|
Attention English hooligans:
Your antics not just unfashionable, they're boring
Posted: Monday June 15, 1998 05:38 PM
The English football hooligan. What a strange creature he is. He pays umpteen pounds to leave his tiny island in search of overseas exotica. Endures hours of travel to get to his destination, then when he gets there, spends most of his time, when not in a total drunken stupor, complaining about how they don't cook the food like they do at home, baiting the locals, and ultimately smashing up the town, ensuring he won't witness the game he allegedly came to see, because he's in jail.
As a sports reporter and football fan, who happens to be English, the news of another band of missing links grabbing headlines for all the wrong reasons is not just embarrassing, it's also really boring. I mean football hooligans are so unimaginative, repeating the same kind of crass behavior and insults hurled by their ancestors way back in the Neanderthal days of the '70s and '80s when English vandals ruled the Earth.
"You're going to get your !@#$%*& heads kicked in."
"Come and have a go if you think you're hard enough."
"Here we go, here we go, here we go." Where are they going? It's just so dated.
In England, the gentrification of the national game has coincided with hooliganism in the domestic game becoming largely a thing of the past. It's just not fashionable in the caring, sharing '90s. When we fly the flag abroad, however, it seems to be a different story. There a certain section of the football-going public is intent on displaying the bulldog spirit with all the intelligence of a bulldog itself. If that's not too unkind to canines.
So why do they do it? Because they're morons? Perhaps a few. But it's been proven in the past that hooliganism is not purely the preserve of the cerebrally challenged. And besides much of the trouble is orchestrated like a military maneuver. Because security is lax? Not the case in France, who've teamed with police forces from around the world to ensure they're ready for every eventuality. No, my theory is that, whatever the punishment, a minority of English fans riot because it's expected. From the minute the World Cup is mentioned there's an air of expectation about the behavior of the English that invites trouble. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy, in which the English, whose team can rarely be relied upon to deliver the goods, simply look to prove they're good at something. For our part the media justify that behavior by reporting their every little fracas. The resulting publicity is perversely seen as a reward by the perpetrators and so they continue with the same course of action. It's a vicious circle that will only be broken when someone has the courage to ensure that hooliganism does not make headlines.
| Related information |
| Multimedia |
 Click here for the latest audio and video
|
| Search our site | Watch CNN/SI on cable 24 hours a day |
|
|
Sports Illustrated and CNN have combined to form a 24 hour sports news and information channel. To receive CNN/SI at your home call 1-888-53-CNNSI. |
|
