The sports world is absolutely cruel
It's hardly a secret that I adore the Belgians and their culture. With a food culture that on the whole I consider to be the finest in the world as well as beer and chocolate that that has no equal, it would be impossible for me not to like the land and its peoples. But after the visiting and meeting the kind people, being awed but the endless number of stunningly beautiful churches and being moved to tears at their equivalent to Canada's Remembrance Day ceremonies I really did fall in love with the country.
But what does this have to do with sports?
While most of the world was entirely fixated on a bunch of very rich men kicking around ball in the name of national pride. London was hosting the world's most prestigious tennis tournament. It just of happens that after a really difficult year-and-a-half with a protracted and initially undiagnosed bout of mono as well as a hamstring and a shoulder injury my favourite player Justine Henin-Hardenne has been on a real tear. She was all set to grab the one slam missing from her career accomplishments until Amelie Mauresmo decided in the second set of the final that this was the time to prove all her critics wrong.
I'm sure sure Amilie a nice enough woman and I always love it when a player makes a fool of the know-it-all critical sports writers. But her timing couldn't have come at a worse time as far as I'm concerned.
You see although Belgium is blessed with two top female tennis players (the other being Kim Clijsters) the country isn't united in their support of both. The country is split between the richer, more populous Dutch speaking North and the less populous, relatively rural Francophone South*. For those of you with a knowledge of Canada the underlying tension in Belgium is somewhat similar to the relationship between Quebec and English-speaking Canada. Although this is fascinating aspect of both Canadian and Belgian culture exploring it further would be a digression. Clijsters is the pride of Flanders (the Dutch speaking part) and Henin-Hardenne is the pride Wallonia (the French speaking part), in particular Liège—her birth city.
And right now Liège town is that could use some good news.
As Canada was getting ready to celebrate its birthday. Liège was burying a 7-year-old girl and her 10-year-old step-sister. An 18-day search for them ended when their bodies were found on the side of railway tracks. It appears they were raped and strangled.
To make the tragedy worse 11 years ago two 8-year-old girls from were kidnapped form Liège, locked in a basement and left to starve to death while the pedophile who did it was serving time for a minor offense.
I never got the chance to visit Liège, but as a member of the human race it absolutely breaks my heart that this town has had to suffer these deplorable crimes twice.
Absolutely nothing could make up for these greatest of tragedies. But I was hoping that on Saturday a win by the town's most famous daughter could have provided the most momentary distraction of good news.
*There's also a very small German speaking province to the East (making the country offical trilingual) and although Brussels is in the Dutch-speaking region it is considered bilingual and a region in iteself.
But what does this have to do with sports?
While most of the world was entirely fixated on a bunch of very rich men kicking around ball in the name of national pride. London was hosting the world's most prestigious tennis tournament. It just of happens that after a really difficult year-and-a-half with a protracted and initially undiagnosed bout of mono as well as a hamstring and a shoulder injury my favourite player Justine Henin-Hardenne has been on a real tear. She was all set to grab the one slam missing from her career accomplishments until Amelie Mauresmo decided in the second set of the final that this was the time to prove all her critics wrong.
I'm sure sure Amilie a nice enough woman and I always love it when a player makes a fool of the know-it-all critical sports writers. But her timing couldn't have come at a worse time as far as I'm concerned.
You see although Belgium is blessed with two top female tennis players (the other being Kim Clijsters) the country isn't united in their support of both. The country is split between the richer, more populous Dutch speaking North and the less populous, relatively rural Francophone South*. For those of you with a knowledge of Canada the underlying tension in Belgium is somewhat similar to the relationship between Quebec and English-speaking Canada. Although this is fascinating aspect of both Canadian and Belgian culture exploring it further would be a digression. Clijsters is the pride of Flanders (the Dutch speaking part) and Henin-Hardenne is the pride Wallonia (the French speaking part), in particular Liège—her birth city.
And right now Liège town is that could use some good news.
As Canada was getting ready to celebrate its birthday. Liège was burying a 7-year-old girl and her 10-year-old step-sister. An 18-day search for them ended when their bodies were found on the side of railway tracks. It appears they were raped and strangled.
To make the tragedy worse 11 years ago two 8-year-old girls from were kidnapped form Liège, locked in a basement and left to starve to death while the pedophile who did it was serving time for a minor offense.
I never got the chance to visit Liège, but as a member of the human race it absolutely breaks my heart that this town has had to suffer these deplorable crimes twice.
Absolutely nothing could make up for these greatest of tragedies. But I was hoping that on Saturday a win by the town's most famous daughter could have provided the most momentary distraction of good news.
*There's also a very small German speaking province to the East (making the country offical trilingual) and although Brussels is in the Dutch-speaking region it is considered bilingual and a region in iteself.
posted by Mike D @ 9:26 AM
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