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Selene Mariposa

@Selene_Mariposa13,679 subscribers

Reagan conservative | low taxes my religion | writing romance as my unholy ministry | Executive mom | Last conservative in blue PNW

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Today America roots for Norway, and I need you to understand exactly why. We love an underdog. It is not a preference. It is a genetic condition. Two hundred and fifty-three years ago, a handful of colonials with no navy, no army, and no chance decided to throw a tea party in Boston Harbor to spite the largest empire the world had ever seen. An empire the sun never set on. An empire that could have ended us in an afternoon. And when the greatest military on earth said you cannot possibly do that, our answer was, and remains, hold my beer. Then we picked a fight we had no business winning. Then we declared ourselves free before we had actually won anything. Then we went out and made it true. We turned 250 last week. Still here. Still loud. That is the whole American operating system. The impossible odds. The comeback. The redemption. We do not just like that story, we are that story, and we will root for it anywhere we find it. It is why a bunch of college kids beating a Soviet hockey machine in 1980 still makes grown men cry in bars. So today. Norway. Five and a half million people. A country with more sheep than starting lineups. Playing England, a founding nation of the sport, on the biggest stage there is. Now let me be fair. We love England. Truly. Best ally we have got, and I say that with a full heart. Though the Japanese are gaining fast, so do not get comfortable. We love the Scots. We love the Northern Irish. We love our drunk cousins in Ireland, and yes I am lumping you all in, because half of you moved here anyway and you hate the English for reasons we are all familiar with. Nobody loves Wales. Nobody knows Wales exists. Nobody can understand a word of it. But I digress. Because today is not about any of that. Today is about five million Vikings walking into a stadium against an empire, with everyone on earth telling them they cannot possibly do this. You know exactly what we say to that. Let’s row!!! NORWAY!!!!!!

Today America roots for Norway, and I need you to understand exactly why. We love an underdog. It is not a preference. It is a genetic condition. Two hundred and fifty-three years ago, a handful of colonials with no navy, no army, and no chance decided to throw a tea party in Boston Harbor to spite the largest empire the world had ever seen. An empire the sun never set on. An empire that could have ended us in an afternoon. And when the greatest military on earth said you cannot possibly do that, our answer was, and remains, hold my beer. Then we picked a fight we had no business winning. Then we declared ourselves free before we had actually won anything. Then we went out and made it true. We turned 250 last week. Still here. Still loud. That is the whole American operating system. The impossible odds. The comeback. The redemption. We do not just like that story, we are that story, and we will root for it anywhere we find it. It is why a bunch of college kids beating a Soviet hockey machine in 1980 still makes grown men cry in bars. So today. Norway. Five and a half million people. A country with more sheep than starting lineups. Playing England, a founding nation of the sport, on the biggest stage there is. Now let me be fair. We love England. Truly. Best ally we have got, and I say that with a full heart. Though the Japanese are gaining fast, so do not get comfortable. We love the Scots. We love the Northern Irish. We love our drunk cousins in Ireland, and yes I am lumping you all in, because half of you moved here anyway and you hate the English for reasons we are all familiar with. Nobody loves Wales. Nobody knows Wales exists. Nobody can understand a word of it. But I digress. Because today is not about any of that. Today is about five million Vikings walking into a stadium against an empire, with everyone on earth telling them they cannot possibly do this. You know exactly what we say to that. Let’s row!!! NORWAY!!!!!!

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Well. My team is out. Belgium sent us home 4 to 1, and I have made my peace by eating a waffle out of pure spite. So now I watch the rest for the love of the game. And I have picked a horse. Well. Actually, I picked a longboat. I am riding with Norway. Five and a half million Vikings against the entire world, led by that six foot four Norse god Erling Håland, who already threw Brazil off a cliff on Sunday. Do not act like you are not watching too. Now, some perspective, because people forget how hard this thing is to win. In 96 years, only eight nations have ever lifted the World Cup. Brazil, 5. Germany, 4. Italy, 4. Argentina, 3. Uruguay, 2. France, 2. England, 1. Spain, 1. That is the entire list. And here is the joke nobody says out loud. Every single one is from Europe or South America. Every winner, every finalist, 96 years running, two continents. The Dutch, the Hungarians, the Swedes, the Czechs, all European bridesmaids. Nobody else has ever even reached the final. So let us be honest about what this actually is. The World Cup is a European and South American Cup, and the rest of the planet gets a lovely invitation to come lose in the group stage. And before anyone cries, we would do the exact same thing. Give us a World Championship of American Football and it plays out identically, just with the flag flipped. Sure, Belgium shows up. Curaçao shows up. Everybody gets a jersey and a nice hotel. And they all go home in a barrel. Even Canada, right next door, cannot hang, because they are off playing their mutant cousin version with three downs and a field the size of an airport. Bless them. It is almost football. That is what a home sport looks like. The World Cup is just soccer’s version of it. And two of the names on that trophy belong to countries that do not even exist anymore. West Germany won three titles before the wall came down. Czechoslovakia reached two finals before it split in half and vanished off the map. Whole nations came, competed, and disappeared, and the trophy outlived them. So here is where we are, and the bracket does not care about your feelings. Argentina still has to get past Egypt today. Switzerland draws Colombia today. Then France gets Morocco, Spain gets Belgium, and my Norway gets England. You have to pick one. Everybody does. And it says everything about you. Some of you will pick the favorite. The safe money. The chalk. And some of you will ride the long shot, the little country nobody believes in. So which are you. The one who confidently picked the Soviet Union to win gold in 1980, right up until a bunch of American college kids walked onto the ice and ruined your whole afternoon? Or the one who always, always bets on the miracle? I know my answer. Five million Vikings and a thunder god. Skål. Let’s ride.

Well. My team is out. Belgium sent us home 4 to 1, and I have made my peace by eating a waffle out of pure spite. So now I watch the rest for the love of the game. And I have picked a horse. Well. Actually, I picked a longboat. I am riding with Norway. Five and a half million Vikings against the entire world, led by that six foot four Norse god Erling Håland, who already threw Brazil off a cliff on Sunday. Do not act like you are not watching too. Now, some perspective, because people forget how hard this thing is to win. In 96 years, only eight nations have ever lifted the World Cup. Brazil, 5. Germany, 4. Italy, 4. Argentina, 3. Uruguay, 2. France, 2. England, 1. Spain, 1. That is the entire list. And here is the joke nobody says out loud. Every single one is from Europe or South America. Every winner, every finalist, 96 years running, two continents. The Dutch, the Hungarians, the Swedes, the Czechs, all European bridesmaids. Nobody else has ever even reached the final. So let us be honest about what this actually is. The World Cup is a European and South American Cup, and the rest of the planet gets a lovely invitation to come lose in the group stage. And before anyone cries, we would do the exact same thing. Give us a World Championship of American Football and it plays out identically, just with the flag flipped. Sure, Belgium shows up. Curaçao shows up. Everybody gets a jersey and a nice hotel. And they all go home in a barrel. Even Canada, right next door, cannot hang, because they are off playing their mutant cousin version with three downs and a field the size of an airport. Bless them. It is almost football. That is what a home sport looks like. The World Cup is just soccer’s version of it. And two of the names on that trophy belong to countries that do not even exist anymore. West Germany won three titles before the wall came down. Czechoslovakia reached two finals before it split in half and vanished off the map. Whole nations came, competed, and disappeared, and the trophy outlived them. So here is where we are, and the bracket does not care about your feelings. Argentina still has to get past Egypt today. Switzerland draws Colombia today. Then France gets Morocco, Spain gets Belgium, and my Norway gets England. You have to pick one. Everybody does. And it says everything about you. Some of you will pick the favorite. The safe money. The chalk. And some of you will ride the long shot, the little country nobody believes in. So which are you. The one who confidently picked the Soviet Union to win gold in 1980, right up until a bunch of American college kids walked onto the ice and ruined your whole afternoon? Or the one who always, always bets on the miracle? I know my answer. Five million Vikings and a thunder god. Skål. Let’s ride.

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