to an optimistic believer in a universe created and sustained by a loving God is crucial to me. But following Christ does not mean following His followers. Christ is infinitely more important than Christianity and always will be, no matter what Christianity is, has been, or might become.”

A friend of mine on Facebook compared her comments to those of Ghandi, who famously repudiated Christians, while embracing much of the philosophy of Jesus. Other friends of mine cannot understand how one can embrace the teachings of Jesus without joining his followers as well.

It’s a pretty fascinating concept to wrestle with. Are you a Democrat if you support President Obama? Are you an anti-Semite if you support Mel Gibson? What if you happen to like Mel Gibson’s movies? Does appreciating Tom Cruise’s role in Interview with the Vampire mean that you need to embrace Scientology as well? And now we’re back to Anne Rice.

A local Christian church had a sermon series a few months back with the title “Fan or Follower”. It was designed to separated the sheep from the goats, and the faithful from the attenuated. The desire was to elicit a hardy response of  ”Follower!” to the not so rhetorical question of how one should respond to Jesus. It was very much a situation of “either you are for us, or you are against us”. It was a significant souring point on my own relationship with the church, which I discussed in a little more detail here.

So, Anne is a fan of Jesus, but does not want to follow him along with any fellow followers.

Sounds fair to me.

We all know that gaps are out there.. We’ve all read, seen, heard, and told stories with gaps-a-plenty.

It’s kind of like Indiana Jones spelling the name of God with his feet, in an effort to save his father. It’s sort of like Alice hopping from mushroom to mushroom, seeking out the wisdom of the caterpillar. It’s almost like a couple of 12 year old boys capering up a stream, hoping to eventually reach the source. All of these examples depict a character who is aiming for surety of step, mindful not to fall into the abyss, grass, or water, respectively.

The places where we aim our feet are absolute. They don’t shift or wobble as we put out weight on them. When we finish our night of sleep, we can lift our eyes with confidence that our pillars of truth will remain… and remain steadfast.

These islands between the gaps seem to make up our conscious beliefs. These are the truths, and while we may not hold them to be self evident, they are evidentially true for us. We order our steps and our entire lives in concert with these pillars.

But what about those gaps?

While the absolute journey of life and is sovereign in a way, each gap between those sure steps holds its own excitement (and treachery).

There seems to be something in our human nature that compels us to map out the world we find ourselves in. Maybe I’m using the journey metaphor too liberally here. Maybe it’s more like there is a need to develop an instruction manual for as many of the situations of life that get thrown at us. After all, if we have a comprehensive system for dealing with anything, then nothing can surprise us (or hurt us). Right?

But how much fun is it to live in the gaps for a while?

The older I get, the more I learn about my previously unmalleable, unchangeable, and immovable truths. It turns out that they weren’t as steadfast and inalterable as I had believed and hoped. All the counsel I received rang the tone of “If you don’t stand for something, then you will fall for anything.” Maybe there is some truth to that, but what if I fell for something untrue in the first place?!?!?

Gaps used to terrify me. I had no idea how to deal with the uncertainties that were forced upon me.

Sink or swim.

Fight or flight.

Or… just float.

Floating in this haze actually isn’t that bad! If some of my stepping stones are no longer true, and the truth is indeed out there, then maybe I’m just too blind to see it with the way I currently know how to see. Maybe I’ll bump into it amidst the murky waters abound in these gaps I find myself in.

For now, I’m just tickled to know that leaving the safety of the “truth” hasn’t lead to my death like I had feared. I’m sure I’ll find something new to step on soon enough.

In the past couple of weeks, I’ve come across two news articles, with very different examples of interaction between Christians and atheists.

The first one was written by Tom Krattenmaker of USA Today. The title of the article is How to sell Christianity? Ask an Atheist. The gist of the story is all about the new approach to evangelism being espoused by Jim Henderson. Henderson is a Seattle Christian who has embraced atheism as key to understanding why old argumentative approaches have become increasingly “more likely to repel than persuade”.

Buying a soul on eBay

Henderson famously purchased the soul of atheist Hemant Mehta on eBay, in order to get his perspective on the Christian church. Mehta wrote a book about what that experience did for him, while Henderson hired another atheist to travel with him to Christian churches around the country, and wrote a book about all of it. From what I have gathered from the reviews on Amazon, it sounds like both books are positive and even-handed, not looking to prove one side right, but seeking truth in our religious mire.

For what I understand about Jesus, and from the experiences that I have had with Christians, Henderson’s behavior is in line with what I would expect Jesus to do if he were alive today in those circumstances. The whole “What Would Jesus Do?” discussion would look favorably on this guy, in my opinion.

One Nation, Indivisible

In North Carolina, an atheist group displayed the words “One Nation, Indivisible” on a billboard next to the Billy Graham Parkway in Charlotte. The phrase is a part of the Pledge of Allegiance and intentionally leaves out the words “Under God”. These words were added to the pledge in 1954, and have been debated in different ways by different people ever since.

The new controversy is due to graffiti sprayed on the sign a couple of weeks ago, with the words “Under God” added back into the phrase. The debate at hand is whether or not it is appropriate for God followers to deface property, in the name of their god.

The North Carolina Secular Association (the group responsible for the original sign) wants to display their view that the Pledge of Allegiance should not include any language that respects a particular religion. They would rather have the pledge be neutral about any gods, and therefore be silent about the mention of any deities.

In a general sense, Christians are a majority in America, and a large part of democracy is majority rule. There are many Christians who believe that their majority views should be legislated or mandated upon the entire nation. They do not see loyalty to God and loyalty to the United States to be in conflict. To be a good American is to acknowledge God as the protector of it, according to some.

I would have to say that such behavior is not in accordance with the descriptions and understandings of the biblical Jesus. Jesus would not be a political “tagger”. As one quote from the article suggests, perhaps Christians should develop a new bracelet, saying: “What Would Jesus Spray Paint?”

Believe it, or not

Christians of the Arminianist tradition believe that belief in God is a matter of choice, and that such choices are personal to each individual. If Christians want to perpetuate a culture of being able to believe in God, and believe in him in a manner of their choosing, then they need to support those who believe differently. Without the possibility of dissent, there would be no point to discuss or deliberate the merits of Christianity, as a choice.

Many will remember Voltaire’s famous quote:

“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

Do Christians feel so strongly to defend the rights of atheists?

To offer an answer to the title question, I believe that everybody needs an atheist in their life. No man can see everything around him, and if everyone you know is shining their light in the same place, how will you be able to see the rest of the world around you?

I often get my words confused. I am prone to becoming drunk with the potential power that the right words can provide to the right prose. Communication is all about pictures, and the emotions that those pictures bring to us. If a word creates a certain picture in your mind, and it turns out that you got that word wrong in the first place, it can be quite difficult to amend that picture.

For me, that word is often times: aficionado.

The cause of this confusion is probably due to the contents of the magazine Cigar Aficionado. It’s pages were filled with words like veiny, nutty, full-bodied, and other descriptions of cigars that might as well been written in Icelandic. Because I could not be sure what all of these words referred to to, or even meant, I assumed that one needed to be an expert in order to enjoy such a magazine. With that, I concluded that the word aficionado surely referred to some sort of professional knowledge holder or wise sage (in terms of cigars in this case).

In actuality, aficionado is really just a synonym for fan. Seriously, look it up. No word from Facebook if they considered replacing “Become a fan” with “Become an aficianado” before settling on the “Like” button.

Being an aficionado of LOST

I adore LOST. I ridiculously love it. I’ve shared my love of LOST with so many people, I am practically an evangelist for it. I literally named my daughter Evangeline, not just because she was “good news”, but because I wanted a significant way to acknowledge the impact the show has had on my life (my wife was also smitten with the beauty of the name, but that’s a minor detail).

The pilot episode of the show was eyeball-widening intense; with big-budget, high-quality special effects, terrifying moments of near-death and actual death, convincing pathos in many of the characters, and probably most important of all: plenty of mystery. A giant man-chomping monster, a mysterious radio signal on a loop for 16 years, and a polar bear running through the forest. They were all WTF moments at their head-scratching finest.

But the biggest mystery of pilot, and the one question that was begged by the title itself, was whether or not these people would be found. Would they eventually get off the island?

All of these holes in the story created a huge gravitational pull for me to lean in, to continue watching, and to hope beyond hope that everything would turn out OK. But my hopes were not just fed by the new illumination of the continued narrative each week… my imagination ran wild with possibilities and theories of “the truth”. In those dark places, where certain details of the story had not yet been told, I could hardly stop myself from coming up with reasonable and not-so-reasonable solutions to the puzzle.

When the finale of the third season of the show turned out to be a flash forward, giving us a glimpse into the future, the found question of LOST… was finally answered. The gap in my mind was filled with “the truth”, but somehow I still wanted to know more. I was still leaning in, I was still watching, and I was still hoping that everything would turn out OK. I cared about the characters. I cared about the minutiae. I cared about all of it.

As the show was drawing to a close earlier this year, I felt myself dreading the new gap that was imminently creeping up in my own life: a world without LOST. Gaps and holes are fine, as long as there is a starting point, and a finishing point. Open-ended questions can be maddening and neurosis inducing. Although life before LOST was wonderful and fulfilling, the idea of never hearing that spooky title frame sound left me close to despondent. Beginning a gap that never ends is like a death.

When the show finally did come to a close several weeks ago, a number of people were disappointed. While everything did turn out OK for the main characters, some fans did not appreciate the final 15 minutes, which seemed to imply a sort of do-it-yourself spirituality, in which any and all religious or spiritual belief eventually leads to a self-created place of paradise. Other viewers were stunned by the fact that a large number of questions (holes and gaps) went unanswered. Many of these folks were disappointed to find out that a specific element of the story which was particularly meaningful to them, was ignored or poo-pooed away.

Personally, I was extremely satisfied with the finale. Although I had my own theories along the way, and I had my moments of jubilance when I happened to be “right” with one of my predictions, I was prepared to be happy no matter what. Somewhere along the way, I had given up the reigns to my enjoyment of the show. I consciously relinquished my role as an objective viewer, and became a homer for whatever the writers put in front of my face to enjoy. My love was blind, and I didn’t care where it let me. Whether the gaps were filled or not, my mind was set, and I was determined to enjoy all of it.

So, as future without LOST has now become a present without LOST, you may not be surprised that I don’t believe that it is really over. My mind gave the world of LOST considerable meaning to me, and that same mind cannot let it go. I don’t want to believe that it is over. The endless gap that started at the culmination of the series is unacceptable for me to suffer.

Since much of the value of LOST during it’s run was subjective and self-created (like the postmortem paradise of the finale), why can’t I manufacture my own hope for the narrative to continue?

So that’s what I’m going to do. When the DVD and Blu-ray come out with special features that fill in the gaps, know that I will be elated. When the new, interactive internet story begins, know that I will be giddily following along. And if none of this ever happens, and it truly is over, know that I still believe that it was all worth it.

I may not be an expert, but I am an aficionado.

Are you?

I’ll see you in another life, brotha.

“…the ball fell to me, and time kinda stopped…”

These words were Landon Donovan’s response just minutes after scoring the most clutch goal in United States Men’s National Team soccer history at the 2010 World Cup.  Donovan’s last minute goal against Algeria was the difference between his team going home, or going on.  It turn out to be one of the most important moments in the history of American soccer.

For the last four years, Donovan has had plenty to prove.  The overwhelming joy of the team’s astonishing quarterfinals appearance in the 2002 World Cup was all but forgotten after an utterly dismal encore performance at the 2006 World Cup, where they didn’t win a single match.  Being the face of the team is great when times are good.  But when crap hits the fan, it’s not much fun to be holding the bag.

Before each game, Donovan is militantly serious.  He’s the guy who barely blinks during the national anthem, choosing not to sing or even bow his eyes.  He gazes straight ahead, with his focus only on the filmstrip in his mind, mentally rehearsing the competition upcoming.  Each pass finds its way.  Each dribble is balanced and true.  Each shot off of his boot finds its way to the target.  Even with hundreds of millions of people watching, the man is a statue.

After this particular game, the mood was much different.  Donovan was different.  It was no longer time to prepare, it was time to reflect.  No more need to “Write the Future“, just to swim in the immediacy of now.

The live ESPN post-match coverage showed an interview with Donovan about five seconds after the camera started rolling.  Here’s that same interview, with the first five seconds in tact:

It’s incredible how quickly he gains his composure in this interview.  He knew this part would come.  As the face of American soccer since 2002, he’s given thousands of interviews.  This was his moment at the top of the mountain.  Time to share with the world how it had all gotten to this point.

He thanked his teammates, talked about the hard work he had put into everything, and compared the whole experience to a journey.  It was all true, and exactly the type of answer that everyone would expect.  He played the part just like the leader that he is expected to be.

I heard somebody somewhere say that “leadership leaks”.  The idea is that the influence that a leader has come less from conscious, deliberate methods or actions, but more from what leaks or spills out in an accidental or subconscious way.  The most important details of who we are often leak out the sides of what we are trying hardest to portray to others.

When a guy cries like that, he’s got a lot more than a soccer match on his mind.  What or who was on his mind leaked out at the end of the video, which was cut out of the ESPN feed above, but can be found in the last second of this clip on Youtube here:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Bianca Kajlich is Donovan’s ex-wife.  You can read online about their three-year marriage and eventual divorce.  Who blows a kiss to their ex-wife?  Even though the terms were reportedly amicable, a divorce is usually not something that anyone wants to celebrate.

In a great article about his growth from the failed 2006 experience and his failed marriage, Donovan talks about how much he has grown from it all.  From the time that you choose to get a divorce, to when it is finalized, there is a part of you that is happy to have a scapegoat for so many of your problems, struggles, and issues.  When the divorce is finally real, that scapegoat is gone.

“Bianca taught me a lot more about myself than I knew.”

The picture that I get from Donovan is that his ex-wife was a type of mirror for him.  She tended to show him his warts, and nobody really wants to stare at those.  You can argue with a mirror all you want, but it just reflects back to you what is truly there.

Once he realized that he was responsible for his failures on the field, and the ones in his marriage, it empowered him to make some changes.

“There are expectations from people and that’s a good thing, but what is most important to me is what I expect from myself.”

Redemption can be either be salvation from something you have done, or a return of something valuable that has been lost.  However his relationship with Bianca moves forward, or however his team finishes this 2010 World Cup, Landon Donovan’s time of redemption is at hand.

But, Steve Nash is at the World Cup, and he is actually letting me go with him.  Albeit through his video camera as he is a special correspondent for …CBS Sports.  Huh?  CBS Sports is known for two things:  college basketball games, and uninspired NFL broadcasts.  It’ is not a kind phrase, but they really are the poor man’s sports network.  I would not consider myself a fan.  I would not press the “Like” button.

However, in an apparent effort to broaden their appeal beyond white guys from the midwest, CBS Sports has hired America’s favorite international (South African born, Canadian raised) white guy to report on the goings on at the World Cup.  Well, it’s not really reporting.  They just want him to do funny videos with them like the ones on my link above, or this one that he did with Amar’e Stoudemire:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Maybe they are hoping that it will be the Steve Nash Effect in action outside of basketball.  He seems to bring out the best in others, and perhaps he is doing the same thing with CBS Sports.

Here is the last video that he made himself just before teaming up with CBS Sports:

(If you just watch one of the videos in this article, watch this one.  It’s the shortest and the best by far.)

Click here to view the embedded video.

For some reason, his videos with CBS Sports don’t have the same type of pop that his other videos have.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

As I watch these, I want to laugh and be engaged in the spirit of the video, but it’s just not happening.  I’m a ridiculously huge Steve Nash fan, and an even bigger World Cup fan, but the mixing of the two has not been a recipe for success.  The CBS Sports curse brings Steve Nash down a couple of notches in the funny department.

Oh well, he’s back in America now for his charity soccer match on June 23.  I’m sure that Steve will find his touch with the video camera again soon.

Just to show that not all of these grapes are sour, I will leave you with the one video that did actually have me laughing out loud.  Enjoy:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Let’s start with the titular moment of my list.

The crying North Korean player

Not much is known about what goes on in land of North Korea.  Because of government restrictions on just about everything, even less is known about what goes on in the hearts and minds of North Koreans.  Even the North Korean supporters in the stadium who were not hand picked Chinese fans for hire seem reticent to discuss anything, for fear of punishment from their government.  Secrecy, seclusion, and suppression are the modus operandi for this country.

But, on June 15th, 2010, the human heart betrayed all of that.  While the team has isolated itself from the other countries by holing up in it’s hotel, avoiding as much contact as possible with the media and other teams, it is impossible to do such at game time.  At the prelude to the kick-off, in front of tens of thousands of people, each team must face the crowd, and listen while their country’s national anthem is played.  Some players sing along, some look straight ahead with faces of stone, and in the case of Jong Tae-Se, the significance of the moment broke the hold that the fear had over him.  See it yourself:

Click here to view the embedded video.

For whatever faults the North Korean government has (and they are numerous), they were not able to break this man’s spirit.  Truly a touching moment.

Drogba getting subbed in with a broken arm

After breaking his arm in a vicious challenge less than two weeks prior:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Didier Drogba stepped on to the pitch, showing little effect of the injury.  You could see the determination in his face throughout the first half as he watched the game from the bench.  No real danger from him in the few minutes he played, but it’s amazing that he was able to play at all.  Looking forward to seeing him back in form.

Georgie Welcome

Honduras has a player named Georgie Welcome

Forget Kaka, Herculez, or even Tshabalala.  My favorite name of a player in this year’s World Cup has got to be Georgie Welcome.  It just sounds so wonderfully ridiculous.  I love the idea of a star-struck fan meeting this player and saying “You’re Welcome?”  ”Thank you, I am.” would be his response, for sure.  I love it.

I’m also bemused by the thought of teammates greeting him on the field with a smiling “Welcome, Georgie!”

Odd thing to be entertained by, I know.  But so be it.

Not much can keep the Danes from being happy

When Denmark’s Simon Paulsen broke a 0-0 tie with his head, he could hardly contain his ear to ear grin.  After all, Denmark is purported to be the happiest country on earth, so why wouldn’t he be smiling?

Well, Paulsen happened to put the ball in the back of his own net, as you can see here:

Click here to view the embedded video.

I love the look on his face at :15.  To be fair, he’s probably more incredulous than anything.  But still, sometimes you just have to smile when the ball bounces like that.

Americans actually do give a crap about soccer!

If your Facebook and Twitter feed hasn’t been disrupted by passionate soccer fans this past week, you may just find yourself in the minority.  In fact, the 17 million people who tuned in to the USA v. ENG draw was more than each of the first four games of the NBA finals.  The Celtics and the Lakers are arguably the best teams that the NBA could hope for in drawing viewers in, and still the lowly sport of soccer won out.

Now, it should also be noted that a substantial number of people hated that the game ended in a tie, and many especially despised the sound of the vuvuzelas throughout every second of the match.  But hate is a step above indifference, and that is a step that most soccer fans are willing to accept, even with an awkward sense of satisfaction.

I’m deliriously happy with the World Cup.  I’m almost intoxicated with joy for this month and I’m sure that I’ve left a few things out.  Any favorite moments that I missed?

BT – I don’t know if it’s because I’m a devoted fan or because I’ve got precious little of value happening in my own life, but I’ve put in several hours over the last month soaking up all of the info I could find to prep myself for the next few weeks in South Africa.

Throughout all of what I will loosely term “my research,” I was surprised to find that one thing kept occurring to me: Landon Donovan is an A-Hole. In every interview, whether it was video or print, he comes off as smug, arrogant, and irritated that people are interested in talking to him. Not exactly what Team USA wants from their most famous player. Thoughts?

ZP – Alright Benny, I can’t argue that Donovan is an A-hole. Everything that you have read and seen is probably right on the money. I have to concede that number 10 isn’t going to win any congeniality competitions.

But, with that being said, isn’t that what you want from a competitor? Look at the second greatest French footballer ever, Eric Cantona. He set new heights (lows?) with his disdainful attitude and behavior. He drop kicked a fan in the middle of a game!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Manchester United’s captain in the 90’s was a bit over the top in his A-holeness, but I would argue that you need something like that from a team leader. He’s not playing the game to make friends, he’s there to prevail over his opponents.

People hate Kobe for the same reason, but that cold blood is exactly what makes him such a lethal killer. There is no way to argue that Kobe doesn’t have those the self-worshiping, douche-bag qualities in spades. But he wins, and this covers a multitude of sins.

I can vividly remember Donovan being interviewed about the U.S. National Team’s burgeoning rivalry with Mexico in 2002. He was so matter of fact about how it wasn’t much of a rivalry because of the way the U.S. had dominated them so thoroughly in their last several contests.  He even used the phrase “kicked their ass”.  It was a classic, “Put up, or shut up” type of comment, directed right at our neighbors to the south. It was also classic A-hole, and I loved it.

What would you attribute his captainship to?

BT – Important to note that Donovan is not the captain of Team USA. Carlos Bocanegra is the player-voted captain. When Bocanegra isn’t on the field, and Donovan often inherits the armband, I would imagine that it is out of seniority as much as anything else.

Keep in mind, I’m not condemning Donovan as a soccer player. I believe Landon Donovan is a victim of circumstance. A huge responsibility was placed on Donovan’s shoulders, a responsibility that he cannot possibly live up to. US Soccer presented Donovan as its messiah, giving fans the impression that he would dominate games from end line to end line. This is simply not the type of player that Landon Donovan is.

But what Landon does, he does very well: He gets the ball into the finishing third of the field, and makes smart decisions and crisp passes once he gets there. You rarely see Landon blast one fifteen rows into the seats, and numbers don’t lie: USA’s top-dog all time in goals and assists.

Like him or not, Landon Donovan is to US soccer what Kobayashi is to hot dog eating contests, or what beer is to, well, anything. That may attribute to his pseudo-captainship. Who else is there really to challenge him for the crown?

ZP – Alright, I can buy the “victim of circumstance” argument. Although, if you remember DeMarcus Beasley had a similar amount of expectation as America’s new golden boy in 2002, but he crumbled with the pressure. Tip of the cap to Donovan for standing strong thus far.

As far as a challenger to the U.S. Soccer crown, maybe we should differentiate between the best player and the rightful wearer of the captain’s armband.

With as much sense as it makes to designate a man who’s name means “black mouth” to be your communicatory ambassador to the referee, Bocanegra is probably the best choice. Claudio Reyna seemed to give the U.S. less than nothing on the pitch each time out, but the players steadfastly preferred him as captain during his tenure. Boca seems to have the same level of respect.

As far as the best player argument goes, how about your boy Clint Dempsey? I don’t follow the Premiership as closely as I should, but this Fulham chant speaks volumes about his reputation across the pond:

“He scores with his left, He scores with his riiiiight, That boy Clint Dempsey, Makes Drogba look shite!”

Make an argument for Deuce, I’m all ears.

BT – One of the most overused terms in soccer analysis is “creativity.” Analysts throw it into their critique of every midfielder that steps on the field. It’s frustrating because it cheapens what truly creative players, like Dempsey, do so well.

Due to the lack of breaks in action, soccer is very much a game of rhythm, not unlike ping pong or Barrel of Monkeys. As such it is easy for players and teams to fall into a lull of predictable repetition which is easy to defend. Creative players like Dempsey change games by taking chances on risky plays and passes, not always to see direct dividends, but more often just to keep the defense from getting too comfortable. (Oddly, this was also my original strategy when I burst onto the semi-professional monkey-stacking scene in the mid-80s.) Dempsey is the first truly creative player I’ve seen in a US jersey. This creativity speaks to his incredible skill and swagger, and is invaluable to a US program that is very average in most areas.

I think that Dempsey is probably the most talented player on the US roster, but in terms of achieving results, talent can only take you so far (see Portugal, which basically runs out a roster full of Dempseys every time they play). While I’d certainly prefer to get into a dialogue about Dempsey’s fabulous beard stubble, I instead will ask you this: Would saddling him with the captaincy interfere with his wildcard mentality, and keep Deuce from being Deuce?

ZP – I agree with you regarding Demsey’s talent, swagger, impact on the game, and even his attractive beard stubble. I’m not sure if I would call him a creative player, but I like the picture you present of him being a disruptive force to another team’s equilibrium.

As far as being captain goes, I do think that it would be a bad idea for Clint and his fragile emotions. He plays on a tight-wire of tension, aggression, and PMS quality emotional rawness.

When I first saw Clint Dempsey crying at the end of the Confederation’s Cup final last year, I was encouraged by it. Maybe he was exhausted after the effort that he had put forth and simply didn’t have enough strength to control his tear ducts. Perhaps he was reflecting on the death of his sister as a child, and the subsequent opportunities that had given him the opportunity of that moment. In my view, I believed that he understood the historical impact of the result that his country had just earned. I believed that he was devastated by falling short of his personal goal. By all accounts, I was right.

But here is my problem.

When Michael Jordan won the NBA title, he embraced the Larry O’Brien trophy, and cried like a baby. Adam Morrison and Tim Tebow wet their collars while the clock ticked down to a loss. When Steve Nash finally swept the Spurs in the playoffs this year, he went into the locker room and bawled his eyes out. When the Lakers finished the Suns within a fortnight, not a tear was shed.

Winners cry when they win.

Who cries when they lose?

I’ll give you the last word.

BT – I feel as though I’ve seen many players cry when they lose, though no examples immediately pop into my brain. That is probably because the losing team gets fewer articles written about them and as such their tears are significantly less publicized. Everything you said about Dempsey being an emotional player is spot on, and I agree that being saddled with any resposibility other than being a wildcard would severely cramp his style.

That said, if Clint Dempsey is not a creative player then I don’t know if I’ve ever seen one. I mean, seriously:

Click here to view the embedded video.

If this is the last word then I suppose a verdict must be rendered: Who is better for US Soccer, Donovan or Dempsey?

In this World Cup? Donovan. This team is going to give up some goals, and they need him to play and play well in order to get those goals back on the offensive end. It’s very possible that Dempsey could finish with more points than Donovan, but the threat of Donovan’s speed on one of the wings is crucial to open up space for the rest of the team to operate.

For the long run? Dempsey. If the US is going to make an impact when they hopefully host the Cup in 2018 or 2022, that means that America’s next generation of superstars are in junior high and high school right now. It’s important for those kids to know that you don’t have to be from South America or Europe to have world class soccer skill, and important for them to see a player who is truly unintimidated by the traditional powerhouse soccer countries. Dempsey is the player who shows displays these attributes most clearly.

Plus, Landon Donovan is an A-Hole…

In the fall of 2003, at the age of fourteen, Freddy Adu became the youngest athlete to sign an American professional sports contract in over a century.  Along with his MLS contract, a very lucrative deal with Nike had thrust the Ghana-born US citizen into the spotlight.  The hype surrounding his signing with Major League Soccer had caused quite a stir.  Was it possible that the best young soccer player in the world was actually right here in the shadows of our nation’s capital, and would one day lead the red, white, and blue to international glory on the pitch?  Major League Soccer certainly thought so.

Freddy gets a kiss from Pele

Adu was signed to DC United and made his first appearances with them in 2004.  The pundits were skeptical.  Some feared for the boy’s safety, while others claimed that if he were as good as they claimed that he should be sent to one of the top youth academies overseas.  Other players were skeptical as well.  Just because a kid is quick and skilled does not mean that he should be competing at the professional level.  However the US soccer program had already dubbed him as their white knight, and there would be no turning back.

When I heard about Freddy Adu, and saw the approach that was being taken to groom him for stardom, I laughed.  This was going to be a disaster.  My logic was simple:  If you are grooming somebody to be a dominant athlete, the worst possible thing you can do is make them a role player.  Freddy Adu had been taken from playing against high school kids, where he could learn to take over games and dominate competition, to playing against men twice his age, where he would be relegated to coming off the bench and playing on the outside midfield.

Then, a rare thing happened:  I turned out to be right.  In the seven years since, Adu has had a journeyman career.  He has played for six clubs in the last five years, and was not even invited to US National Team camp last month.  He is currently plying his trade in Greece, and no more than an afterthought on the American soccer landscape.  A disappointing, though not surprising, result of the path that was set for him seven years ago.

All hope is not lost for Freddy.   At age 21, he will still have two more chances to perform on the world’s biggest stage.  While his current situation can be attributed to decisions that were made for him as a fourteen year old, Freddy still has the opportunity to look inside himself (or, at least into his reflection in a bottle of legally purchased beer) and set his own course for the next decade.