Post by Rosalind MitchellPost by ***@gmail.com Tony Smith Prestbury Glos.If England decide to aim for a tactical loss against Belgium, will
the caledonian fans then be rooting for England to win?
Oh, it's a tactical loss now, is it? Not being beaten by a better team.
(I think that was being suggested before the actual match, on the basis
that it would result in an easier passage in the subsequent stages. But
since they'd still meet the stiffer opposition anyway, I can't see the
point. Academic now anyway.)
Post by Rosalind MitchellFrom Caledonia, which since I moved here three years ago has warmly
accepted me as one of her own, I can report that interest in the World
Cup is less than overwhelming. I can also report that many Scots are
frankly pissed off that every time they turn on the news they are being
told that "we", having beaten a couple of undistinguished also-ran
teams, are now apparently dead certs to lift the trophy. The BBC
So are many non-sport-obsessed English, fed up of this "we". And the
general spilling of the reporting beyond the sports section of the news.
(And I guess even those who _are_ interested in sport are finding the
foopball coverage excessive, or at least to the detriment of the
coverage of other sports.)
Post by Rosalind MitchellCharter forbids it from broadcasting a peak-time world news broadcast
from a Scottish point of view,
Does it? If so I didn't know that. If so, it needs amending so be less
England-centric too. (And London-centric - the move to Salford doesn't
seem to have been as effective as one might have hoped in that respect.)
Post by Rosalind Mitchellso of course a London POV prevails that barely acknowledges the
existence of anything north of the M25, never mind other countries, so
the prevailing attitude is that "we" are in the World Cup and of course
"we" are terribly excited.
In truth, our team isn't taking part. That's no big deal, we know our
national side is pretty crap, we know our domestic league, abandoned by
the Britain-wide media in favour of the domestic leagues of Spain,
Italy, France an Germany, isn't exactly El Classico (although many
Glaswegians are Barcelona fans – think about it), but Partick Thistle v
[My email client says that that dash after "fans" isn't ASCII. Odd.]
Post by Rosalind MitchellSt Mirren can still be an exciting and well-matched contest even with
out the circus stunts and overpaid prime donne south of Gretna, and we
Was that an Italian plural? If so, I'm impressed! [Though note that
there is a substantial part of England _north_ of Gretna, on the other
side of the country - though you can be forgiven over that, as I often
get the feeling that the majority of _English_ people are unaware of
that fact.]
Post by Rosalind Mitchellcan buy a ticket without having to take out a second mortgage. We
aren't hung up on old grievances, we aren't full of a sense of
entitlement denied, of bitterness and petty mean-mindedness towards
friendly countries we once fought a war with, sneering at them in
defeat even though the few remaining combatants in that war are now
very old.
Extremely well put. We have much in common with the French and German
people. (Their _officials_ have shown _some_ pettiness since we decided
we want out, but - although not an _excuse_ - I'd say that is to be
expected; and certainly far less than we'd have exhibited in similar
circumstances.)
Post by Rosalind MitchellWe are not hung up about how we once had an empire and should have it
Yes, that does get wearing. I'm not _aware_ of a similar hung-upness
about the former French or Dutch empires, which were quite substantial
(or the German one, though that was mostly contiguous); and as for the
Lithuanian one, we never hear a mention of it, despite it having been
huge!
Post by Rosalind Mitchellback. We would be quite content being a middling European country the
size of Denmark or Finland but with oil, working in cooperation with
our neighbours and friends instead of trying vainly to outdo them.
We are neutral, and free to do the sensible thing; watch the football
and enjoy it for what it is, and hope the best team wins. Although we
Yes, the _enjoyment_ of the game as an entertainment doesn't seem to get
much coverage.
Post by Rosalind Mitchellmay wish to root for one of the countries with which we have ancient
historical ties – that would be France, Denmark or Sweden, then.
Perhaps the worst result from our point of view would be an England
win, in which case we'll have to put up with years of hysterical hype
about "our" triumph.
Yes - on balance, I too am inclined towards not wanting an England win
_for that reason_. Although not a foopball follower, I guess I _would_
like "us" to win the thing - but, we'd never hear the end of it, and I'd
be extremely bored by that (after more than a couple of days, anyway).
3
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