Sunday, September 20, 2009

"The love that dare not speak its name"

Nice little article from Eamon Sweeney in today's Independent contrasting the passion and the excitement on display in the midweek FAI Cup quarter-finals, which saw three of the top tips for the trophy go crashing out, with the soporific Champions League ties on the same night:

"There is something deeply shallow about the affection of Irish sports fans for English soccer teams. A minority of men and women spend a lot of time and money making the journey across the water to follow their favourite teams. But I find it difficult to take seriously support for a team based on totally arbitrary criteria."

He also makes a good point when he talks about how it often seems that it's not enough for people to merely ignore the league, but that they also feel the need to deride it and sneer at it. Maybe this is down to a certain guilt or embarrassment they feel when confronted with the domestic league? It reminds me of the truckers' scene in Bill Maher's excellent Religulous: people just don't like uncomfortable reminders of their own illogicality, especially when they often know it deep down themselves- it tends to make them hit out in defence.


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