Going The Distance!
The bell sounds, Cape Verde is still standing, and shows the world 'they weren't just another bum from the neighborhood...'
It’s the 50th anniversary of the great American film, Rocky, Sylvester Stallone’s masterpiece about the gruff but likable neighborhood brawler from Philadelphia who gets his shot at the champ.
As that movie plot goes…
On the country’s 200th birthday, Heavyweight belt-holder Apollo Creed gives a nobody a chance, and that nobody is Rocky Balboa, a guy who - well let’s face it - doesn’t belong in the same ring with him. Hell, he doesn’t belong in the same universe with Creed.
Everyone knows this story, but at the crux of the film, the thing that makes Rocky special, iconic, and perfect, is that Rocky Balboa loses the fight - but gains his own self-respect - and in so doing - gains the respect of the world.
Cape Verde’s improbable and wonderful World Cup run ended yesterday and at the hands of Apollo Creed - er - Lionel Messi. The defending WC Champs, Argentina, beat em in Miami, and down the street from the world’s greatest player’s new home field, 3-2 in extra time.
I hadn’t heard of Cape Verde’s team before World Cup. Hell - I hadn’t watched much World Cup before this World Cup - but Cape Verde helped pull me in, and I became an enthusiastic party to their story.
And now, on America’s 250th birthday, we get to see the familiar story play out on US soil, and for real in real time.
And just like Rocky, this story can allow us to reimagine what winning is and can be.
