Copa Rushmori XX - Everything Thread

[Sargossa]

SSM | Sargossan State Media

International Edition - Sport


Thundertwats, Hoooo!


Mario Najar reports;

Ah yes, that semi-final feeling. It never really leaves you. It’s been a while though for the sports hungry hordes back home. A long while since their mighty Corsairs competed at the business end of the Copa Rushmori. Two years ago a lone victory over the Kytlerians was as good as it got in the bleak and chilly surrounds of the Polar Islandstates. The Polarians would play their part two years earlier again, defeating Sargossa in the group stage and then again in the quarter final. In fact you have to go back to the fifteenth edition of the tournament for Sargossa’s last dalliance in the final four. Suitably enough they beat Darmen that night, on their way to a fall at the final hurdle thanks to those several times-damned Polarians. Happily there’s no Polarians here. Not anymore.

Darmenis though, of them there are plenty. Time and again they’ve sprung up to defy their northern betters and just as often they’ve been smacked straight back down. In fourteen previous meetings between the nations the All Greens have tasted victory on just three occasions. Admittedly one of those wins won them a big Copa trophy but that’s hardly the point. Sadly those past meetings have all tended to be rather close, the Darmenis nothing if not battlers, and given the Corsairs’ tendency to leak goals and the sheer unpredictability of semi-finals an easy ride was expected by no one whatsoever.

So the actual events of this semi-final were a happy surprise. Cheered on by the bulk of the crowd, the Valladar public happy to root for anyone facing off against their arch-rivals, Sargossa found their top gear while Darmen crumbled in the face of adversity. The Corsairs were already a goal to the good courtesy of Germán Sauseda when what was probably the turning point of the match occurred. Mikael Adan slide hard into a challenge and picked up a nasty knock on his shin which required treatment, and while the experienced defender was on the sidelines the ten men of Darmen conceded again when Noyola was left unmarked in the box. The marksmen extraordinaire was ruthless and duly converted the second. At two nil down there was really only one option for the All-Greens, who pushed forward looking for a way back into the match. But the likes of Lee, Gregio and Autitore couldn’t repeat their heroics from the group stage encounter and a late strike from substitute Bustos finally put them out of their misery. The final whistle went and Sargossa’s wonderful record in semi-finals went on.

The other semi-final was a much more cagey affair, a single goal enough for Eura to sneak passed Saintland. Which leaves two, Sargossa and Eura, head-to-head to become Rushmore’s very best. Surprisingly, unlike the conveyer belt of matches against Darmen, the Sargossan and Eurans have largely stayed out of each other’s way on the international sporting circuit. The two previous matches have both been Copa games, a Euran win at CR XI and a Sargossan victory seven tournaments later. Away from the Copa the Eurans have gone from strength to strength, and are now deservedly ranked among the very best in the sportiverse. But we’ve done this before, six times before, and that experience could well help to get our Corsairs over the line. A nation can dream, a nation can dream.

[Eura]

The thunderous voice of the speaker outside ran through the halls of the backstage area at the Liberal Party's final big rally before the traditional three month "run down" to the general election that took place at the end of every term of government in Eura. Prime Minister and Liberal Party leader Michael Judge was waiting for his turn to go up and speak as he received reminder prep from his spin doctor. 'So, one last time. What are we calling the Standard Employment Charter?'
'A capitally criminal Capital calamity.'
'Bloody brilliant. This Bastion lot will love that. Think about all those Social voters out there who are going to vote Liberal after this. What is this, by the way?'
'This.?' Judge held up his chin to form his most statesmanlike pose. 'This...is the hour of opportunity.'
'The hour of opportunity, Prime Minister!'
'The hour of bloody opportunity!'
'Ok, you're on.' Amy Yarley came down from the stage with a beaming smile on her face. 'There must be two hundred thousand out there. Its unbelievable. Good luck, Michael.'

He strode out onto the stage after receiving a hug from his Foreign Minister, before being met by a wholesome roar from the Bastion crowd. He hadn't believed his own hype before, but he did now. He was going to be elected as Prime Minister of Eura, not shoehorned in as deputy, and this time the government would be built on his own terms. 'Hello, Bastion, and good evening too all of those at home watching this party political broadcast. I want to thank you on behalf of everyone involved with the Liberal Party, and indeed from my own heart, for being here tonight.' A cheer warmed his cheeks as he stood at the podium with the Liberal badge hung below him, and a mighty Euran flag flapping against his head on top of the stage which branded the party slogan; One Party, One Opportunity. It reflected both the fact that Judge and his party were now running alone without having to be a power broker for a Social or Capital coalition, and that as the Liberal campaign had gained momentum it had been painted as a new alternative opportunity for more idealistic government. Once he had taken the applause, he continued on with his speech. It wouldn't be long, but it would have plenty of punch. That was all that mattered at this stage of the campaign.

'A lot of you may have been asking like my Social Party contender, Mr Raymond, what policy successes we can claim in a government that we have not formed a majority of throughout its tenure. Its a fair question at this stage, I suppose. However, you only need to take a glance at the record of the coalition to see which party has achieved more. The Capital Party had control of welfare and the economy, two of our most important assets. They have achieved less people on welfare for a higher national bill, and our titanic economy has slowed, while their leader - my former colleague - allowed a catastrophe in Askoy that we must never forget. Mr Raymond proposes he will change these things. Yet the last Social government offered us scandal, expensive foreign policy adventures and an overcomplicated state. What we are offering you, Eura, is a middle road which can break through the cynical boundaries of left and right and put this country on the march to progress once more.' There was polite applause; that had been the difficult part of his speech. It had tackled areas where he had little to say other than "we can do better". Fortunately, he didn't have to say much else, because despite a reasonable recent record in state for both of the two big parties, neither were currently very popular.

'Indeed, what other party that is not one of the old, moribund two could bring you change? The MIP offer nothing more than what we can give you, but without the power or experience to deliver it. The Civil Federalists offer you only unrestricted communism, and the Independents offer you only unrestricted capitalism. They do not offer you social democracy, the most preferred form of government in this country amongst all of our six regions.' Further applause as he concluded his brief assault on the other parties. Now he had the chance to set forth his vision, albeit briefly. 'In every area of government our Eura, if lead by the Liberal Party, can be improved meaningfully, and not only in the rhetoric of other leaders speeches. Ourselves and the Capital Party promised a balanced budget and a cut to waste. Liberal professionals gave you that balanced budget, and Capital stooges threw it away. They didn't get rid of waste, they gave us tax loopholes. We gave Eura a referendum on proportional representation, an issue that plagued the minds of many, and though we decided against adopting it, we had the choice to do so if we had wished. Yet we didn't let the Capital Party impose unconstitutional and unwarranted boundary changes on the constituency system, because Eura should decide what votes matter where, and not the party of the wealthy.'

A roar from the local crowd, which was usually more Social Party orientated, simmered in the air. 'The work of our magnificent Foreign Minister Amy Yarley, a Liberal through and through, delivered us the Rushmori delegation to the World Assembly. With that responsibility Eura has excelled in its leadership of the region. All that the Capital Party have brought us is shame in Askoy and Esca, and the Social Party have offered us no alternative. In the areas where we have been forced to reconsider, of our nuclear deterrent and power projection strategy, we have adjusted to your will and helped sow the seeds of a better foreign policy for all of us since Crow's resignation. The Capital Party offered us economic growth as they seized control of the treasury. Did they bring it, Bastion?' Judge's heart almost stopped as he waited for the response that he would need to launch the rest of this speech.
'No!' He exhaled, relieved, and now ratcheted up the rhetoric as he built towards the epicentre of his message to the nation.
'The Social Party offer us a bloated welfare state, so what have Capital given us? Cuts that go too far and hurt the neediest! Did we ask for that?'
'No!'
'The Social Party offered no changes to our justice system to address its problems, and Capital responded by turning young offenders into career offenders. Would that have happened if we had been in charge?'
'No!'

'The Social Party refused to give our general practitioners more power, and the Capital Party responded by bringing back exclusive healthcare for the rich. Is that fair?'
'No!' Now the crowd were fully on side. He went through every area with the same line, from housing to migration, from education to energy. He then told the crowd what the Liberals would offer; coherent policies in every area. After a minute or two, he had the crowd set up for the conclusion. 'What we are offering you is change you can believe in. You know me, Eura. You know I am not a flamboyant leader, or fashionable, or tragically very young.' Even the joke got a good response. Amy Yarley punched the air at the side; Judge was on fire. 'What I am offering you Eura is honesty, and a bit of integrity to boot. What I want is to be a leader of a government that gives you what you need and desire, not what you are told you need and are told you desire. We look at Eureaucracy, we look at the Emplor and its criticism of the cabinet, we look at the Brigham Comedy Club and we say yes, have a laugh, because the current system does not work. Your laughter has helped make the political class humble again, and the biggest slice of the humble pie is the slice that is Liberal flavoured! So let me ask you, do you want Social leftovers and Capital crumbs?'
'No!'
'Do you want to be lead by the scandalous Social's, or the callous Capital's?'
'No!'
'I want to thank you all for hearing what we have to say this evening, this evening in which we have come together as a nation to recognise our potential. This is a green and pleasant land, but it is too a land of industry, of culture and of business. We are a superpower. We provide security and freedom to all of our Rushmori fellows. Only with a Liberal government can we make the most of that power, that golden age as my predecessor called it before his party helped delay our march onwards.'

'I want you to remember something when you leave us this evening. This is not just election hour. Not just the last hour of this unworkable coalition. It is our finest hour. It is an hour, the hour, of opportunity!' Judge strode away to massive applause as he let loose that final clinching line. He was joined on stage by his potential cabinet of underdogs who had emerged from their minor roles in the coalition cabinet to run the country almost in the last year as only the third biggest party. Yarley, Warren, Graham, Gandine, Evesley, Matthews; all of these people had served honourably. Now too he was joined by those who would make up his new generation, including David Morgan, the youngest MP in the country at just 24. Amy gave him a pat on the back after he received a hug from his wife and said something into his ear, with her voice raised but not so much it might reach the microphone. 'This is going to be hard, isn't it?'
'It is!' Judge was aware that the media would probably try and lip read this, so he spoke into his cuff. 'But this is the hour, this is the time. We can do this Amy!'
'Yeah, well...maybe we can.' The music came on loudly in the background as confetti rained from above, with thousands of Liberal supporters old and young celebrating in front of them. There were three months to go, but the party now had this sense of momentum around it that just wouldn't go away. If it didn't go away, indeed if Judge and his party really did win this election, then they would have the opportunity that just a few years ago they could of only dreamed of. What none of them knew, what none of them could have known, was that however sweet their hour of victory would be, the darkest of times still lay ahead for the great Endemian democracy.

[Valladares]

Thirty nations started a long road to Swangard hoping to win the Copa Rushmori, but only Sargossa and Eura have managed to reach the end of the road. So, without further ado, behold the last RP cutoff of this Copa Rushmori edition.

[Valladares]

To the Valladar and Rushmori community,

First of all, we would like to thank all of you for trusting the Valladar Football Association and the Royal Government of Valladares, as well as the Confederación Rushmori de Fútbol with the task of hosting the milestone twentieth Copa Rushmori. We feel especially grateful, flattered, and pleased with the reception given to our idea of hosting the competition at several places of this marvellous region, shown by the high number of bids received from countries all over the region, and also by the atmosphere at all the games of the competition, at the 12 chosen stadiums, plus our own National Stadium.

The Royal Government of Valladares would like to thank all expressions of affection and support shown by presidents and dignitaries from across the region, as well as the delegations and fans of the four semifinalist nations (who had the chance to visit Valladares for the latter stages of this fine competition) at the death of His Highness, King Charles V of Valladares. This is certainly a gesture we will never forget.

We would also like to take advantage of this chance to express our sincerest condolences to the Darmeni people for the murder of their Duke, which was a heinous act that we obviously do not condone. Whilst we are grateful by the solidarity expressed by the Darmeni delegation at the funerals of our late King Charles V of Valladares, we would like to clarify that there are no plans for a Valladar delegation to attend either the lying in state or the funeral of Duke Francisco Lyons the XXth, considering that the current situation in Darmen offers no guarantees for a state visit for the time being.

Last but no least, we would like to wish the best of luck to Sargossa and Eura, who have managed to reach the final of this fine competition playing nice football, but also beating their opponents with total justice on the pitch. Either side would be a great and deserved champion.

Signed,

HRH King Marcus of Valladares

HRH King Cyrus of Valladares

HMP Jefferson Pratt,
Prime Minister of Valladares

---

Sargossa 1–1 Eura (2–1 AET)
@ Alexander I National Stadium, Swangard, Valladares

Congratulations to our winner and commiserations to our runner-up for falling short in the last obstacle. I would like to thank everyone who participated for taking part, by submitting stadium bids or by RPing, or even by doing both things and making it an enjoyable tournament to host. Special thanks go to San José Guayabal for his assistance as a third-party scorinator throughout the tournament. I hope you all have had fun with this special tournament and I hope to see you all again at the next Copa. ¡Muchas gracias y hasta pronto!