My momma always said…
(Written by kencraw)
If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all…
…and there’s nothing nice to say.
Frankly, it’s been a rough couple weeks all the way around, ever since I got home from Salt Lake City. Pretty much ever since I got off the train I’ve been in over-drive for work, trying to get on top of all the things that need to get done, many of which that are now overdue. Even worse, the near-term future doesn’t look any more hopeful. There’s not an obvious light at the end of my work tunnel, that I can see anyway.
It’s one thing to push really hard when one is motivated or even when one is filled with joy, but it’s a far more difficult slog when the things that usually lift you up are instead crumbling down around you.
Thus, while I have a fairly firm no politics or religion policy on this blog, a policy that came after years of seeing the problems with doing it, (What I’ve learned is that while my faith is the most important thing in my life and I will never shy away from sharing it, there are times to let separate spheres remain separate.) today I’m briefly going to break my rule, not to evangelize (in fact quite the contrary), but to share why I don’t feel much like blogging about our beloved Bears.
One of the key principles of Christianity is hope. A mistake lots of people make about hope is to confuse it with delusional optimism. Instead, hope is not blind… it sees all that is going wrong and honestly faces reality. However, hope still overcomes. Hope refuses to despair in the face of troubling realities. When one believes in miracles, in an afterlife and in a loving God, one need not despair in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
As a bit of an aside, it’s actually one of the great thing about sports, is that it is a place where there are so many opportunities for hope. If nothing else, there’s always next season, right?
Nevertheless, because hope is not blind, unlike the Fox News set that delusionally thought that Romney would win on Tuesday, I had no such false illusions. Actually, it goes far deeper than that. I not only thought he would lose, I also had no illusion that Romney was a candidate worthy of being disappointed in his losing. Frankly, he’s the worst of the Republican party and a sign that the party is completely untethered from reality and also from the key principles that should motivate them.
Sadly, the alternatives are far worse. I’m sure there are plenty of Obama fans amongst my readers, so I’ll refrain from giving a long litany of why, despite how horrible Romney is, I could never throw my support behind Obama. Thus, I’ve got nowhere to turn. For those who’ve never been in this place, let me tell you, it’s quite depressing when everything you see on the ballot is the wrong choice. Frankly, it’s hard to see any reason to be hopeful, politically speaking.
When that’s the case, it’s nice when some other aspect of one’s life can give one reason to hope. And so I went to last Friday’s game against Washington hoping for a reason to hope. What I instead witnessed was a similarly disgusting display of incompetence from both teams.
Frankly, the parallel was too much to bear. Two teams, both too incompetent to watch and the team I root for (at this point the analogy becomes weak, as I don’t really “root” for Republicans, but for truth), is the loser, the more incompetent between two bumbling, pathetic teams. Man… this sure sounds a lot like the current political climate to me.
All of this is a long way of saying that between being extremely busy at work (and without much hope of that changing), having very little free time for my mind to find something to be positive about, and my favorite pass-time being so utterly depressing and hopeless, the Bears have very purposely been the furthest thing from my mind.
Because the truth of the matter is that football is just a game, politics is generally just a different game that has less impact than the pundits tell us (at least in a free country), and there is much to be both thankful for and hopeful about.
This life we have is a beautiful and hopeful one, and I refuse to let a game rob me of that hope and joy.
I’m sure the day where I can have hope in our beloved Bears is not too far away. Theoretically it could come as soon as Saturday night, even if the Bears lose. Anything from a strong performance by Bridgeford, or a repeat of 2010 where the Bear defense does what no other team has been able to pull off (did you know that Kelly’s Ducks have only been held below 19 twice? The 2010 game against the Bears, and Kelly’s first game in 2009 against Boise State.).
But even if it doesn’t come Saturday, hope will return to Cal football, likely sooner rather than later. Unfortunately, until either that happens or I get a strong injection of hope from some other aspect of my life that makes it easier to stare into the current Cal abyss, you probably won’t see a lot of posts out of me.
…at least until Saturday night.
November 8th, 2012 at 10:26 am
Ken, it is good to hear from you.
I know you don’t like to mix politics but I must say a lot of Dems and liberals know exactly how you feel in regards to this statement:
“For those who’ve never been in this place, let me tell you, it’s quite depressing when everything you see on the ballot is the wrong choice. Frankly, it’s hard to see any reason to be hopeful, politically speaking.”
For us Dems and liberals that moment was 2004 and the re-election of Bush.
As far as Tedford is concerned, his stock is sinking faster than that of the Republican Party. Only two more weeks of the Tedford regime and then we will have a shiny new coach who will turn this program around and bring discipline, QB, and an offense back to the Golden Bears.
November 8th, 2012 at 10:34 am
But would you have been just as disappointed had Kerry won in 2004? Because frankly, I’m not sure I would have been any happier had Romney won.
Speaking of which… what is it with “re-election challengers”? Dole, Kerry, Romney, Mondale… the weakest candidates always seem to get the nomination for the re-election challengers. (of course Clinton is the exception that proves the rule.)
And yes, it sure seems like we’re going to get a shiny new coach in about two weeks… but with the contract situation, one never knows.
November 8th, 2012 at 1:21 pm
I was not that impressed or excited for Kerry in 04 but I do feel like he was a slightly better candidate than Romney. So yes, I would have been happy had Kerry won in 04 but far from excited.
November 8th, 2012 at 2:18 pm
I’ll second 858 Bear. I mean, I’m fairly liberal — my conservative and fundamentalist relatives just kinda shake their heads and whisper, “She went to Berkeley, y’know” behind my back — but that 2004 election destroyed me. I didn’t really want Kerry; I’d been for Dean in the primaries. But Kerry was better than Bush, whom I was convinced was out to destroy the country. And when Kerry lost…it felt like there was no hope and that this country wasn’t at all what I thought it was.
Also, there was a deep pain that I had no place in this country — I was born here, I was raised here, I love my country — but I also believe that patriotism means pointing out the flaws I see in my country, not just blindly agree with folks in charge. And it felt like because I felt that way, I wasn’t a real American.
If it helps, Ken, I was wrong in the sense that Bush wasn’t out to destroy the country, and in all honesty, I don’t think Obama will either. There will be hope. Even in our darkest hours, our worst moments — it’s there, waiting for us. Or, to use the bipolar’s mantra, this too shall pass.
Heh, I don’t know if any of that was helpful. Hang in there. And well, hey, hope will return to Strawberry Canyon, but until then, Go Bears!
November 8th, 2012 at 3:08 pm
Ken,
Mark 12:17 — Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.
I have always believed that a devoutly religious person can only find disappointment in the political arena. No candidate can ever be consistent with a belief system for politics is an ugly game. Religious people believe that there is a higher form of existence — politicians must deal with the lowest realities of humans.
I like sports because it’s a fair game. Everyone plays by the same rules and the results are unambiguous. Politics are much more complex.
November 8th, 2012 at 3:13 pm
Thanks for the words of encouragement Katster. I definitely don’t think Obama is out to destroy the country… I’ve never bought into the Republican talking points about the evils of Obama. Of course I still disagree with much of what he’s doing. Actually, some of it in quite a liberal way. I’m an anti-war guy except in rare cases and it boggles my mind how little heat Obama gets for not delivering on his 2008 military promises (Guantanamo, patriot act, etc.), not that Romney would have done any different. There’s the conservative stuff as well, but Romney wasn’t exactly of much help there either.
But yes, hope will return… just not quite in the mood yet to acknowledge it.
November 8th, 2012 at 3:16 pm
Rick, I completely agree. History is littered with religious movements who too closely aligned themselves with political movements. I’ve always been glad the Catholic Church never fell into the trap that so many Protestant/Evangelical churches did with the Republican party.
The downside is we end up feeling homeless.
November 12th, 2012 at 6:34 am
Not that I think you’re misquoting Ma, but I don’t ever recall her saying that.
November 12th, 2012 at 8:38 am
Probably true Bro… that was a Forrest Gump reference (at least the ‘My Mamma always said’ part).
November 12th, 2012 at 1:09 pm
Maybe you should have gone with Dad’s favorite saying instead:
“No one will die”
November 12th, 2012 at 3:20 pm
I think the day I re-quote “No one will die” is the day I’ve given up and am about to die.