A.B.E.

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ComedyPilot

Secret Lemonade Drinker
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8733373.stm

Quite an interesting article.

I especially like the comment:
"Can I get a T shirt for ABF (Anything but Football). The social stigma of being completely ambivalent about football has dogged me for years. It is impossible to say "I do not like football" in any public context without people trying to shout you down or sway your opinion. I have no interest in it, no allegiances, no opinions, nothing. It is not England I am failing to support, it is football. I simply don't care who wins. I wish no ill to the England team, nor any other, I simply find the whole game pointless and meaningless, hence I shall not be supporting anyone but England, I shall be trying to find a way to spend the next three weeks with anything but football" - Ian Hart, Wellingborough
 

darkstar

New Member
I'm quite happy for people to not care about the world cup in the slightest, I HATE them going on and on about though. They seem to find the need to tell everyone, even now there is a separate section of the forum, people drone in announcing their hatred for the sport, thinking that people care. Please can these people get on with their day and not waste time moaning?

As for the A.B.E thing, I see no wrong with it, I wouldn't support any of the other three nations if the situation were turned around. It's good rivalry, which is inherent in Rugby as well.
 
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ComedyPilot

ComedyPilot

Secret Lemonade Drinker
My small view of dissent is NOTHING compared to the endless onslaught in the media, workplace, pub, street that we must all like football, watch the world championships, and support Engerland as a patriotic duty.

Just try and see it from a non-football point of view, and see what it's like.
 

darkstar

New Member
4 weeks every 4 years? The MAJORITY of the population will support England, hence the mass level of merchandising etc. I don't think it's too hard to cope with, I hate popular culture and celebrities, it's bombarded in all the newspapers and magazines, TV adverts etc. I don't complain about it though.
 
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ComedyPilot

ComedyPilot

Secret Lemonade Drinker
darkstar said:
4 weeks every 4 years? The MAJORITY of the population will support England, hence the mass level of merchandising etc. I don't think it's too hard to cope with, I hate popular culture and celebrities, it's bombarded in all the newspapers and magazines, TV adverts etc. I don't complain about it though.

Yes, the world championship might be 4 weeks every 4 years. But week in week out, football (not just Engerland) is passed off as a must-watch sport/hobby/spectacle.

It isn't - it's boring and frankly sh*t.

With you on the popular culture bit too. it's sh*t.

Do you now see what it must be like for (people like) me?
 

darkstar

New Member
ComedyPilot said:
Yes, the world championship might be 4 weeks every 4 years. But week in week out, football (not just Engerland) is passed off as a must-watch sport/hobby/spectacle.

It isn't - it's boring and frankly sh*t.

With you on the popular culture bit too. it's sh*t.

Do you now see what it must be like for (people like) me?
Nope, i don't follow football much outside of the major competition, i dont even support a team! I'm Rugby Union through and through. I enjoy getting into the excitement of the world cup. Just stop moaning. Worse thing happen, seriously.
 

soulful dog

Veteran
Location
Glasgow
I like football, but to be fair there is a bit of an endless onslaught in the media. Why on earth is news of England drawing their first game in the competition the top item in the national news (radio)? Yes it's a top sports story but the main news?

As for A.B.E., I wouldn't wear a t-shirt but by the end of the World Cup, I quite probably would! I can't even imagine what it must be like for someone who has no interest in football (English or otherwise). I usually listen to Radio 5 Live while at work, but just 3 days into it and I'm fed up listening to endless discussions about every single aspect of the England team. I even started listening to TalkSport instead yesterday as they rather refreshingly had a French journalist on talking at length about the France v Uruguay game. Today, at half-time of an admittedly awful Algeria v Slovenia match, and seconds into the break Gary Lineker says "right lets turn our attention back to England". WHY!?!

Does anyone have any idea of what the viewing figures in the UK are for the Olympics in comparison to the World Cup? The WC coverage seems to dominate much more.
 
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