Just popping in to see who's still hanging around...h'mmm, not many it seems.
Recent things that have caught my attention: -
1) Scottish people being harangued by the English media into supporting England during the World Cup.
My view on this? Why should we? As F.I.F.A. recognise us as two separate nations, why should we actively support any other team (and if we do, why should it be England)?
That'd be a bit like a German supporting the Netherlands, or a Spaniard supporting Portugal (or even a Brazilian supporting Argentina). It would be preposterous.
In no other place on earth would anyone expect someone to support their nearest and dearest (!) rivals in any sporting arena. Just because we are part of the United Kingdom, doesn't mean we have to fawn all over each other on the football fields.
Now we shall expand this a little, and look at the many Scots who are actively supporting whoever England are playing.
Now, this may seem a tad on the hostile side of things, but there is a very, very good reason for this phenomenon.
Television.
We in Scotland are forced to watch English television coverage of the World Cup, through the Scottish television company's lack of funds/enthusiasm.
Nothing irks me (and most other Scots viewers) more than watching these pundits and listening to commentators and anal-ysts witter on about the England camp and how they will win the World Cup, during a game between Argentina and Germany or Ghana and Brazil.
If these television programmes would concentrate on the game at hand, and project a sensible, un-biased viewpoint, then we in Scotland would be a damn sight happier.
2) Football-related again, I'm afraid.
Recently, a young Kiwi lad and his father were attacked in Edinburgh because the lad was wearing an England shirt. Allegedly.
In another incident, a disabled England fan was dragged from his car and beaten up for the same reason. Allegedly.
Now, I add the 'allegedly' to both statements, simply because there has been no corroborative evidence to back these stories up. No arrests, no prosecutions, no hardened xenophobes sent down.
Now, in no way would I condone these actions, true or not - they are a sad reflection on modern life more than anything else.
However, these incidents have been widely reported in the English media, at a time when over 500 England fans are arrested in Germany. The cynical amongst us could come to a few conclusions quite easily here, don't you think?
And before any enraged Englishman comments about the Scots and their Anti-English hatred, I'd like to draw their atention to a small news report that has probably not been widely reported, and certainly not raised in the House Of Commons: -
Click Here
The phrase "People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones" springs to mind.
Holier-than-thou? Me?
