It all leaves me cold. I was required to play football at my prep school but I hated every minute of it. I couldn't see what was so compelling about men getting balls into nets. Wouldn't they prefer to settle down on the sofa with a good book? Apparently not.
The young lad next door goes in for long sessions of ball-bouncing. That's okay for about ten minutes, but then I start to wonder if he could find some slightly quieter pastime. Like weightlifting.
My thoughts turned to football after repeated pitch invasions this week by football fans, with one fan head-butting a player, other fans throwing smoke bombs, and a club manager being taunted. Football clubs are urgently discussing how to prevent the disorder escalating.
All I can say is, why oh why? What's the point of running onto the pitch and causing mayhem? It just makes football fans look like uncontrollable lunatics.
As for the obscene amounts of money footballers command just to turn up and play a few games (Christian Ronaldo, Manchester City, £29 million a year; Kevin De Bruyne, Manchester City, £23 million a year), how can they possibly be worth such inflated sums? Is a footballer really worth 300 times the salary of the average hospital surgeon?
It's a nice little earner though, if you're a dab hand at getting balls into nets.
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Comments from five of my blogmates - Mary, Joanne, Ramana, Beatrice and Wisewebwoman - haven't appeared on my blog. Presumably a technical glitch at Blogger. I hope they sort it out soon, it's a bloody nuisance.
Do you mean soccer? Lol! I understand being a fan when you personally know the players (such as in high school, or even college) but I find it boring otherwise.
ReplyDeleteBijoux: I can't understand the attraction at all. Goal, another goal, another goal (and so on). It just seems mind-numbingly monotonous to me.
DeleteSoccer is more interesting than USA football. The whole industry isn't to be trusted.
ReplyDeleteSusan: How do you mean the industry isn't to be trusted?
DeleteGrrr. Football makes me cross. More about money and sponsorship than sport. And it’s yawnsome.
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Ms Scarlet: As you say, money and sponsorship have become the guiding principles.
DeleteOnce again Mary's comment hasn't appeared on the post. She said: "I've never been a fan of sports. I don't watch any of it."
ReplyDeleteThat's so weird that my comments aren't posting. Thank you for posting it for me. Blogger's update has some bugs it appears.
DeleteI pretty much agree with your view though in years past I've enjoyed baseball and U.S. Football -- never really was exposed much to your football I think of mostly as soccer. Now, given what they've learned confirming effects of hits to the head I shudder every time I see that happening, even less than a person getting a coma. My husband having played those sports and expecting a scholarship to Univ. to play football after high school long before I ever knew him, he watched those games intently, ready to talk all the details with another like-minded person. He didn't hang out in bars to talk sports at least. I listened to some of what he had to say, somewhat interested, if I happened to be sharing the experience with him at live games or on TV or radio.
ReplyDeleteJoared: Yes, it's taken a long time to discover the long-term hazards of heading a ball. Luckily I never headed a ball at school - I just tried to keep well away from the action!
DeleteJoanne's comment hasn't appeared on my post either. She said "Folks grow less civilized daily. I read a staggering statistic of the vast increase in unruly airline passengers year over year." Why is Blogger losing my comments?
ReplyDeleteRamana says: "For some strange reason my comments on your and Kylie's blog posts do not get published with the new arrangement that blogspot has introduced." So that's three people affected- Ramana, Mary and Joanne. What the hell is going on? I shall try to find out.
ReplyDeleteI am reading this all over the blogosphere! From personal experience it’s either cookie settings, or something to do with Blogger themes and how the comment box is displayed. OR, it’s something new and exciting that hasn’t bothered me yet - which is odd, as most things bother me.
DeleteSx
Ms Scarlet: It's odd how it affects some people but not others, which suggests it's a Blogger problem and they need to sort it out.
DeleteAnd now a fourth comment that's gone missing from my post. Wisewebwoman says: "I think there was an update to the blogger platform Nick. Not sure but the comment area is completely different to the way it used to be. I'm not a fan of spectator sports, never understood the cheering on of millionaires on ice often (I believe) with rigged games to extract even more cash from the punters. And the advertising so out of control. It's all about the money. And offering scholarships (as in the US) to athletes makes them a commodity to be bought and sold too."
ReplyDeleteDon't get me started on footballers salaries, it is totally obcsene.
ReplyDeletePolly: It's especially obscene when millions of people are struggling to make ends meet and resorting to food banks and loan sharks.
DeleteSome footballers receive huge salaries which they need to invest well. After their career, they may or may not be as valuable. I feel a bit embarrassed for those who spend their retirement selling their signature and the like for $10 a pop.
ReplyDeleteMy dad and one of my brothers felt the same as you. My dad did not allow my brothers to play American football in school. He felt it wasn't worth the potential injury. He had a school mate who was paralyzed from a freak accident on the football field.
Ann: You're right that footballers have to plan for their life after football. But £29 million a year? And how about all those others with a limited shelf-life - ballet dancers or models or sports people generally? That's tragic about the paralysed schoolmate.
DeleteBeatrice's comment has also disappeared. She says: "Glad that you and Jenny went on a getaway, we did the same last week on a road trip to a beach in NC. You are right that there can be hassles when traveling, but it seems that you did enjoy yourself once you arrived at your destination. We returned home this past weekend and are already looking forward to the next adventure in July." That's five missing comments.
ReplyDeleteI come here from Ramana's blog. I'm sorry for my test to blogspot commenting system.
ReplyDeleteTikno: Thank you for testing the commenting system. You managed to get past the technical glitch, whatever it is!
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