Three minutes and 20 seconds into added time.
Manchester City were about to finish behind Manchester United. Their first change to win the English
league title for 44 years was slipping away. Worse, their city rivals, Manchester United, were about to win it in their stead. Pain was etched on the faces of the City
supporters. Many started to
leave. Then to use a sporting
cliché, “cometh the hour, cometh the man”, Sergio Aguero, goal. Manchester City were champions.
Where does this phrase come from? This idea that the hero
will appear at the right time to save the day, or that when the time comes
someone will step up and become the hero?
This is a sporting cliché, but it resonates with us. Could we live with the idea that there
will be no hero? That when things
are at their very darkest, no one steps in (well, as a Liverpool fan, I’ve witnessed that scenario a
few too many times this season).
That we are all standing by watching helplessly as everything goes to
pot.
We look to heroes who promises that will lead us to better
times. Just look at the euphoria
of President Obama’s election victory.
In France, President Hollande has promised to ease the European economic crisis
without crushing austerity measures.
Interestingly, we see potential heroes fail, or at least
fail to deliver on their promise all the time. For example, I don’t think that anyone, no matter what
side they face politically, would deny that Obama has not delivered
all that he promised in 2008.
Similarly, Hollande may struggle to painlessly ease the French and the
wider European debt crises.
But we still believe.
We still hope. We may even
pray.
Why?
