Alex Ferguson is a Hypocrite

I’m sick of Alex Ferguson – I refuse to call him Sir.  He is the most pompous ass in the world of sports.  He runs his mouth and criticizes everyone and everything in his path.  He acts as if there is a conspiracy against his side as they are treated unfairly.  His latest tirade, leading up to the derby match, is how Manchester City receive the benefit of way too many penalties at home.

“If we got that number of penalty kicks there’d be an inquiry in the House of Commons, … there’d be a protest.” is what the Manchester United boss said.

The truth is, since 2002/2003, United have received the benefit of 43 home penalties, while City sit at 41.  Leading the way is Arsenal with 45 – ironically, as I sit here watching Arsenal v West Brom, Arsenal have received 2 home penalties and the score is 2-0.  The league average is 30.43 penalties at home.

Say what you will, typically a more dominant and skilled team will be fouled more often.  But, I honestly don’t like watching United games live because I’m always waiting for them to receive the benefit of a penalty or the opposition receiving a red card.  It’s almost inevitable.  In the last 48 games, United opponents have received 10 red cards with 4 being straight red cards.  United have received 1 red card, with it being a straight red card.

But back to the point, Ferguson always wants to complain about being treated unfairly.  He’s called city out on spending way too much money…really?  I agree, City have spent way too much money, however, Ferguson really wants to complain about that?  I just think he’s a big hypocrite.  It’s the pot calling the kettle black.

Violence and Sports Fans

Two men were shot after Saturday night’s 49ers-Raiders game at Candlestick Park last night.  During the game, another man was assaulted and knocked unconscious in the restroom.  This just months after a San Francisco fan was severely beaten outside Dodger stadium.

I’ve attended several Redskins games, but one of the games was the Redskins against my beloved Giants.  I was wearing my Giants gear and for the most part, during the game received a little bit of heckling, but nothing too major.  After the game, the Giants had won and in the parking lot, I actually feared for my life.  There were a number of drunk men that came up to me, cursing and threatening me because I was wearing a Giants shirt.  Crossing the street was another chore as I was afraid to cross because of the number of people that were screaming at me from inside their cars.  I’ve also experienced it at DC United games – wear I’ve seen people get stabbed and many fights broken up in the stands.

Most of these issues can be directly related to alcohol abuse.  I have seen people drink probably as many as twelve bottles or cups of beer during a game.  These people must be loaded in more than one way because at $9 a pop, that is enough to turn me off from wanting one.  You also have the fans that get drunk before the game during the tailgate or by sneaking their own liquor in the games.  Stadiums have tried to add family (non-alcoholic) sections but that still doesn’t keep you from the drunks in the parking lots.  They could look at limiting the alcohol intake of everyone, however, I know that will not happen because it is likely a huge money maker for them.  As we all know, sports today are all about making tons of money.

I’ve been to football (true football) games in England and in an effort to curb the violence there, police are all over the place.  Outside the stadium, they are constantly patrolling.  Inside the stadium, there is a visitors section and the policies are very strict.  In the visitors section there is a barrier of police lined up and down the row between the visiting fans and the home fans.  I was at a Charlton – Manchester City game and there was a child who was about 7 and was wearing a Man City jersey in the stands – the security guard saw this and told the parents the child either had to remove the jersey or they had to move to the visitors section.  At first, I was really turned off by this, thinking, what in the world is a 7 year old going to do?  But in this environment, due to the past, you can’t make any concessions, no matter how innocent they may seem.  They take things seriously because they have to due to the violence experienced decades ago.

For the most part, I think the security inside and outside American stadiums is severely lacking.  Especially in the parking lots.  I go to a lot of different games, but I am very nervous about bringing my family.  I also don’t feel very comfortable going to see any of my favorite teams outside of their home stadiums.  For the most part, going to games as a neutral fan (Redskins – Cowgirls) is one of the only ways to enjoy a game these days.

Players in La Liga on Strike

It is a summer full of players holding out from playing – first it was the NFL, then the NBA and now we have an international strike in Spain where players in La Liga are holding out for the start of the season.  The season was set to begin this weekend, however, those games are now postponed and next weeks games are uncertain.  It is likely there will not be any games until possibly September 10th at the earliest – that is, if they can reach an agreement.

This strike is just a little bit different though – the issue here is that there is $72 million of unpaid wages to more than 200 players.  Spain’s bankruptcy laws allow for a club to renegotiate or delay payments of salaries while under bankruptcy protection.  There are six top flight clubs and a number of second division clubs that are currently in bankruptcy protection.

This is a strike that I can actually stand behind.  All players should be paid their wages and I applaud all of the players for taking a stand together until this is resolved.  But then again, one has to think, the major clubs like Barca and Real Madrid in Spain; Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea in England are probably the cause in the first place.  Other clubs can not keep up with the free spending and eventually fall into financial troubles.  Maybe each of the countries football associations should set some sort of cap on spending.