dont worry…this aint gonna be intellectually heavy… not like that its gonna be too boringly dumb either…

last week was a hectic week for me, at work as well as my futsaling adventure. a weekend filled with two tournaments one after the other. well, the first one, held in subang, wasn’t that fantastic, except for that the tourney was partly organised by the compnay i worked, and we put up a rag tag team of misfits, joined in for the fun of it. so, we decided to join the neighbourhood catagory, thinking that it will be an easier path to glory. yeah. it was an easy path alright… we were up against teams that were having the same mentality as well…really good teams who wanted to win it all (which eventually, they did). we got whipped. its that simple.

but the real fun came the next day, when a friend asked me to join his rag tag bunch of mercenaries to play in another tournament in titiwangsa lake gardens. it was an open air tournament, and armed with only 3 hours of sleep (after spending the night toiling in the office), i got myself geared up and was there by 9. the tournament started at 10 something, and i was played as a subs goalkeeper (its the malaysian mentality, bring a friend, just to make up the numbers, then make him the scape goat if things screw up.)

but i had my moments alright. i was their on field voice, my very own alex ferguson moment. people were impressed by the way we played, and i certainly helped the team by alerting them of the dangers posed by the opponents. it was fun, insightful, and hey, i am gearing up to be the manager of my company’s ladies futsal team. today, was match fodder for me!

but the real treat came by just after lunch, eventually, in which my team qualified for the finals after a nerve wrecking semis againsta a talented team of youngsters….they were good! superb! we won it on sheer experience, had they had what we had, they would have got us out flat! back to the treat….

it was an exhibition match of sorts, between four teams, comprising of special individuals. think of the paralympics friends, and you’ll know what i mean. to me, it was not a side show of sorts, as opposed to the many who tunred up to watch the event. despite the fake cheers from the crowd, they played their hearts out. spirit, gamesmanship, honour, friendship, these were qualitis high on display that day. and mind you, some of them, esp the team of hyperactive players, they were impressive. you can’t compare to them on a level basis physically, but measured up against us all able bodied chaps, they would have beaten us flat too.

sadly, the whole event looked like a side show. even the organisers were somewhat treating it that way. you wanna have a game, then roll the ball on equal terms. equality means high doses of respect, human respect. not pity, sympathy or empathy. just pure, unadultered respect. is that too much to be asked for? and cheer them, not fake it.

when will we able bodied people learn. on that day, to them, we were the imperfect ones.  we were the ones who needed the sympathy and pity. we lost it.

sad….

kudos to them all ( the special athletes). sports can liberate even the most contained of souls. no physicall barrier can come across it. it only gives birth to perfect spirit.

to the olympics! viva futsal!