Tuesday, June 24, 2014

The Suárez and the Fop

I love Aesop's Fables. Always have. Given my lifelong pattern of self-destructive behavior, it stands to reason that this would be my favorite:

The Scorpion and the Frog

     A scorpion and a frog meet on the bank of a stream and the 
scorpion asks the frog to carry him across on its back. The 
frog asks, "How do I know you won't sting me?" The scorpion 
says, "Because if I do, I will die too."

     The frog is satisfied, and they set out, but in midstream,
the scorpion stings the frog. The frog feels the onset of 
paralysis and starts to sink. Knowing they both will drown,
the frog gasps, "Why?" 

     Replies the scorpion: "I could not help it; it's my nature."

So it is with Luis Suárez, Uruguay's enigmatic and bizarre anti-hero. A few days after single-handedly resuscitating La Celeste's World Cup dreams by scoring a brace against England, he inexplicably tried to take a bite out of Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini's shoulder.  The game was tied, and Uruguay had started to dominate because the thuggish Marchisio had been sent off for a brutal foul.  There was no apparent provocation, nor rhyme, nor reason.  Given Suárez's history, one can only surmise that he simply could not help it; it's his nature.