Basketball player Jānis Timma’s choice to spend the autumn of his career in some kind of sports event organized by Russia was negatively evaluated by the majority of the public. Asking an adult young man if he understands what he is doing is probably frivolous, although it is necessary to ask. A fan is not indifferent to his idol in all his appearances – that’s why he is already a fan. The world of entertainment is built so primitively that the supposed heroes have never belonged to themselves alone. Because in whose honor are they running around – some on arenas, others on stages, some others – in stadiums or cultural centers.
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Timma’s case cannot be called a classic betrayal, because he only betrays himself this time. Surrender yourself to the use of Russian, knowing full well that this is exactly what it will look like. There is no doubt that Russia will use such “Janis” not only on the sports field, because that is the order on their side these days. Doesn’t Timma know that Russia is currently fully supporting primitive theft, cruel murder and bravura rape in Ukraine?
Without any reason – like savages from another civilization. Of course he knows. As he knows very well the consequences accepted by the Latvian state – zero tolerance if you have decided to cooperate with the Kremlin regime in any form in these times. In the case of basketball, this means that the door of the Latvian national team is now closed for him.
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Timma has not refused the national team so far, but let’s be clear and honest – his physical status or competitiveness would not meet the secular standard of the national team at the moment. That’s probably why Jānis thought least about the Latvian national team in this choice. That is to say, with practically no hope of getting into the team, he will not be able to do anything else… And yet, Timma obviously did not expect that his decision would cause so much negative hype. So the beatings about “it’s my life”, “it’s my choice”, “leave it alone” followed…
Jānis did not understand that he demonstrated not the “don’t mix sports with politics” principle, but an elementary shallowness of understanding and knowledge about the era.
Someone there refers to unrequited love, which often makes a person a jerk – it’s about the public soap operas that Jānis himself has publicized so far. It can be. Only, finding love has nothing to do with the duties of a mercenary in some Russian marginal sports collective farm…
The valuable message: when this same person comes to another crossroads, we will know well that he is really just an ordinary mercenary. Invoking patriotism in connection with sports is completely pointless, because what are they doing with those national team or club shirts – they are not fighting for freedom or defending their village from invaders. And none of these saves lives either, let alone any added value that is created. But to invoke the mind and sense of the particular person, when it comes to the state as an institution of emotional belonging – it will be a story about brothers of shit. Don’t mess with those.
And it’s a completely different case when you really have classic traitors in front of you, including from basketball circles. It was back in the spring of 1992, when 28-year-old Igors Miglinieks and 25-year-old Gundars Vētra – undoubtedly our best players of that time and moment – came to the first training session of the Latvian national team and realized that they would be given more in Moscow – both training uniforms and food stamps, and dollars, and won’t have to play in the pre-Olympics qualification tournament – turned around and refused his country’s national team.
On the way, still venomously persuading the little Migliniek not to play… Against the background of the general national awakening, that we have finally gotten rid of the Russian yoke, that we have our own team and colors again – some chose to stay with the occupiers. In addition, the elder Miglinieks, who is nominally the captain of the Latvian national team at the time, who already has the 1988 Olympic gold in his pocket, which he won together with the USSR national team, muttered something in those days about “an athlete’s life is short”, that “I have friends”, “actually I will represent Latvia in my heart”…
Understand, this is the time when finally we are free and proudly raise our flag. That there is no discussion about choices at all, because finally it is our thing that we have reclaimed. At that moment, some of the Latvian archers decided to protect…Lenin. At his coffin.
Well, well – chose, the Russian with them! But thirty-two years later, Igors Miglinieks writes an application to the Social Fund of Latvian Olympians to grant him a lifetime allowance. Formally he can do it, formally he even meets the criteria of the regulations – as an Olympic champion under the red flag…
He was not the only one like that when there was no other choice. But – he is the only one when the choice suddenly happened, when the choice was given. Then refuses. And it turns out that he doesn’t know why Latvia is useful to him… Now it is needed. It is a social fund established by the Latvian Olympic Committee – probably one of the most powerful social movements when we were fighting for the country’s independence. It is a fund in which the Latvian state transfers money to materially support sports veterans.
It is not a fund intended for people who did not want to compete under the Latvian flag. And Igor knows that he couldn’t then, but didn’t want to. If you didn’t want to, why do you want to now? Because the regulations allow… No one will take away the Olympic gold from him, but nobody has taken away the historical memory from us either, and it clearly reminds us that Miglinieks extinguished his Latvian Olympic torch in the spring of 1992 by throwing it into a ditch… And the social fund of Latvian Olympians was created only because that the Latvians had such an opportunity, which Miglinieks deliberately did not use at that time.
Just like Jānis Timma, Igors Miglinieks is not a bad person – he is not bad, but that does not mean that he is good – only in the matter that concerns the Latvian state and its needs, he will not be a lecturer worth listening to, or should be listened to at all. Even if you stood on the barricades…
We don’t make children learn the words of the USSR national anthem by heart in schools, so why does the Latvian Olympians Social Fund want this national anthem to be heard by them?
Who are these people in that foundation who do not understand elementary things – where does the state begin, where does the will of the state end? If it is a private initiative – do it, share it, spend it… But in this case, with Miglinieka’s lifetime allowance – there is no charity or charity school here. It is exactly the same if we gave the Order of the Three Stars to Tatjana Ždanoka – because she already formally complies with the rules of the chapter of the order, is a citizen of Latvia, and has not been convicted of actions against Latvia. And with our Olympic champion in basketball is very similar. Formally corresponds. But – only formally. Very formal.
If you still don’t know, ask the working people of that time where they were on the day when, in the summer of 1992, the Lithuanian basketball team defeated the team in which the Latvians – Vētra and Miglinieks – Vētra and Miglinieks played in the battle for the bronze medal at the Barcelona Olympic Games… I will allow myself to be overly categorical – all in Latvia that day it was about lei. Everyone! All those for whom Latvia meant a country, not a doormat or a bargain store.
We understand very well that you can hand over the country only once…
This topic was also discussed in the TV24 program “STOPkadri” this week:
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