Caption Contest - Magic Spray

We've seen Santi Cazorla sprayed, whatever next with the magic spray being used by the referees in the premier League? Here's a 'could happen?' moment for you to engage your humour with:

Man Utd - Now we see it, then we didn't!

I often find the world of football to be a place populated by people of shifting morality and opinion! A bloke can divert his run by a few metres to enable him to whack an opposing player in the throat as he passes him by and, despite the outcry of others, neither the ref' or the player's manager 'sees anything in it'!

A few days later, the same player sticks his behindside out and an opposing player obligingly sends hims tumbling. This time, although once again the ref' see 'nothing in it', this time the manager (yes, the same one as before) sees lots in it. He goes red, fumes, waves his arms like a fledgling learning to fly and remonstrates with the fourth official.

Then it gets betterer and betterer because the week later his team lose their second game on the bounce and there should have been a sending off (well, two at least from the game I saw) and the result should have been theirs. Once again, thanks to poor (biased?) refereeing, the best team lost!

What a load of tosh, and what a wonderful mirror to hold up to our society, football is becoming. I meet so many people during the course of my dog-collaring and a great number of these are always ready to point to the excesses of the groups who stand opposed (or are perhaps merely 'different' to them! They tell me how others lie and do things that demonstrate their lack of Christian whatever. They can denounce every movement made by others as wrong and yet, when the mirror is brought into play, fail to recognise the same in themselves.

Lord,
Give me the grace to see in myself the things that I so easily see in others.
To rise about the tackles and foul play of this world and keep my game pure;
To keep on running for the goal when taking a tumble might yield more.
Father, football is important, but it's not about life and death,
So help us to live because the death of Christ brings us life.
And may we come to the place where we are saved and never need face the penalty.
Amen.

Role Models

I met a man a couple of weeks back who had been a referee but had given it up because of the language and abuse that he received during and after the game. the crunch came for him (literally) when he was assaulted following his awarding of a penalty. As the offending player was being sent off his mother stormed onto the pitch and punched the referee in the face, breaking his nose! Perhaps I should have mentioned that this was a junior league match, the players were all around ten years old.

The man said that the language, the fouls and the abuse from the parents was such that he'd already had enough and the smack in the face was the final straw. Asking him what had gone wrong, he said that the kids emulated what they saw in the senior professional game.

Wel  last week, despite claims by the FA that they were going to be tough on swearing and abusing the referees I didn't need training in the art of lip-reading to make sense of the expletives that were flying around!

Yesterday that icon of Premiership football, Wayne Rooney, diverted his runs to elbow a player and escaped with nothing more than a free kick and a pat on the shoulder from the Ref'. Perhaps the laws of the game are as variable as some fans claim after all, not only that but Alex Ferguson saw, "Nothing in it." I wonder if he'd have been saying that had the roles been reversed? Or perhaps, as the commentator says, "he's been a lucky boy, he gets away with one here (again?)"

Some scream for Rooney to face a lengthy ban whilst others justify his action as, "Part of the passion and fire that makes him a great player." The reality is that he, and those who dive in the box (a blue shirt is appearing here) or manage to engage in sexual relationships outside their marriage or long-term relationships are all excused because of the pressure upon them are thus permitted to continue in their lifestyles and attitudes as poor role models.

Watching the rugger yesterday I saw a very different set of sportsmen. Different in terms of language used, payment received and pride demonstrated.

Time to get football out of the gutter once and for all and make it a sport that teaches controlled passion and sportsmanship? I think so.

ps. Went to Villa yesterday and saw a clean and well-won match (4-1 against Blackburn) amongst a great bunch of polite supporters. Perhaps there's just something about certain clubs? Hey ho, time to do next service . . .

Pax