Land of the free

I love that I live in a country that attracts so many people to its beauty and freedom. I know quite a few people who have come from other lands and have embraced what America offers and it makes me proud.

Today one of those women from another land expressed unabashed glee that the United States lost in the World Cup. She has been routing for the U.S. to lose, she said, looking at me apologetically.

Well, I can't say I give a lick that the U.S. lost since I haven't been following the World Cup. I do get a kick out of others' reactions and excitement around it, but I digress.

What I did think in reaction to this woman was, why are you here? I have no problem with folks who disagree with some American policies or get annoyed at American arrogance. Those things bug me sometimes, too. But if you go to the trouble of routing against the very country you decided to settle in, don't you have to ask yourself why you're here to start with?

Come on. We have people dying on rafts trying to get here from points south. We have people who want to be here so much they're doing back-breaking labor to keep the dream alive.

Part of me thinks I'm making too much of a sports thing, maybe blowing it out of proportion. But an insightful, seasoned part of me knows from 15 years in sports journalism that sports can tell you a lot about a person and there's more to it than what happens between the white lines.

You're free to be here. You're free to not be here. You're free.