March 05, 2005

how come

i seem to enjoy watching rugby more than footy these days.

ok, since the summer of 2003, when i was actually more keen to impress this english chap than anything else. ultimately it turned out to be his loss, and rugger's gain.

and no, i didn't hold anything against him for that matter. honest.

the reasons are aplenty. chiefly, both managers' and players' acceptance of dodgy refereeing decisions in spite of contrary video evidence. there were many atime that i shook my fist at the telly england were at the wrong end. especially so during SANZAR home tests, the World Cup final [the ref was on the take, i tell ye] and now the six nations.

sample the following argument:

... But, still, part of the appeal of rugby is as “not football”. Part of “not football” means accepting decisions, right or wrong. Arguing perhaps about principles - the differences in interpretation of the laws in the northern and southern hemispheres, say - rather than specific indidents. Behaving less like children and more like adults....

yes, it's a bit of an irony that rugby is known as a gentleman's sport when much blood is spilled and life-threatening injuries abound. or that i hated it so much since time immemorial until that fateful day in 2003. come to think of it, a bit is an understatement. in the case of my sudden turn.

also, the state of footy, especially the premiership, is in a right complete shambles that there are moments when i'm left aghast by the disgraceful antics of the gaffer of my beloved club which i have had been supporting since 1981. that leaves me wondering if all those puerile outbursts were purely for show.

the outcome is that they deepen the enmity amongst rival supporters - read: those who indulge in this stick-giving tosh are usually lowlife spastic's; and who are mostly contemptuous towards overseas supporters. and who simply cannot grasp that the latter's respective local footy leagues are pretty much non-existent.

it's bad enough that 'em overpaid players are no longer role models on and off the park. but 'em gaffer's?

a sad state of affairs, really.

as enscribed by the letter b @ March 5, 2005 09:37 AM

i agree, but i can safely say it's age that's been dulling my senses that may explain the defection. who knows, when i reach my half-century, i may revert to footy. or worse, cricket.

god forbid.

as blahed by the letter b @ March 10, 2005 03:27 PM

The only reason rugby players dont react when they get kicked in the face is that their mind has been dulled from years of head injuries. They're no longer human, just like a herd of cattle.

I find football more involving because the players are more or less still ordinary people, with all the lashing out and the cheating. If you want to watch an exciting sporting event, who cares about the moral virtue of the players?

as blahed by oli @ March 10, 2005 03:04 PM

indeed i have, giles :) what with 99.9% of them fans being a bunch of mindless and uneducated thugs themselves! that's why i'm defecting to the other side.. traitor!!

as blahed by the letter b @ March 10, 2005 09:31 AM

another convert - hurrah.

you must have heard the phrase..

rugby is game for thugs played by gentlemen, football is a game for gentlemen played, managed and supported by mindless, overpaid, undereducated thugs (i added a bit in there of my own but you get the gyst i'm sure)

as blahed by giles @ March 10, 2005 03:26 AM

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as blahed by Zhang Liping @ March 6, 2005 12:44 AM
yer six pences' worth s'il vous plat:









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