Yes, that certainly sounds like soccer
Posted on October 5th, 2007 – 4:28 PMBy Michael Rand
We love the footy as much as anyone, but we do have to admit that those who complain about the hooliganism and the diving in the sport had a nice daily double with the recent incident involving AC Milan and keeper Dida (pictured to your right). Well, the Celtic fan who “attacked” Dida has been banned from matches for life. Now, we agree there is absolutely no reason the fan should have been on the field. But we also question Dida’s shot-by-a-cannon reaction, shown perfectly here and described in the aforementioned story thusly:
The Brazilian turned and started to chase after the fan, then suddenly stopped and fell dramatically to the ground clutching his face. He was carried off on a stretcher with an ice pack to his cheek.
Yeah, there could have been a braver reaction.
6 Responses to "Yes, that certainly sounds like soccer"
Rand, it wouldn’t have been that hard to doctor this photo with your red pencil to make the “O” an “A”
Don’t they score points in soccer by being over-dramatic and feigning injury? They don’t? Could’ve fooled me, they do that more often than they put the ball in the net…
Somewhere, Mr. Linnemann’s son is thinking, “Yeah, I could do that… and I will!”
Dave - that sissy diving/whining thing is modern international soccer… back in the day of Pele, Best, George and our own Geoff Willey that kind of behaviour (notice British sp.) would not have been tolerated.
These overpaid wankers nowadays - that’s not me mum and pa’s soccer, blimey. It’s just not cricket, eh?
Which makes pro international soccer no different than… the NBA?
Except, they score a little more frequently than they flop in the NBA. And, I think the flopping can be traced to the European NBA players in large part…maybe it was learned playing soccer?
Italian teams have raised this kind of behavior to an art form, as anyone who watched the last World Cup can attest.
Dida was once hit by a flare thrown out of the stands in a match so I can understand him being upset - not flopping, mind you, but being upset. And please don’t act like we don’t have primadonnas in American sports. I think they’re at least equal in number to those you see in Europe.
This boils down to two main things in my mind. First, fans in the Old Firm of Glasgow, and in most of the big European rivalries, have passion that most American sports fans can only dream of having. Second, pitch invasions are serious business and anyone who runs onto a field of play and makes physical contact with a player needs to be dealt with. Celtic might have its doors closed for their remaining Champions League home games as a result, or might even be kicked out of the Champions League.
Imagine playing in front of an empty Metrodome. (Wait .. the way the Gophers and Vikings are going, they may soon be doing just that.) The financial hit to the owners is enormous.
A) Was is it cold the day of Dido’s photo shoot or was she just happy to see RandBall?
B) The incident reminds me of “The Punch” delivered by Kermit Washington on Rudy Tomjanovich. No, not really.
C) Quick book recommendation: The Encyclopedia of Immaturity. I’d provide the link to Amazon but that seems unfair to other online retainers.
