EDITORIAL: On baseball and other “shows”

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EDITORIAL: On baseball and other “shows”
Fecha de publicación: 
2 June 2021
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Some sectors of the Cuban-American community based in Florida tagged as heroes those people who engaged in the most recent counter-revolutionary show in the Olympic qualifier baseball game between the national teams of Cuba and Venezuela, played in West Palm Beach.

The “heroism,” basically, consisted on insulting from the bleachers, carrying offensive banners, and getting athletes distracted…But in the opinion of several netizens, including some celebrities (renowned artists and politicians) in Miami, these are the “worthy Cubans.”

The “dignity” of insults, a new low blow.

The athletes, in line with this logic, are the puppets of an abusive power, accomplice of a government that masters and despises each of them. Playing baseball does not matter. Playing for their nation in a sports competition is just circumstantial. These heroes carrying hysterical banners and posters need a stage. They have no clue of ethics. They are not fans of sports. They are agitators, plain and simple. And the goal of their “peaceful protest” unmasks each of them.

Some still justify themselves by claiming they did not assault any baseball player. They were only attacking the Cuban government, instead. So, why did they choose a stadium? Are not the usual spaces to attack Cuba enough? Ineffective in the conventional spaces of political battle, they turn to sports and cultural events involving Cubans with some sort of relationship with governmental institutions. They do not care about artistic or sports hierarchies. They just do not care.

Like it or not to these opportunistic baseball fans, the team playing under a lot of pressures was the Cuban national team. The legit, the one playing in and for the country. Therefore, the one representing the Cubans, wherever they live. And that is not going to change with offenses, or invading the pitch, or pausing the ballgame.

And yes, many of us had to watch such a regretful show on our TV. But we were not proud of it. We felt embarrassed for them.

Translated by Sergio A. Paneque Díaz / CubaSí Translation Staff

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