Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Friday 21 September 2012

21 September 2012

Mardy Diary writes: I didn't watch much of the Olympics. Not because I took a conscious choice not to watch it, but rather that I was tied up with other things and didn't get round to watching most of it. I saw a bit of it one day, but that was it. I read plenty about it though, and one of the things that kept cropping up was how great our Olympic athletes are in comparison to those nasty, horrible footballers.

With regard to the athletes, I don't necessarily disagree with this. I've watched a lot of athletics over the years and the British athletes competing have generally seemed like a decent bunch, with the odd bad egg here and there. Compare that to the tales of Premier League footballers (and a fair few of those lower down the professional ladder) and you can see why the statement carries some weight.

But, without really wanting to stand up for those multi-millionaires in the Premiership who would rather sort out their next ad campaign than play for the England team, the comparison isn't really a fair one. Take away the posh sports (Raymond-luxury-yachting, horsey-walking-sideways, polo in or out of liquid) and just focus on those Olympic sports that generally have involvement from people from 'ordinary' backgrounds: track and field, boxing, swimming and so on.

Now take those sports and chuck ridiculous amounts of money at those athletes for ten years and introduce agents. At the same time get the press to increase coverage of the athletes in both the sport and non-sport sections of their papers and build up the stars of the Olympics as gods, all the time ready to knock them down at their first mistake. Think some of those athletes will still be chummy and nice, pleased just to be there and taking part? Think again.

You see, the problem isn't the people - the problem is the way we treat those people. The problem is the money and attention we throw at those players, the godlike status we bestow upon them. Want the footballers to be more like our athletes? Cancel your Sky subscription, campaign for real football, stop moaning that your club lacks 'ambition' because they don't borrow unpayable debts against (formerly) public assets. Stop treating "Lamps" and "Stevie G" and their ilk like gods, and stop giving weight to overpaid, tight-trousered pundits who spit out tired cliche and rhetoric about players having "every right to go down" and other such shit. Stop accepting this tiresome level of shitness, the football-as-business bollocks, the over-marketing of everything that touches a footballer, the 'fan' culture as portrayed by Coca-Cola and Sky, Nike and Adidas. Just fucking reject it all.

Only when the corporate cynicism is removed from the game will we see the cynicism removed from the players, and get back to a time when players actually seemed pleased to be picked for their country. Unfortunately, I fear, we're past the point of no return.

And so, there is a match tonight. It's on a Friday night because now we allow piddling little TV stations to dictate when we watch football. This is our progress. Well done us.