Patriotism

As much as I would like to tell you I have been very patriotic, waving my England flag and singing the national anthem whilst watching the football, that would be a lie. You see, I’m not sure I care for it at all. Our local gay bar hole has covered itself in red and white flags; it's even replaced the high flying rainbow flag in the hand of a naked male statue with an England flag. I don't know if it's a good thing. I suppose they are reaching out and breaking down barriers that suggest all gays hate football, I suppose, but the fact that it has more flags than any other pub/bar in town raises some suspicions.

It's not that I don't care at all, I did check the scores after the match ended, but I just find it hard to find the fascination. For me, I think it is down to the angle, the bird's eye view, it just doesn't appeal. In films like... (I'm going to get slated for this), Bend it Like Beckham and She's The Man (Okay wait! Just bear with me! I know they're about girls playing football but they're the only two football films that I think I've seen!)... in these films the football scenes are somewhat exciting. We are down there with the footballers, we can their faces, their reactions, we can see everything that is happening. I do realise that it would be near impossible to show an entire real life football game like that, but if it were possible, wouldn't it be far more interesting..?

So, what did I do instead of watching the match? I watched a German film with terrible English subtitles... Controversial? No, I don't think so. But maybe I shouldn't advertise that if it were an England v Germany match, that may cause a little uproar.

I wondered what real football fans thought to all the hooliganism that surrounds the sport. I know my Dad is quite a big football fan, especially when it comes to his team or the world cup and he hates the hooliganism. In fact, he refuses to believe it exists; but it does. A friend directed me to this blog and I couldn't agree with him more. Assuming you didn't click the link and read it, the bottom line of his post states that middle aged men are using football and patriotism as a guise for violent, obnoxious and childish behaviour in public. It's true; it makes me feel sick, so much that I would never venture into town on a match day.

I do believe that footballers are paid far too much for what they do, i think even the most avid fans would agree with that. I also think Pop Stars, Comedians and Actors are paid far too much. Doctors, Police and Firemen should be the ones with the ridiculously high salary, but unfortunately, several million people don't rally together to watch doctors from different countries compete to carry out the best surgical procedure.

And as for the countless bombardment of adverts, feigning patriotism to sell their Mars bars and god knows what. Give it a rest... Please.