Egypt Bowl: Time Running Out
Egypt Bowl: Time Running Out

 

Super Bowl Sunday is upon us. It should be a great contest, the match-up of two storied NFL franchises, the three time Super The problem with Mubarak is not so much that he wants to stop the clock, but that he wants to turn back time.
Bowl champion Green Bay Packers facing the Pittsburgh Steelers, who are looking for their record seventh Super Bowl victory. Over 100,000 fans will pack Cowboys Stadium in the Dallas, Texas area to watch it in person, while over 100 million viewers worldwide will watch it on television.

But for some reason I'm having a little trouble getting 'psyched up' for the big game this year. Like many other TV viewers in Israel and around the world, my attention is exclusively focused on Egypt these days. The scenes broadcast from the streets of Cairo are far more captivating than any Super Bowl halftime show (with apologies to this year's entertainers, The Black Eyed Peas).

Perhaps the reason stems from the fact that the 'Egypt Bowl' hasn't been much of a game in recent years. The only statistic one needs to look at in the box score is 'Time of Possession'. In that category it is easy to see who has been controlling the ball: Hosni Mubarak: 30 years.

But with the recent uprisings in Egypt, well, for the first time in three decades, President Mubarak is in real danger of having the power ball stripped from him. His plans to groom his son, Gamal, as his successor also seem to have taken a severe hit. It has become crystal clear that the Egyptian people do not want anyone named Mubarak quarterbacking their team.

According to multiple reports Mubarak has become something of a joke in his own country.  Mubarak has ruled the country for over 30 years under a number of sham elections.  Opposition parties have often been outlawed in Egypt, and elections can hardly be called "free and fair" by any neutral observer.  In the last election less than 25% of the electorate voted.  Mubarak won re-election by a landslide, even though he is clearly unpopular.

This week on Saturday Night Live, Mubarak, played by Fred Armisen, pretended that the population still loves him, and that they are only a little upset because the internet is down.  SNL's Mubarak also claimed he has been "democratically elected" for the past 30 years with an approval rating of 115%. When his mock interviewer suggested that perhaps he was "missing the signs" that his people were protesting against him, he quipped, "Egyptians are not great with signs. Read the bible. We needed 10 plagues before we let the Israelites go. Ten!"

But with the Egyptians taking their conflict to the streets, and Mubarak bringing in his army to contain the protesters, one wonders if there is an exit strategy for Mubarak.

In football, when the clock is winding down and you must maintain possession at all costs you might call a time out. The problem is that Mubarak does not appear to have any time outs left. Mubarak is too proud to spike the ball, and lose a down, to stop the clock, and certainly won't run out of bounds, by leaving Egypt, to keep the clock from ticking. So what options does he have left?

The problem with Mubarak is not so much that he wants to stop the clock, but that he wants to turn back time. He wants to return to a quieter time when he ruled Egypt without threats, where he held onto the ball of power and nobody dared try to strip it from him. Unfortunately for Mubarak, traveling back in time, except in the Back to the Future movies, is impossible. We cannot turn back time, nor can we realistically stop the clock. Can anything be done?

This week in the Jewish calendar marks the beginning of Adar Aleph (first Adar).  Since the lunar year is shorter than the solar one, we have the concept of adding a 13th month once every few years called a "Shana Meuberet" (literally, "a pregnant year"), or a Leap Year. The extra month which is added is another "Adar", and on such a year we have "Adar Aleph" and "Adar Bet". The main reason for doubling Adar (rather than any other month) is that Passover, which is celebrated on the 14th of Nisan, is the Spring Festival. By adding a month before Nisan, this holiday is "drawn away" from winter, and that makes sure that the holiday will always take place in spring.

Hosni Mubarak cannot stop the ticking clock, but maybe he can 'buy some time'. Perhaps buy himself an extra month, perhaps more. While some of the protesters might want to see an overtime period decided by 'sudden death', this is not the right way to go about making change.

In Israel, we nervously watch and wait to see how the drama in Egypt will unfold. On the one hand, we support democracy and a government of the people, but one worries if Egypt's uprising may lead to the establishment of a new extremist government which might not respect the 'cold peace' treaty Mubarak held in place since Sadat's assassination nearly 30 years ago.

Even if it is in Israel's interests that Mubarak hold onto the ball a while longer, will he be able to?

One thing every football coach knows, when you are behind in a game that is nearly over and you have the ball deep in your own territory, you can only do one thing: throw up a very long pass and hope for the best.

Hosni, maybe it's time for a "Hail Mary"... %ad%

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