- The speeches to teammates and fans that are larger even than the game itself.
- The tender moments among teammates.
- The thrilling moments from your childhood that you never forget.
It’s why we watch. It’s why we play. It’s the stuff that rises up out of sports and settles down into us.
♦◊♦
It has been a heck of a week in sports. The machinations in the NBA with superstars moving all over the place were epic. The All-Star game and Home Run Derby in MLB were terrific exhibitions.
But the Heart of Sports this week remains with the World Cup Champion US Women’s National Soccer Team. Sure, we have been talking about them a lot – from So..This Happened to featuring co-captain Megan Rapinoe on an earlier edition of Heart of Sports.
Rightfully so. They deserve it. This week, on Sunday, they completed their ascendancy and won a second consecutive World Cup. They rode through the Canyon of Heroes in a Ticker Tape Parade in NY on Wednesday and showed up at the ESPY’s in gowns to win “Team of the Year.”
They are great on the field. They are great off the field. They are role models for women and girls. And men and boys. They are authentic. And they live and breath our values of striving to be the best, of working hard, and of speaking out against injustice and inequality.
This week’s column we’re bringing you Megan Rapinoe’s speech that she delivered in NY City at City Hall, after the Parade. It’s an epic one. Everyone should read every word.
“This is my charge to everyone: We have to be better. We have to love more. Hate less. We got to listen more and talk less,” Megan Rapinoe says. “It’s our responsibility to make the world a better place.” https://t.co/7LJHPDVRm9 pic.twitter.com/5s5OuS4Gsx
— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 10, 2019
Here is a transcript:
I think I’ll just end with this. This is my charge to everyone. We have to be better. We have to love more, hate less. We got to listen more, and talk less. We got to know this is everybody’s responsibility, every single person here. Every single person who is not here. Every single person who doesn’t want to be here. Every single person who agrees and doesn’t agree. It is our responsibility to make this world a better place. I think this team does an incredible job of taking that on our shoulders and understanding the position that we have and the platform we have within this world.
Yes we play sports. Yes we play soccer. Yes we’re female athletes but we’re so much more than that. You’re so much more than that. You’re more than a fan. You’re more than someone who just supports sport. You’re more than someone who tunes in every four years. You’re someone who walks these streets every single day. You interact with your community every single day. How do you make your community better? How do you make the people around you better? Your family? Your closest friends? The 10 closest people to you? The 20 closest people to you? The most 100 closest people to you? It’s every single person’s responsibility.
There’s been so much contention in these last years. I’ve been a victim of that. I’ve been a perpetrator of that. With the fight with the Federation, (I’m) sorry for some of the things I said, not all of the things. But it’s time to come together. This conversation is at the next step. We have to collaborate. It’s takes everybody.
This is my charge to everybody, ‘Do what you can. Do what you have to do. Step outside of yourself. Be more. Be better. Be bigger than you’ve ever been before. If this team is any representation of what you can be, when you do that please take this as an example. This group is incredible. We took so much on our shoulders to be here today, to celebrate with you today. And we did it with a smile. So do the same for us. Please, I ask you.
New York City, you’re the mother fucking best.
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Photo Credit(s): Author (all from the NYC Ticker Tape Parade, 7/10)
