Monday 1 March 2010

Religion for the Masses

Dungeekin can't understand what is significant about this week's story about some footballists. After claiming to have no knowledge on the subject, he nevertheless describes football very acurately as:

22 overpaid, over-hyped, extravagantly-coiffed and unimportant prima-donnas kicking an inflated pigs bladder around a field, occasionally putting it in a big net box and sometimes falling over clutching their faces if another prima donna gets within fifteen feet of them. Oh, and spitting. And swearing at the poor sod refereeing.
As I have commented in reply to Dungeekin, when I was young I was always confused why my Dad used to get so upset when 11 men that he did not know personally and who did not grow up near to where he grew up had failed to kick an inflated pig's bladder into a wooden rectangle as often as had 11 other men that he did not know personally and who did not grow up near to where he grew up.

This disappointment would arrive most Saturday afternoons and then again (in spades) every fourth summer. So, when he asked me whether I wanted to go with him to "the football", I would decline. As football was the principal interest and excitement in his life (he was an accountant...), I suspect that my lack of interest explained a lot of his subsequent attitude to me.

I have to say, I still don't understand the attraction.

5 comments:

  1. Thanks for the link!

    And nobody has, as yet, helped me understand the attraction either....

    D

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  2. So you appear neither a thug nor a gentleman.

    What should be the national past-time to which the masses are encouraged to conform? You don't have to support it to understand its uses.

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  3. @measured:

    As far as I see, its only use is to generate a primal rage among those who really should not be given the chance.

    Watching and listening to the fans at/after a match, I tend to think of football as a 90-minute version of the Two Minutes Hate.

    Rugby for me, even though that's starting to get too much money and too may prima donnas (Cipriani) for my taste as well.


    D

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  4. I always preferred watching rugby - more manly and better thighs.

    The best thing I saw about football recently was to do with Manchester United fans. Of course I saw it linked from somebody's site, didn't comment, didn't note down which blog so can't send you there to see what they had to say.
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/feb/28/manchester-united-green-gold-wembley

    It looks as if the fans are revolting.

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