Catholic, witty, clever and in the end, oh so Milan. I know Signor Eco hates football, but I would be so surprised if he didn't love reading this. I love you.
finding the moral high ground in football is a difficult thing to do, as football is generally played on awfully flat terrain.
Oh, you're only saying that because I managed to include the bit with the general semiotic equivalent (though he wasn't the twat of a semiotics professor who said that), but it's very nice of you to say it all the same. And I love you too. :x
(I couldn't help writing that, even if it did seem like just about the worst joke ever.)
No, I am saying it because it is true. If you ever feel like you're lacking excitement in your chosen field you should take over crack pop cultural analysis of football phenomena. Seriously.
Ethics tend to go out the windows where football is concerned, because, i suppose, one is like an addict, prepared to put up with anything just to get another fix. I find it deeply amusing that a Juve supporter is taking the moral high ground, never mind about Calciopoli, what about a team that allows its doctor to put god still doesn't know what into the bodies of young men. And never mind about Rupert Murdoch, the real villain in English football is Abramovic, where do Chelsea fans think that his money came from? The sooner he takes that sickly grin and his blood money away, the happier I'll be.
To me football is about goals, everything else is superfluous, not a very fashionable stance I think
Ethics do tend to become rather irrelevant once you're supporting a team - but we also tend to pretend that they don't. We really, really like to think that we're the good guys, in some way or another. The Juve supporter in question comes from a family of Juve supporters, so I suppose that offers some explanation of his blindness where that is concerned. And I can see why you'd be a bit blind - I'm turning a blind eye to the fact that Berlusconi has been using Milan for his own political advantage - but there's still a difference between that and trying to take the moral high ground, because I really don't think there's any to be found. And gosh, you're right about Abramovic - though I can't say that I'm too fond of Liverpool's owners either.
And it might not be the fashionable stance, but it is what it all comes down to - if I'm going to be really silly and talk about necessary and sufficient conditions again - isn't it (as dear Pippo seems to understand)?
The minute anyone takes the moral high ground on anything I tend to turn off, because we are all so bloody fallible one way or another.
You are right, maybe the most we can hope for is an awareness, the thought of how immoral Berlusconi is doesn't stop me praying for Milan to win, I just don't delude myself that there is a righteous reason for it. And that bloke buying Man City is none too attractive either.
Exactly, which is why I can never really understand Johan Cruyff (can anyone?) stop philosophising and get the ball in the back of the net.
It gets very annoying, doesn't it? I can see why you'd want to have the moral high ground - on behalf of yourself or your team - but claiming you've got it always strikes me as rather presumptuous, especially when dealing with something like football.
And I might be given to quite a bit of philosophising myself, but I never did understand what Johan Cruyff was talking about, though I'd be willing to put that down to my own ignorance - but that doesn't stop me from thinking that his particular brand of football is a bit ... well, dull.
And I do think that while we love the purity, we're strangely attracted, sometimes, to the sordidness. It's a terrible, terrible thing, but doesn't it just make it all that much more interesting?
I don't think that football would really be football if it wasn't able to create all of this sordidness (just think of all those dirty, dirty feelings that people have when it comes to football - and no, I'm not necessarily referring to how you feel when you look at a picture of Paolo Maldini without his shirt on), while at the same time having this core - and these moments - that are so simple and beautiful that it nearly makes you cry (ok, occasionally it does make you cry).
To get really silly and pretentious, I think it tells us as much about ourselves as the simplicity of the basic premise does - that we're capable of taking that simple thing and turning it into a very sordid affair. (Still - I love it for the simplicity. I love it for the goals.)
I suspect there might be something vaguely cathartic about (there I go with the Aristotelian drama again), and it's really much too late to be getting into right now - but I think we need that element of sordidness, really, even in the walks of life where we advocate values of purity, like sports for example, to be able to feel like we overcome it, and come to terms with it.
And well, we can sappy and melodramatic together - frankly, I don't think there's anyone who is given to ever watching a bit of football who isn't sappy and melodramatic occasionally, and you are so right about that picture. (I haven't found a picture of it - I possibly haven't looked hard enough - but I think Pippo was bawling his eyes out too and being comforted by Platini, I think. The version of the final that I have doesn't have that moment, though, so it could have just been something I imagined. That final definitely seemed like something of a catharsis for him.)
Brilliant-I'd leave a more worthy comment in response, but it's almost the end of the week and I'm absolutely exhausted. Excuse me now and maybe I'll return on the weekend?
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finding the moral high ground in football is a difficult thing to do, as football is generally played on awfully flat terrain.
AAAAAAAAAAH NOW I LOVE YOU EVEN MOAR.
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(I couldn't help writing that, even if it did seem like just about the worst joke ever.)
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To me football is about goals, everything else is superfluous, not a very fashionable stance I think
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And it might not be the fashionable stance, but it is what it all comes down to - if I'm going to be really silly and talk about necessary and sufficient conditions again - isn't it (as dear Pippo seems to understand)?
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You are right, maybe the most we can hope for is an awareness, the thought of how immoral Berlusconi is doesn't stop me praying for Milan to win, I just don't delude myself that there is a righteous reason for it. And that bloke buying Man City is none too attractive either.
Exactly, which is why I can never really understand Johan Cruyff (can anyone?) stop philosophising and get the ball in the back of the net.
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And I might be given to quite a bit of philosophising myself, but I never did understand what Johan Cruyff was talking about, though I'd be willing to put that down to my own ignorance - but that doesn't stop me from thinking that his particular brand of football is a bit ... well, dull.
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And I do think that while we love the purity, we're strangely attracted, sometimes, to the sordidness. It's a terrible, terrible thing, but doesn't it just make it all that much more interesting?
I don't think that football would really be football if it wasn't able to create all of this sordidness (just think of all those dirty, dirty feelings that people have when it comes to football - and no, I'm not necessarily referring to how you feel when you look at a picture of Paolo Maldini without his shirt on), while at the same time having this core - and these moments - that are so simple and beautiful that it nearly makes you cry (ok, occasionally it does make you cry).
To get really silly and pretentious, I think it tells us as much about ourselves as the simplicity of the basic premise does - that we're capable of taking that simple thing and turning it into a very sordid affair. (Still - I love it for the simplicity. I love it for the goals.)
Oh, you. It was a silly sentence, really.
<3
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And well, we can sappy and melodramatic together - frankly, I don't think there's anyone who is given to ever watching a bit of football who isn't sappy and melodramatic occasionally, and you are so right about that picture. (I haven't found a picture of it - I possibly haven't looked hard enough - but I think Pippo was bawling his eyes out too and being comforted by Platini, I think. The version of the final that I have doesn't have that moment, though, so it could have just been something I imagined. That final definitely seemed like something of a catharsis for him.)
And you're a sweetheart, you really are. ♥
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I absolutely enjoyed reading though. :)
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