Just this morning as a habit, I am checking new posts here in Tumblr and one post got my attention. It is a photo of a news paper article titled: “The World’s Greatest Whiners” with a caption “amen” posted/ reblogged by Boomshakalaka-
I was curious which newspaper printed that article so I searched it in Google. And look at the results that showed up! So far it has 222,000s in 0.37 seconds.
There are a lot of websites and blogs to choose. But I don’t have to search for it any longer, the first link in Google was the one that I am looking for. The newspaper which printed that article was Wall Street Journal written by Jonathan Clegg and Matthew Futterman.
The first paragraph says:
Even if you can’t tell one European soccer club from another, it’s not difficult to see what’s exceptional about FC Barcelona. This team plays with a dizzying combination of talent and artistry that you don’t have to be a soccer snob to recognize.
And it gets more thrilling when you keep reading. This phrase from their second paragraph is my… Let’s just say favorite because it is unforgeable:
Not only that, they also categorized the Barca player’s methods:
The problem stems from the comportment of its players lately, which falls into three distinct subcategories:
1) The sort of crying, whining and petulant foot-stomping one might expect from a toddler.
2) Frequent appeals to a righteous God to be spared persecution by infidel referees.
3) A tendency to react to any impact with opposing players by writhing around like Desdemona on her deathbed in the final act of Verdi’s Otello.
This crescendo of complaining, which dominated headlines across Europe last week after Barca’s 2-0 win over Madrid, seems to be part of a calculated campaign to get better calls—or to speed the process of getting opposing players tossed. Some observers say it has conveniently come at a time when Barca’s potent offense has slowed a bit and the team has become increasingly dependent on scoring from free kicks and set plays.
I agree so much to their phrase saying: “flopping, diving and pressuring officials have long been an integral part of the culture of the world’s favorite sport.” Because after I watched the very first football match I’ve seen, ever since then I always see those things and it’s pissing me off. I think I learn to curse in English through watching football. As young as 7 or 8 years old, I already shout “Sh**!” or “Bullsh**!” when I’m piss off.
Also in the article there are comments from respectable people in Football like:
Giorgio Chinaglia (Former football striker from Italy):
But Barca may be the first team to employ this strategy so effectively that it could win a European club championship. “It’s this attitude of ‘We’re the best in the world, so how dare you take us on,’ ” said Giorgio Chinaglia, the former Italian star whose country for years set the standard for on-field theatrics. “Alves is the one who should have been sent off. You’re a professional soccer player. What are you doing going down like that?”
And Harry Redknapp (current manager of Tottenham Hotspur, the London club that made it to the UEFA Champions League Quarter Finals):
said Barcelona’s theatrics and its habit of mobbing the referee with a posse of players waving imaginary cards and exaggerating the impact of tackles, has grown tiresome. “Every time a decision was made, there were 10 players around the referee trying to get someone sent off,” Redknapp said of last week’s match against Madrid. “It’s not the way you play football.”
It is also mentioned in the article that FC Barcelona Spokesman did not respond to a request for comment Monday. (O-oh! We all know silence means “yes”) After a week’s match Gerard Pique said his team deserved to win followed by Xavi’s infamous words everytime they loose to a match that makes every fans of other clubs (like the Gunners and Madristas) “”We were the only team that wants to play football.”
The last phrase that I agree on in the article.
Wall Street Journal is an American English-Language international daily newspaper. Actually one of the world’s largest newspaper. It has a circulation of 2.1 million copies (including 400,000 online paid subscriptions), as of March 2010 compared to it’s rivals like USA Today and London-based Financial Times. To be featured in this newspaper negatively is very embarrassing and will surely damage your reputation big time. That’s why today, here in Tumblr, also in my Facebook and Twitter accounts I posted my realization, which is: “It’s better to loose than win without your dignity.”
To read the full article “The World’s Greatest Whiners” in Wall Street Journal Online click here.
*Articles and photos aren’t mine. Sources are mentioned and linked.
