Football, so what?

But this week the press are busy making a giant hoo-hah about the official announcement of the England football team – a team of overpaid and overly-fragile shysters who are more interested in money than achievement: which is lucky when you consider that they’ve got no chance of achieving anything!  I think I have a better chance of winning an Olympic medal this year than this team have of winning the European Championships!

The big news seems to be about the inclusion of an 18 year old, who will doubtless take one of the prestige positions on the subs bench before his career quietly dwindles and burns out over the next four years.

Why is it that the nations’ media is so fixated with a sport in which we both perennially under-achieve, but also play with the most boring and stodgy tactics – so much so that the England matches are always traditionally one of the least watched games in the tournaments.  Like, less watched globally than Albania versus Peru. 

I just don’t get it.  It’s such a shame that the mainstream media don’t value real athletes – like our sailors – who have had to sacrifice so much more than their footballing counterparts.  The sailors don’t get anywhere near enough credit.  Particularly when they are actually winning medals?!

For me, I’d rather watch a boat race than football.  Heck, I’d even rather watch the rowing.

Team GB Olympic Sailing team:

Giles Scott (Finn); Nick Thompson (Laser); Alison Young (Laser Radial); Bryony Shaw (Women’s RS:X); Nick Dempsey (Men’s RS:X); Hannah Mills (Women’s 470); Saskia Clark (Women’s 470); Charlotte Dobson (49erFX); Sophie Ainsworth (49erFX); Ben Saxton (Nacra 17); Nicola Groves (Nacra 17); Luke Patience (Men’s 470); Chris Grube (Men’s 470); Dylan Fletcher (49er); Alain Sign (49er).