2023-08-28, 06:25 AM - Word count:
In my continued curiosity about the football club in Germany, I spectated their match against Montreal via television streaming. It was a match that very few would call exciting, ended in a goalless draw where it seemed only the goalkeepers had come to play with earnestness.
Everyone knows that goalkeeper is the position of loneliness and blame. Failure is magnified so that no number of successes can ever eclipse it. Internally, the goalie must defy human nature. Evolution has grown us large brains capable of memory, our failures highlighted so we may avoid repeating them. But the goalkeeper must forget failures immediately, though their enemies and even supposed fans will never cease reminding them.
They are the footballer whose foot is least important. They wear gloves as if the game were hazardous to them, as though the field of play is a science lab and only they understand the importance of safety. Perhaps we should give them full suits for greater protection. Or a ten foot pole. The goalie must defend the net, but who defends the goalie?
The goalkeeper stands apart in their kit, never donning the team’s true colors. No matter their size, the goalkeeper is dwarfed by a net standing taller than them and stretching much, much wider. They will always look different and they will always look small. In this, perhaps they are most human of all footballers. This is our place in the universe, and on our own planet. We are different and we are small.
Everyone knows that goalkeeper is the position of loneliness and blame. Failure is magnified so that no number of successes can ever eclipse it. Internally, the goalie must defy human nature. Evolution has grown us large brains capable of memory, our failures highlighted so we may avoid repeating them. But the goalkeeper must forget failures immediately, though their enemies and even supposed fans will never cease reminding them.
They are the footballer whose foot is least important. They wear gloves as if the game were hazardous to them, as though the field of play is a science lab and only they understand the importance of safety. Perhaps we should give them full suits for greater protection. Or a ten foot pole. The goalie must defend the net, but who defends the goalie?
The goalkeeper stands apart in their kit, never donning the team’s true colors. No matter their size, the goalkeeper is dwarfed by a net standing taller than them and stretching much, much wider. They will always look different and they will always look small. In this, perhaps they are most human of all footballers. This is our place in the universe, and on our own planet. We are different and we are small.
![[Image: S10.png]](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1073003468945641492/1113501219890155671/S10.png)
