December 2, 2022 — After a busy week of chasing dreams and deadlines, on Friday afternoons at Cardthartic we like to pause to consider all the little wins we’ve just achieved … that takes us into the weekend feeling good about what we’ve actually accomplished rather than, well, leaving us feeling like we’ve just been running around chasing our tails. And this Friday — as we look forward to watching the US Men’s National Team play the Netherlands tomorrow morning — we’re also celebrating all the little (and big!) wins we saw the USMNT achieve this week.
Let me do a quick cruyff turn here (hehe, I think that’s soccer talk for “change direction”) and acknowledge that there are those who can’t get enough of World Cup soccer, who anticipate every game with the exuberance of the pup on this Little Reminders card. And then there are those who could not care less about the beautiful game. Given that interest in the sport has risen 27% in the past decade, nearly 12 million Americans now play on a regular basis and — between ESPN and Univision — more than 26 million of us have been watching the World Cup, something’s happening here!
It might be that many of us have been introduced to the sport by Ted Lasso. More than a year ago now, Contributing Cardie Jenni Betz emailed, “Please tell me you watch Ted Lasso? Mercy, Ted Lasso is like Major League meets Mr. Rogers and makes radical empathy funny. Carve out time, if you can!” As our Creative Coordinator Kristen Caminiti explained to me, she loves watching the Emmy award-winning comedy series with her three young sons because she feels the kids are not just watching a show about soccer, they’re watching men honorably honoring emotions. “On Ted Lasso — and World Cup — my kids see grown men openly expressing frustration, pride and joy,” Kristen pointed out to me. “They see men wrestling with the need to control and yet release their anger, and they see them reacting with support and kindness for each other. Major honoring of emotions going on here!”
So to watch these same emotions play out in real life and in real time during the World Cup, that’s way more than watching a game …
There is the pride in knowing that this US Men’s National Team will be the first ever to split their World Cup winnings equally with the US Women’s National Team. What a win for equal pay! And consider the striking dichotomy that was our team actively supporting women in their fight for equal pay and then playing the team from Iran, where women are not allowed the most basic of human rights. On and off the pitch, the attention this game brought to the struggle so many women face daily is a win for humanity!
As for the brave display of raw emotions, you may have seen live or in replay after replay, following Iran’s loss, their midfielder sat in the middle of that field crying, while a teammate walked off in tears. Seeing this, three US team members approached their Iranian counterpart, embracing him and offering encouraging words. Fox Sports reporter Martin Rogers described it this way, “Josh Sargent kneeled next to Ezatolahi, hugged him, and offered words of kindness and sympathy.
“As Ezatolahi tried to collect himself, US player Tim Weah took him by the hands, pulled him to his feet, then hugged him. Weah told me, ‘The United States and Iran have had so many issues politically and I just wanted to show that we are all human beings and we all love each other. I just wanted to spread peace and love and show him we may come from different backgrounds, we grew up differently, but he is still my family, he is still my brother, and I love him the same way as the guys I grew up with.’”
As Fox’s Rogers summed up so well, “Sargent and Weah are 22-years-old. Neither of them had ever met Ezatolahi before. The United States should be proud of its men’s soccer team, for what it did during Tuesday night’s win-or-go-home triumph. And, perhaps even more so, for what it did afterwards.”
So here’s to Team USA! And whether you watch World Cup or maybe binge on Ted Lasso this weekend, enjoy the action and be sure to celebrate the little wins along the way.
Jodee Stevens
Founder & Chief Creative
December 2, 2022 — After a busy week of chasing dreams and deadlines, on Friday afternoons at Cardthartic we like to pause to consider all the little wins we’ve just achieved … that takes us into the weekend feeling good about what we’ve actually accomplished rather than, well, leaving us feeling like we’ve just been running around chasing our tails. And this Friday — as we look forward to watching the US Men’s National Team play the Netherlands tomorrow morning — we’re also celebrating all the little (and big!) wins we saw the USMNT achieve this week.
Let me do a quick cruyff turn here (hehe, I think that’s soccer talk for “change direction”) and acknowledge that there are those who can’t get enough of World Cup soccer, who anticipate every game with the exuberance of the pup on this Little Reminders card. And then there are those who could not care less about the beautiful game. Given that interest in the sport has risen 27% in the past decade, nearly 12 million Americans now play on a regular basis and — between ESPN and Univision — more than 26 million of us have been watching the World Cup, something’s happening here!
It might be that many of us have been introduced to the sport by Ted Lasso. More than a year ago now, Contributing Cardie Jenni Betz emailed, “Please tell me you watch Ted Lasso? Mercy, Ted Lasso is like Major League meets Mr. Rogers and makes radical empathy funny. Carve out time, if you can!” As our Creative Coordinator Kristen Caminiti explained to me, she loves watching the Emmy award-winning comedy series with her three young sons because she feels the kids are not just watching a show about soccer, they’re watching men honorably honoring emotions. “On Ted Lasso — and World Cup — my kids see grown men openly expressing frustration, pride and joy,” Kristen pointed out to me. “They see men wrestling with the need to control and yet release their anger, and they see them reacting with support and kindness for each other. Major honoring of emotions going on here!”
So to watch these same emotions play out in real life and in real time during the World Cup, that’s way more than watching a game …
There is the pride in knowing that this US Men’s National Team will be the first ever to split their World Cup winnings equally with the US Women’s National Team. What a win for equal pay! And consider the striking dichotomy that was our team actively supporting women in their fight for equal pay and then playing the team from Iran, where women are not allowed the most basic of human rights. On and off the pitch, the attention this game brought to the struggle so many women face daily is a win for humanity!
As for the brave display of raw emotions, you may have seen live or in replay after replay, following Iran’s loss, their midfielder sat in the middle of that field crying, while a teammate walked off in tears. Seeing this, three US team members approached their Iranian counterpart, embracing him and offering encouraging words. Fox Sports reporter Martin Rogers described it this way, “Josh Sargent kneeled next to Ezatolahi, hugged him, and offered words of kindness and sympathy.
“As Ezatolahi tried to collect himself, US player Tim Weah took him by the hands, pulled him to his feet, then hugged him. Weah told me, ‘The United States and Iran have had so many issues politically and I just wanted to show that we are all human beings and we all love each other. I just wanted to spread peace and love and show him we may come from different backgrounds, we grew up differently, but he is still my family, he is still my brother, and I love him the same way as the guys I grew up with.’”
As Fox’s Rogers summed up so well, “Sargent and Weah are 22-years-old. Neither of them had ever met Ezatolahi before. The United States should be proud of its men’s soccer team, for what it did during Tuesday night’s win-or-go-home triumph. And, perhaps even more so, for what it did afterwards.”
So here’s to Team USA! And whether you watch World Cup or maybe binge on Ted Lasso this weekend, enjoy the action and be sure to celebrate the little wins along the way.
Jodee Stevens
Founder & Chief Creative
I want to thank you very much for the notecards you sent to those of us who are regular customers. Everyone wants to know where I buy such perfect cards for every occasion. So glad I found your company on Facebook.
Jodee, you captured our pride & excitement for this American team & the World Cup beautifully. Tuesday’s game was so thrilling that at the end I felt like I had been doing all that running. Win or lose today, this team has represented all the best in our country.
Winning or losing when executed with class is a WIN-WIN.