Rays of Hope
Outside the Game
Rays of Hope
A.J. Russo
Unexpected victories always bring hope.
In 2007, a victory that transcended sport was Iraq’s 1-0 triumph over Saudi Arabia in the Asian Cup final in Jakarta on July 29. Iraq’s unexpected win was a triumph for human spirit.
Few people gave Iraq any hope of making it past the early rounds. Their squad was a hodge-podge of Shi’ite, Sunni and Kurdish players, divided by the sectarian violence in their homeland, most of whom had had friends and relatives killed in the Iraqi conflict.
Goalkeeper Noor Sari’s brother-in-law was killed just before the tournament began, midfielder Nashat Akram’s relatives were kidnapped then murdered and Hawar Mulla Mohammad’s stepmother died two days before the quarter-final against Vietnam.
Iraq went into the final riding a wave of global passion, but were still not expected to beat Saudi Arabia, who were appearing in their sixth final in 23 years and bidding to become the first country to win the title for a fourth time.
Iraqi captain Younis Mahmoud scored the only goal to complete one of sport’s great fairytales. When it was over, even the Pope declared it would help to bring peace to the country.
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In 2008, after 10 straight years of loosing seasons, the Tampa Bay Rays are making their first trip to the MLB World Series. Baseball’s toilet-mat, since starting MLB play in 1998, the Rays were a 200-1 shot to win the World Series before the season started.
A win against the Philadelphia in the World Series and the Rays of hope will become the first team to go from worst in the majors to World Series champion in just one season.
This most improbable rise from the cellar to the rooftop of baseball will most certainly inspire anyone who has a need to jump a hurdle in life because—there’s always a ray of hope.
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On June 3rd, 2008, Democratic Senator Barack Obama was crowned the first African American Presidential candidate of a major party.
Jackie Almond, who cuts hair at the Pizazz Salon and Spa on Lenox Avenue in Harlem, said she was on the phone when she learned of the victory and broke into screams.
“I was like, ‘aaaahhhh,’ ” she said. “Never in a million years would I have thought this was possible.”
After all, African Americans couldn’t even vote in the U.S. 50 years ago, and lit was less than 60 years ago when the Supreme Court determined that racially separate school facilities were inherently unequal.
This unexpected victory brought races together. Many felt that black people now had a hope that they had never, ever had before.
Rays of hope—just on the horizon.
A.J. – Your statement that Blacks did not get the right to vote until 1958 (50 years ago) is not correct. Was this a typo? I believe the right was granted in 1870, although some Jim Crow laws in the South prevailed for many years after this.