Day -473. WorldCup2018
Oscar night. Not the former Chelsea player who went off to China to earn a comfortable retirement (don't blow all that money Oscar) but the Academy Awards. I always enjoy it because it makes me think about the similarities between football players and actors. I know what you're thinking, you non-football fans. Footballers and actors are two words that are in the same sentence very often. But hold your horses. I'm not that predictable.
I am not a fan of the Oscars, by no means a movie buff. I enjoy a good film but wouldn't recognise a celebrity if I bumped into him or her on the street right after I walked out a cinema having watched a film they were in. I also don't really like the term "celebrity". I did walk right past the guy from Four Weddings and a Funeral, the guy who made the moving speech, he read the poem, at the funeral, in a shop in Toronto a number of years ago. I thought he was just another bored guy pretending to be looking for clothes for himself while his wife, or partner, shopped (maybe he really was) until my wife pointed out that the dude going through the sale rack with us was that guy from the funeral. Oh, okay, he looks different in real life. So do we say hello to him?
Even though tonight does not mean much to me I will not begrudge the fun others may get out of it, or judge them for swooning over who I think are professionals who get paid a sickeningly obscene amount of money for what they do. Still talking about actors, not footballers. You see the similarities building. I have voiced my opinion many times about how footballers get paid too much and are getting very spoilt and comfortable, living in an unrealistic world.
I realise, with both the actors and the footballers, it's not them I should be angry at. Sure, one or two of them could say we make way too much money and are going to give most of it away because we do what we do for the love of it. But the reality is that they are in a market which pays that much. There is demand for actors to be in big movies in cinemas and for footballers to play for teams who's fans want them to win domestic leagues and Champions Leagues and who want to see them do all this on television all the time, weekend and mid-week.
The other part of my misdirected disdain for the two categories is the supporting casts (seriously an unintended pun and I can't think of another term). I mean the media who play up the adulation we should offer these stars, the writers, agents, producers, team owners who put these people on a pedestal and these now so-called celebrities are made to feel they have to play the part. I guess I don't like the establishment that has created this somewhat false world that these individuals are now a part of. (I try to avoid using words that are the current fashion, like "establishment" but that's what it is.)
Despite what might seem like my apathy towards footballers and actors I admit that I am not completely apathetic to films and professional football. I will not line up for an autograph. I will not wait out in the cold outside a stadium entrance to catch a glimpse of my favourite player and hope he shakes my hand. But I will watch Hollywood films and the English Premier League and Champions League. I'm probably just too lazy and maybe unmotivated to search for independent low budget films. I'll watch what's easy to access. But I will thoroughly enjoy watching amateur football which is harder and harder to find. That's why I have so many happy memories of sitting in an empty stadium watching football in Malta. My romantic concept that the players were not doing it for money has unravelled in recent years with all the accusations of bribery, but if I could ignore then I can liken it to the experience of fans of non-league teams in other countries. There were no stars, egos didn't get you very far and the fans just wanted good, honest football. (Oh dear, again I leave myself open to much ridicule when it comes to me talking about Maltese football).
I do, however, still enjoy the highest level of professional football, such as the World Cup, because as a lover of the game I appreciate the opportunity to see the best players in the world compete against each other. I can ignore a lot about the individual and the establishment for the ninety minutes. I just can't ignore the acting.
So I've come full circle to the acting footballers. I devoted a rant to Zlatan Ibrahimovich and his cheating/acting skills last week. He's involved again today. I watched some of the League Cup final with an NBA basketball loving friend. He asked why he had heard of Ibrahimovich and I replied that it was probably because he likes to be in the news, very often because he loves being the centre of attention and because of his questionable sportsmanship attributes. We got onto the discussion of "diving" and he repeated what I hear very often that North Americans are turned off of football because of the diving. Now, let's not get back into criticising all the things we Europeans see as being wrong with North American sports. The closeness to the world of showbiz and celebrity status might be on of them.
My friend reminded me of the NBA "anti-flopping" rule. The NBA introduced the rule in the 2012-13 season because of the increase in the number of players who were "flopping": "A flop is an intentional fall by a player after little or no physical contact by an opposing player in order to draw a personal foul call by an official against the opponent." (NBA)
The players are penalised by the league after reviewing video of the incident. A warning for a first offence is followed by fines starting at $5,000 for a second offence, up to $30,000 and a suspension. Now just imagine that in football: Ronaldo, Ibrahimovich and a lot of German players, watch out! Now I should watch out for making that stereotypical comment.
Footballers and actors. There's not much difference very often. But I've written this right through a huge part of the Oscars and have no idea who won what. It wouldn't happen if Oxford against Rochdale was on TV.
Oscar night. Not the former Chelsea player who went off to China to earn a comfortable retirement (don't blow all that money Oscar) but the Academy Awards. I always enjoy it because it makes me think about the similarities between football players and actors. I know what you're thinking, you non-football fans. Footballers and actors are two words that are in the same sentence very often. But hold your horses. I'm not that predictable.
I am not a fan of the Oscars, by no means a movie buff. I enjoy a good film but wouldn't recognise a celebrity if I bumped into him or her on the street right after I walked out a cinema having watched a film they were in. I also don't really like the term "celebrity". I did walk right past the guy from Four Weddings and a Funeral, the guy who made the moving speech, he read the poem, at the funeral, in a shop in Toronto a number of years ago. I thought he was just another bored guy pretending to be looking for clothes for himself while his wife, or partner, shopped (maybe he really was) until my wife pointed out that the dude going through the sale rack with us was that guy from the funeral. Oh, okay, he looks different in real life. So do we say hello to him?
Even though tonight does not mean much to me I will not begrudge the fun others may get out of it, or judge them for swooning over who I think are professionals who get paid a sickeningly obscene amount of money for what they do. Still talking about actors, not footballers. You see the similarities building. I have voiced my opinion many times about how footballers get paid too much and are getting very spoilt and comfortable, living in an unrealistic world.
I realise, with both the actors and the footballers, it's not them I should be angry at. Sure, one or two of them could say we make way too much money and are going to give most of it away because we do what we do for the love of it. But the reality is that they are in a market which pays that much. There is demand for actors to be in big movies in cinemas and for footballers to play for teams who's fans want them to win domestic leagues and Champions Leagues and who want to see them do all this on television all the time, weekend and mid-week.
The other part of my misdirected disdain for the two categories is the supporting casts (seriously an unintended pun and I can't think of another term). I mean the media who play up the adulation we should offer these stars, the writers, agents, producers, team owners who put these people on a pedestal and these now so-called celebrities are made to feel they have to play the part. I guess I don't like the establishment that has created this somewhat false world that these individuals are now a part of. (I try to avoid using words that are the current fashion, like "establishment" but that's what it is.)
Despite what might seem like my apathy towards footballers and actors I admit that I am not completely apathetic to films and professional football. I will not line up for an autograph. I will not wait out in the cold outside a stadium entrance to catch a glimpse of my favourite player and hope he shakes my hand. But I will watch Hollywood films and the English Premier League and Champions League. I'm probably just too lazy and maybe unmotivated to search for independent low budget films. I'll watch what's easy to access. But I will thoroughly enjoy watching amateur football which is harder and harder to find. That's why I have so many happy memories of sitting in an empty stadium watching football in Malta. My romantic concept that the players were not doing it for money has unravelled in recent years with all the accusations of bribery, but if I could ignore then I can liken it to the experience of fans of non-league teams in other countries. There were no stars, egos didn't get you very far and the fans just wanted good, honest football. (Oh dear, again I leave myself open to much ridicule when it comes to me talking about Maltese football).
I do, however, still enjoy the highest level of professional football, such as the World Cup, because as a lover of the game I appreciate the opportunity to see the best players in the world compete against each other. I can ignore a lot about the individual and the establishment for the ninety minutes. I just can't ignore the acting.
So I've come full circle to the acting footballers. I devoted a rant to Zlatan Ibrahimovich and his cheating/acting skills last week. He's involved again today. I watched some of the League Cup final with an NBA basketball loving friend. He asked why he had heard of Ibrahimovich and I replied that it was probably because he likes to be in the news, very often because he loves being the centre of attention and because of his questionable sportsmanship attributes. We got onto the discussion of "diving" and he repeated what I hear very often that North Americans are turned off of football because of the diving. Now, let's not get back into criticising all the things we Europeans see as being wrong with North American sports. The closeness to the world of showbiz and celebrity status might be on of them.
My friend reminded me of the NBA "anti-flopping" rule. The NBA introduced the rule in the 2012-13 season because of the increase in the number of players who were "flopping": "A flop is an intentional fall by a player after little or no physical contact by an opposing player in order to draw a personal foul call by an official against the opponent." (NBA)
The players are penalised by the league after reviewing video of the incident. A warning for a first offence is followed by fines starting at $5,000 for a second offence, up to $30,000 and a suspension. Now just imagine that in football: Ronaldo, Ibrahimovich and a lot of German players, watch out! Now I should watch out for making that stereotypical comment.
Footballers and actors. There's not much difference very often. But I've written this right through a huge part of the Oscars and have no idea who won what. It wouldn't happen if Oxford against Rochdale was on TV.
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