This is a response to an article i read on the World Cup : http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=5288738
Ok let’s begin; I have never been made angrier by a piece of journalism than your piece on the world cup. Never before have a read such an ignorant, ill-researched dreg of writing and before you think I am just another football hooligan from across the sea, I am not, in fact I am completely obsessed with baseball. However I could not sit ideally by after reading that and not do something.
First off yellow cards couldn’t be more more influential on the game, do you not realise that two yellow cards in one game means you are sent off? Also in league play if a player collects between three to five of them (varies between leagues) they can miss up to three matches, so don’t belittle the sport with your ignorance. Not to mention if a player has a yellow card it should dictate how they play for the rest of the match since one more yellow is a sending off.
The goal keepers gloves are that size for a reason, do you honestly feel that you know better than the generations of football players that developed the glove over the decades? Have you ever tried to stop a shot without gloves, professional footballers aside, I have broken my wrist playing in goals because I didn’t wear gloves. How you have won so many writers awards with research this poor is outstanding.
Your point on the vuvuzelas is fair point they are annoying however it is a point being made by everyone and is nothing short of generic at this stage, the fact you had to use it three times to fill up ten points I feel speaks volumes on the depth and quality of this article.
I was nothing short of bewildered to find you dedicating a point to the ‘very purple and dorky’ bibs, I am sorry, but have you seen American football and baseball uniforms, the pants are ridiculous at best and you feel that the use of bibs being worn by subs warming up on the side line as to not get confused for players on the pitch a ridiculous notion do you? Indeed……..
One final note as this could potentially go on for pages, the stoppage time point, have you ever actually watched a game of football? The stoppage time is extra time given at the end of normal time to make up for time lost during substitutions and injuries, and is always clearly displayed by match officials on the side line and all stations who broadcast the match will always display the addition time beside the normal time. So when you finally get round to watching your first match, look for it around the 88th-89th minute, that is normally when it is being displayed, you can’t miss it.
This is probably a good place to finish this rant as it summarises quite nicely your complete and utter ignorance for the sport and how embarrassing this article actually is, if you have any decency as a writer I feel you should write a follow up amending the mistakes you made and an apology to all football fans for insulting such a truly great sport. If you don’t like football fair enough, don’t write about it then and if you must at least know what you are talking about.
Jack Fairbairn
