Football, race and a whole lot of problems...
In terms of annoying me, football does quite a lot. So it was with a grim face I read this story, and thought about how simply wrong this is.
In simple terms, Peter Crouch, the lanky 9 foot beanpole of a footballer vented his frustration at being sent off for a tackle, which, whilst bad was certainly not malicious. The 'victim' John Obi Mikel, apparently made the most of the situation by rolling around for a prolonged period. Crouch later claimed that such antics were a distinctly foreign thing, and that you wouldn't expect English players to do anything similar.
Mikel, and his representatives have called the observations "potentially racist", and talked about how it might be offensive to all foreign players. Am I alone in thinking this is rubbish?
Crouch was making an observation, which, I think, for all intents and purposes, is true. Foreigners in football do seem to make the most of situations in a manner British players do not. To be labelled as a racist for this seems to be a stupid over-reaction to what in essence is little more than a frustrated comment.
Crouch was not saying the British footballers were superior, nor was he saying that 'all' foreigners were bad and corrupt. His point seems to be about difference, surely that was all he was noting, that British footballers are different to foreign footballers, something which is surely a given?
Is it the same as me noting that "all foreign people speak a different language"? I am making an observation which is (mostly- some other places do have English as a first choice language) true. Do I really offend people by trying to say something which is basically true?
People seem too eager nowadays to over-exaggerate everything. It is too easy to jump on the racist/sexist/ageist bandwagon and try to tarnish somebody's life with claims which are just stupid. Maybe, and here's the radical thought, maybe I am calling somebody an idiot because that is what I think of them, irrespective of race, colour, nationality, sex, age or anything else. Sometimes these things make no difference.
Luke
In simple terms, Peter Crouch, the lanky 9 foot beanpole of a footballer vented his frustration at being sent off for a tackle, which, whilst bad was certainly not malicious. The 'victim' John Obi Mikel, apparently made the most of the situation by rolling around for a prolonged period. Crouch later claimed that such antics were a distinctly foreign thing, and that you wouldn't expect English players to do anything similar.
Mikel, and his representatives have called the observations "potentially racist", and talked about how it might be offensive to all foreign players. Am I alone in thinking this is rubbish?
Crouch was making an observation, which, I think, for all intents and purposes, is true. Foreigners in football do seem to make the most of situations in a manner British players do not. To be labelled as a racist for this seems to be a stupid over-reaction to what in essence is little more than a frustrated comment.
Crouch was not saying the British footballers were superior, nor was he saying that 'all' foreigners were bad and corrupt. His point seems to be about difference, surely that was all he was noting, that British footballers are different to foreign footballers, something which is surely a given?
Is it the same as me noting that "all foreign people speak a different language"? I am making an observation which is (mostly- some other places do have English as a first choice language) true. Do I really offend people by trying to say something which is basically true?
People seem too eager nowadays to over-exaggerate everything. It is too easy to jump on the racist/sexist/ageist bandwagon and try to tarnish somebody's life with claims which are just stupid. Maybe, and here's the radical thought, maybe I am calling somebody an idiot because that is what I think of them, irrespective of race, colour, nationality, sex, age or anything else. Sometimes these things make no difference.
Luke
