Today I saw a team that had every reason to roll over and quit steadfastly and unanimously refuse to do so. And I saw them rewarded with an unimaginable triumph on the world’s greatest stage.
Today I saw a bench player step up to provide an inch-perfect delivery on the game’s transcendent play. I saw the star player receiving said pass erase myriad recent frustrations with a conversion in the most dire of circumstances. I saw a star-crossed athlete make the play of the game, then have it cruelly taken away, only to clinch victory by making virtually the same play again.
Today I saw a team wear patches of the United States of America over their hearts and channel the unflinching fire and determination that have marked this country since its earliest days.
Today I saw twenty thousand impartial observers rise in unison to support a team who deserved better than it was getting on the field.
Today I shared an indelible moment with my three year old daughter, yelling and jumping and dancing with her after a miraculous 122nd-minute goal – and again nine penalty kicks later, the last of which she watched with wide eyes and an eager grin after I prefaced it with, “If she makes this goal, we win.”
Today I recognized that only sports can reduce us to the pure, unbridled joy that is so frequently and innocently embraced by our children.
Today I participated in something magical, sublime, and unscripted, even though I was half a world away and had absolutely no rational expectation that I could possibly influence the outcome.
Today I saw a team exhibit the best of the competitive human spirit, and do so, in some miniscule part, on my behalf.
Today I saw sports perfectly embody the metaphor for life that it so often promises to be.
Today was a great day.
