Last Sunday, in my Los Angeles Times, there was an article about American athletes (and by American athletes I mean athletes who were born and raised here) who are competing for Mexico in the upcoming Olympics. The article was kind of an icing on the cake confirmation for me that, todays' first and second-generation Americans, are leading the way in the demise of our great country. What's even more saddening for me is that when I share this story with other Americans, the common response I've gotten is usually something along the lines of, "They just want to compete in the Olympics" or "What's the big deal? They just want to play". Who cares? They just want to swim, run and jump, right? It doesn't matter that they're Americans swimming, running and jumping for another nation, does it? Is this the prevailing mentality across America? Call me old-fashioned, it ain't right.
Living in Southern California, I've dealt with this kind of mentality for years. I remember fifteen years ago, when I was in college, reading about the fan abuse the USA soccer team faced when it played Mexico in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Team USA was booed, berated, and jeered. After the game, as some of the Team USA players walked off the field, they were even pelted with, among other things, a bag of urine by some ridiculous fans. I remember how I felt after reading that article - that things were only going to get worse. Every comparison I'd heard growing up about the way things were going in the U.S. to the Fall of the Roman Empire was for the first time, a real concern to me. If Americans, regardless of their birthplace origin, were booing, berating and throwing bags of urine on our own American players in the mid 1990's, then what will be the state of America be for the next generation?
Well, here we are, and as I pick up the Sports section a couple of days ago I read that Chris Kaman, as white and Midwestern as white, Midwesterners can be, is now playing basketball for the nation of Germany this summer in the 2008 Olympic Game in Beijing. For Germany! Oh yeah, he qualifies to play for Germany because his great grandparents are German. His excuse, or as he says "reason" for joing Team Germany, is because Team USA didn't call him up to play for our team. Uh, that's because you're not good enough to play for Team USA, Chris. So because you're not good enough to be considered for the American team, you're going to play against us for Germany and you're going to stand on the podium with your hand over your heart, staring at the German flag as the German national anthem is being played (that's if you and Dirk can get your game going good enough to win a medal). Okay, Chris, you do that.
Obviously, unless we Americans are of Native American origin, we are all either immigrants or descendants of immigrants of some other country, another country which we most likely have a fondness in our heart for, which is good, (I know I'm proud of my Irish and German roots and whatever other European blood I have in me), but above all, over everything, we're Americans and we live and die as Americans and we compete as Americans. I don't know, maybe I'm just an old-fashioned guy with old-fashioned patriotism who has blinders on about the way things are now, but I believe Merle Haggard said it best with, "If You Don’t Love It, Leave It.”
