Editorial

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Joined Together
Okay, so there's news happening we could comment on... the resignation of a schools superintendent, increasing concerns about gas drilling politics in Albany and possible gas drilling realities under the watershed, possible movement on the Phoenicia Sewer System (and questions about who the lead players regarding review of offered aid will be, behind the scenes), as well as more probable movement towards the completion of the Boiceville Wastewater Treatment system.
Yet all of this is in process and developing enough that we feel reluctant to state opinions until the issues have a chance to progress a bit more.
Besides, all that's been on our minds of late, besides which creeks we want to submerge into to beat the heat, has been soccer, or what the rest of the world refers to as football (or futball). So we liked the idea of the Dutch beating Spain, in second revenge for the latter country's occupation of the Netherlands several centuries ago. But reveled in the supremacy of the Spanish team, anyway.
What most amused us was the way some Americans pooh-poohed the entire sport, and the rest of the world for enjoying it, simply because it wasn't as television-ready as our own football or basketball or baseball. Even derided it all as socialist because that's the name some of us like to call people we don't agree with these days.
In the final rounds, though, we kept coming back to the beautiful athleticism of all who actually played the game, the way all but a sliver of the world shared viewing of these tightly-played games, and the way soccer has long played such a key role in the sports imagination, and competitive/cooperative nature of our own existence in the Route 28 corridor. Hey, this was OUR sport writ large on a massive scale.
So... forget that there's been, and will always be, some conflict over leagues and personalities in this area, even here in our hills and valleys. What needs focus, at this point in this beautiful summer, is what we all shared in the just-finished World Cup 2010, and not what kept us apart.
Onward, now, to our own leagues' play! And our cooling creeks, of course!
PS