Flamengo wins with attitude
Text by Arthur Mulhenberg
They say ecology is in fashion. Only if it's to sell Tamar Project T-shirts and faux leather upholstery sets. We continue to litter, cut down forests, fill in mangroves, and burn tons of hydrocarbons every day that will pollute the atmosphere for the next 200 years.
These days, saying you're an ecologist is almost like declaring yourself Catholic in a poll. The person responds that they're Catholic and doesn't even know where the church is. Aside from the money raised for the WWF and a zillion NGOs like Save the Scorpions, what good is it for the entire planet to say it embraces environmental issues, seeks a better quality of life, and changes its social, cultural, and dietary habits?
On truly important issues, trendy ecologists are silent. Where are the millions of ecologists who are friends of whales, jaguars, and lacquer beaks when stupid, outdated rules jeopardize the physical integrity and even the vital systems of professional athletes who gallantly represent the nation abroad?
Ask the golden lion tamarins where these people are hiding. It took the paradoxically traditional and insurgent Flamengo, always at the forefront of national socio-sporting, to rise up from the reactive herd of nativity cows that run national soccer (and the inept eco-boring intelligentsia) to protest to FIFA in the name of preserving the lives of Brazilian athletes.
And as if preserving life weren't enough, the issue also has important implications for the fairness of continental competitions in South America. It's already been proven that, for teams from the Andean highlands, altitude, pressure, and atmospheric composition are a blatant natural doping factor.
Always alone and therefore very well accompanied, it was Flamengo that stood up against this blatant and unacceptable illegality. Faced with the embarrassing silence of federal authorities and weak brethren who prefer to cowardly submit to the impositions of CONMEBOL and the ideological terrorism of the Andean federations, Flamengo embraced the noble cause without any fear and brilliantly carried it to its ultimate consequences.
FIFA has already made its decision, and CONMEBOL will bow to it; it's only a matter of time. Congratulations, Mengão. That's why we're the best. When Flamengo fights, it doesn't do so out of vanity or guile. It fights for good to be done and injustice to be combated.
Flamengo fights for itself, but it also fights on behalf of all football fans, the beauty of the sport, and the athletes who are still forced to play a violent and exhausting sport at altitudes where the World Health Organization strongly recommends reading, playing purrinha, and dominoes as ideal sports activities.
That's Flamengo's nature: to fight for what's right, to be on the side of good. We might have to go to Cuzco next week just to crush Cienciano, but that won't be a problem. As important as the Libertadores Cup win is that no one will ever erase Flamengo's important victory in the name of football from history.
Mengão Always