Score one for hypocracy and political correctness (blech).
John Terry is out as England captain after meeting with Fabio Capello today at Wembley Stadium. No need to regurgitate much here; Terry, a married man with kids, slept with Wayne Bridge's ex girlfriend. He paid for an abortion for her, and gave her some "cheer up" money to boot. He was found out and now he's lost the armband five months before a World Cup where England is a legitimate contender to win.
Terry is a douchebag, no question there. He's a bad guy, a lousy husband and father. But when oh when can we start separating sport from what happens off the field?
Terry is as good as they come on the pitch. He's a stopper on defense and has a lethal head and a sense for the dramatic (2008 Champions League notwithstanding) and scoring game-winning goals. He leads his men and they follow. Many have supported his captaincy this week, while the football press in England immediately pounced on the story and ratcheted up the pressure to toss Terry.
I get it, he's the symbolic leader of the national team and supposed to be of character--but is that supposed to carry off the field as well? How many guys in the England dressing rooms have ladies on the side? How about Capello? Is his slate clean? And the boys who run the FA who certainly put the screws to Capello to do this?
The Italian media is having a field day with the fact that one of their own has to pull the trigger on John Terry. He did so today and he did so to preserve England's hopes of winning in South Africa. ESPN's Tom Adams postulates that Capello somehow surveyed the boys to gauge Terry's support, and the decision indicates that Terry did not have the room. I call B.S.
I don't think the boys care. I think they want to win and I don't think many, if any, are in position to challenge any of Terry's behavior.
And one more good question: If Terry is unfit to be captain, why is he still fit to be on the team? He hasn't been banned for the squad, nor will he and nor should he be.
Here's a spate of Terry reaction:
- World Cup Blog - John Terry stripped of England captaincy
- EPL Talk - John Terry out - Rio Ferdinand promoted
- Spiked Online - Let the Love Rat Keep the Armband
No comments:
Post a Comment