On Sports: Bronze for Mexico! August 5, 2021
The August 1 Referendum passed by an overwhelming majority, so it it is hereby decided that former presidents are to be prosecuted for their crimes committed in office. Unfortunately, fewer than 8% of registered Mexicans voted. According to the calculus of Vicente Fox and Felipe Calderon, who reportedly toasted the results together, this amounts to a landslide in favor of executive immunity. The best hope for this democracy may be that too many citizens were home watching the Olympics, glued to their screens for the spectator-less spectacle called Mexico versus the World.
This is my second Summer Olympiad in Mexico. In the summer of 2016, when I first began the journal of Our Man, I watched the daily events in Rio on the big screen on La Alameda, in Mexico City, among gentlemen who called the park benches home the previous night. We would wake up together, next to the white statue of the dark-skinned Benito Juarez, avoiding the fecal stench of the sewer grates, me with my 18-pesos Oxxo americano negro and them with their newspaper blankets, within full view of high-diving and arrow-shooting Mexican athletes.
The Olympics are largely a time for dashed expectations in this country. If medals are to be won, they will be in marginal events, like equestrian, archery, boxing, and, in keeping with the revered tradition of Acapulco cliff-jumpers, platform diving. In 2016, Mexico won five medals, none of them gold. This year, 2021, they have a total of just 3 bronze medals, ranking them 75th in the world. There is only one event left of any substance— actually, the ultimate event, most would say—fútbol, soccer, the beautiful game, the sport where nothing can happen for two whole hours and people still remain enthralled.
Early this morning, I learn, Mexico played Brazil in their semi-final match and lost in penalty kicks after a scoreless tie. The indignities are too many to mention, not the least of which is that Mexicans tend to detest the Brazilians: “Drama Queens from Carnivál,” the sayings go, with many pointing to the histrionic exploits of a particular player named Neymar, who, in 2018, managed to roll so many times in false agony that he became a meme. Shameless cheating, worthy of an Academy Award, prima donna crybabies, lacking any concept of team play, sportsmanship, etc.—all of this serves to fan a smoldering resentment in a nation that truly loves its fútbol yet sees its heart broken year after year.
Now is the next to last chance for Mexican glory. To win the Bronze Medal requires defeating the host country for these Tokyo Games—Japan—a people known to take losing even harder than Mexicans do. Almost 80% of Japanese polled believe that the Olympics should not even be happening during the pandemic, but it is very likely that 100% of them are cheering their soccer team this week, and a sympathetic, appreciative international community is joining them.
This leaves Team Mexico feeling very isolated. The reported mood is desperate. As much as I want to participate in the thrill of live sport, with so much prestige on the line, there is not a chance I am waking up at 3 o’clock in the morning to watch. I will leave that patriotic duty to the homeless caballeros en La Alameda.