UNSPORTING

evening friends
i used to care
i really did
i was hoping birmingham were gonna win
just so that i could say this
and not be accused of sour grapes
but of course they lost the last match of the season
and i'll look like a whinger
how times have changed
all those days i whiled away during the long summer holidays
sitting in front of the telly watching test match special
and even when play was suspended due to rain or bad light
watching the replays of old matches...
frame after frame of snooker from the crucible
steve thorburn versus cliff davis
ray white versus jimmy reardon...
the biggest treat i could have
was being allowed to stay up late and watch MOTD...
so why do i no longer care about this stuff?
why does it not matter whether the blues win the league or not?
well, for one thing
i like to think that what matters is the process
not the product
that it's the playing that's important rather than the winning
those lines about treating those twin imposters
triumph and disaster
just the same...
then there's the money
the greed
the big business
the stock market flotations
the sponsorship
the advertising
long gone is the sense of loyalty
the one-club stalwarts
replaced by travelling mercenaries
buying success...
there's the tribal aspect
the us versus them
the 'we hate you because you're (magpie/wolves/villa) scum'
which ultimately manifests itself in thuggery
macho bravado
racism
xenophobia
i remember going to wembley in 2000
to see an international 'friendly' match
between england and argentina
nothing very friendly about it
i can assure you, friends
argentina get roundly booed every time they gain possession
non-stop chants about 'cheating argies'
and the falklands
grown men standing next to me screeching
'come on inggerrland!'
as if their lives depend on it
bill shankley famously said
'football isn't a matter of life and death -
it's much more important than that!'
well you got it wrong shanks
there are a lot of more important things in life than football
i used to care, like, canny lad
i really did!