SPRINT RACE
Verstappen 10
Hamilton 9.5
Bottas 8
Leclerc 9
Norris 8
Ricciardo 7
Alonso 10 DRIVER OF THE DAY
Vettel 8
Russell 8
Ocon 8
Sainz 9.5
Gasly 6
Raikkonen 8
Stroll 6
Giovinazzi 7
Tsunoda 5
Latifi 4
Schumacher 7
Mazepin 4
Perez 3 REJECT OF THE DAY
I will admit this is a very controversial article, but I never write these articles for the sake of trying to please people.
England, Hong Kong, Derby County, Kimi Raikkonen, McLaren, Ferrari, Alfa/Sauber… why does everything I support never has anything going in favour for them?
But it’s important to remember this: sports is bread and circuses. However, this year’s UEFA Euro 2020 felt more than that, but a pivotal reason for that is because the tournament became so heavily politicised compared to any other we’ve witnessed. Kneeling, rainbow flags, booing, Arnautovic v. Alioski, politicians interfering… it almost felt like the football became secondary.
Italy first heavily weighed on my mind back in 2006, when I was 15. I remembered noticing there was no black players on their football team at that year’s World Cup and yelling at a school teacher or someone similar that “Italy’s such a racist country” simply because of this. I remembered hating Ferrari fiercely, so when Kimi Raikkonen was announced as Schumi’s replacement later that year, a part of me felt heavily conflicted. That uneasiness intensified when I saw Kimi’s first photos in Ferrari colours and thinking, “He looks like a pale, gaunt imposter. What is he doing driving for the enemy?”
There’s no need for me to rewind what happened between Kimi & Ferrari. But there’s always been at least one thing that struck me about Italy being so beautiful: Italian women. I’ve always wondered what if I was brave enough as a young man to live in Italy for at least two years to experience its culture and people. Not only do I have a great respect for Italian football (despite being so spectacularly salty in the aftermath of the final), there is an alluring aura about the country in spite of many problems.
As for England, the whole UEFA Euro 2020 was an angry tumultuous affair. At the start, there were Tory politicians stating they’d abstain from watching England and urged fans to boo the kneeling. But as England progressed, there were many U-turns, with many Tories now wanting to support the national team. A very two-faced response, which validated suspicions of many that the British Conservative party has zero principles and merely makes policies for chasing votes, fitting in with the “cool” crowd and making profit.
The final itself was a farce; the pre-match fracas was a disgrace, with many morons storming security just for the sake of watching England play. I could not help but think this:
“Where was this dissent and rebelliousness when the lockdowns were initially announced back in March 2020? Why couldn’t these yobs protest that & the vaccines?”
And as for the football team “uniting” the nation, it’s extremely sad that Britain did not unite to fight the totalitarian lockdowns in order to protect businesses and the draconian measures which followed. And here’s what I believe: lockdown measures have been purely political. This Covid-19 virus has a survival rate of over 99%; if anything, the vaccines have possibly done more harm and in some cases have proven to be unnecessary.
A hilarious irony of the final was that I found that (excluding Italian, Scottish, Welsh & Irish fans as per usual) there were those opposing England because of the fans and the nation itself being racist in their eyes, whilst there were far-right white nationalists (and some European anti-woke right wingers) opposing England on the grounds of kneeling to BLM (as well as the presence of ten black players for England compared to none for Italy). On the contrary, you had your bog standard England supporters supporting the Three Lions via patriotism, with some progressives supporting England in the hopes of a victory for their Marxist agenda.
When footballers in Britain decided they’d start kneeling (and some even doing the Black power salute (borrowed from the Black Panthers)) in support of BLM (an explicitly Marxist organization agitating for communism and the breakdown of the family unit) in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death, it baffled me that football fans did not agree to boycott their local clubs and national teams altogether. It doesn’t take two braincells to rub together that by embarrassing their local clubs and the FA with near-empty stadiums, once measures were mandated to permit near-full capacity again, would form an effective protest against kneeling- by directly hurting their clubs’ finances via withdrawing season tickets.
To add to my own anecdotes: I witnessed black people and other ethnic minorities in pubs and parks boo the England team when they kneeled at the start of this summer’s matches. For our players to claim kneeling is solely to protest racism is risible, when we have witnessed the likes of Colin Kaepernick kneeling to protest the US anthem, and later declare his support for BLM. British football has had anti-racism campaigns such as “Kick It Out” running since the 1990s, with players, managers & associates participating within their community work. The “Kick It Out” campaign has no links to Marxist political groups (as far as I’m aware of) and I have never opposed it.
It is my belief, however, that kneeling is a clear display of support for BLM. If kneeling was nothing but solely a declaration of supporting anti-racism, it would be surplus to requirements, but BLM- just like all Marxist organisations- force their supporters to partake in religious-style platitudes and gestures and despises those who either oppose them or whom they perceive to be opposing them. After all, what does “If you are neutral in the face of injustice, you are supporting oppression” imply? In my view it implies you must speak favourably of these Marxists or you will be, without hesitation, placed in the “Out” groups- those who they view as racist, sexist or an outright evil person.
And here’s the inherent flaw with Marxism: it attempts to abolish the natural presence of “In” (those whom you call your friends, family and allies) and “Out” (those who are enemies, whether it’s those who hate/disagree with you along the lines of politics, religion etc.) groups. However, BLM needs to create a narrative of victims (women, blacks, gays etc.) being mistreated by the system (police, government, white people regardless of class, gender & income), who are the villains for them to ostracise.
And it’s important to remember who founded BLM: Patrisse Cullors, Alizia Garza & Opal Tometi. I will not link their current website here because an old version of BLM’s website (which can be found on archive.org) admitted they are “trained Marxists” who are attempting to implement communism and destroy the West. It is a well-known fact that the black community (including those of mixed black heritage) within western nations have the highest rates of single parent households. It is a common shared trait amongst everyone of ALL races, who grew up in single parent households, are the most likely to become career criminals, violent crime, petty crime, depression, suicide, drug/alcohol abuse, long-term unemployment and form the lower social class bracket- roughly 85% in most cases. Black Lives Matter has not and will not mention this because admitting this will expose their major flaw within their communist agenda.
Everyone who opposes communism doesn’t need a reminder from me of the endless failures of communist regimes in Latin America, Eastern Europe & the menacing danger presented by the single-party regimes in North Korea & mainland China and how the “Woke” are in deep opposition to the liberal democratic values of the western world.
It’s embarrassing that so many fans came out in droves to protest the proposal of the “European Super League”, but had obeyed lockdown measures prior in a subservient manner. The ESL proposal should’ve been confirmation of what most billionaire owners see their precious little clubs as: commodities on the stock market in which they can extend their profit margins upon. The original incarnation of Premier League & UEFA Champions League had been created in 1992 to initiate greater business opportunities for the big European clubs, which has led to the monopoly we see today. The European Super League was nothing but the next step upon that foundation.
Now compare that to Italy in late 2020: there were masses of citizens protesting for lockdown measures to removed and an immediate return to normal life- and this was the country who were hit first (and very severely) in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
When will English football fans (and European fans to an extent) realise everyone (players, managers, sponsors & owners) in football no longer have a common link with them anymore? Even with ticket prices rising to exorbitant levels and their beliefs being so heavily at odds with players, they STILL attend matches like simps. Essentially, they are behaving like 12 year olds chasing a temporary dopamine rush, whilst their nation is unravelling before their eyes.
This England football team has turned into a object of political ping-pong: its footballers are now treated like figures of expertise when it comes to national politics and politicians falling over themselves when responding to them. It sums up how dumbed down British society has become when we look up to millionaires, whose sole jobs is entertaining the masses on the pitch; yes, footballers are entitled to their opinions on any political matter, but the issue is that their opinion is being treated with an extreme level of importance, arguably more than deserved.
In addition, there’s been question marks from right-wing commentators (not from me) over whether Gareth Southgate selected the penalty takers (who missed) in an attempt to create a victory for the “Woke” agenda. It should be known that England have had black players playing for them dating back 1970s and even had a half-Chinese player Frank Soo (born in Derbyshire of all places) play for their wartime senior team back in the 1940s. When Paul Ince became England’s first black captain in the 1990s, there was a very little (if none) opposition to this event. I do agree that many progressives have politicised skin colour and have been the ones launching the culture war, not vice versa.
The days of the National Front chanting “1-0” when England went 2-0 up against Brazil in a 1984 friendly game thanks to a John Barnes goal are long, long gone.
And this screenshot encapsulates what I’ve been thinking:
I even jested to a friend that had Roberto Mancini been in charge of England & Southgate (or more likely Gian Piero Ventura) in charge of Italy, England might’ve won the final without needing penalties. Mancini, unlike Southgate, has not had to think much of any external political matters or his players’ (non-existent) activism, leaving him undistracted in his quest to assist Italy to a tournament win- an astonishing turnaround upon the Azzurri’s failure to qualify for 2018 World Cup. Whilst it’s also obvious Mancini has achieved far more success than Southgate in the club game (trophies with Man City & Inter Milan compared to nothing for Gareth), it appears the burdensome political demands of the England manager’s job may repel top managers such as Mancini, Mourinho, Ancelotti, Bielsa, Klopp, Tuchel or anyone clearly superior to GS.
I’ll admit it hurt when Italy won the penalty shootout. Italy has its flaws as a nation, but this was a team focused solely on football and their victory was celebrated back home as one of purely patriotism, with no political agenda attached. But perversely, very little attention has been paid to Italy and their success; almost everyone has been talking non-stop about the events surrounding England’s loss.
In regards to the graffiti found on Marcus Rashford’s mural- which I do not condone in the slightest- it just proves England as a nation is simply far too obsessed with football. The police have confirmed that there were no racist connotations in the graffiti, but the level of attachment (whether it’s hate or love) which society has to multi-millionaire superstars is bizarre, regardless of how humble they may appear. It has to be time for people to question why England’s football team is seen as a beacon of patriotic pride, when the British Olympic team (Team GB) has achieved immense success since 2000 (including a perfectly-held 2012 London Olympics), winning 241 medals and ranking in the top 10 for the nations’ medals table during the past 5 Olympic tournaments.
And the response of Tory politicians? Johnny Mercer & Steve Baker came out in support of kneeling! If I was Boris Johnson (not that he’s any good at anything whatsoever), I would immediately call him to step down and declare the Conservative party’s firm opposition to all forms of support for Marxism and any organisation who adhere to such principles. The Woke ain’t gonna vote for you, no matter how much pandering you do, you bunch of Tory Boy clowns.
https://www.politicshome.com/thehouse/article/johnny-mercer-taking-the-knee
Mike Graham (Talk Sport)’s radio broadcast in which he stated that anyone perceived to be guilty of racism should be “de-personed” from society- no credit card, no bank account, no home, no job- has to be one of the most draconian and totalitarian responses I’ve ever heard in my life.
To underline my opposition of the politicization of football, I would equally oppose players being forced to do some sort of gesture in support of British nationalism & Brexit, with the likes of Nigel Farage drooling over them.
When I look at British football matches back in the 1960s, the spectators were dressed in suits. They didn’t yell dumb chants, start booing or wear team jerseys drooling over their club like a religion and they would applaud the opposition if they lost, then go home and return to real life. But that leads to another issue: football, sports and all forms of entertainment have become a retreat from the difficulties of the real world. And in a western world that has not witnessed major conflict since 1945, sports ball has become a substitute for warfare.
Whilst the Woke crowd are hailing our players as heroes in the aftermath, it can only take one or two defeats for England to become a joke again: Hungary & Poland, who fought well in the group stages despite their lack of talent and tricky opponents, could shock England in this autumn’s World Cup qualifiers and the staunchly right-wing sections of the European media will almost certainly label these potential defeats as “Woke Lions owned by Based Hungary & Poland”.
Frankly, if England suddenly deteriorated and became a joke nation like Scotland & Ireland, where qualifying for a tournament becomes an achievement in itself, I’d be very happy because I cannot stomach another minute of anyone ever over-hyping this team ever again.
By far the worst “justification” for the kneeling has to be how the British football team did the Hitler salute at the 1936 Olympics, who claim sport is inherently inseparable from politics. There’s no doubt participants have their own political views, but the ultimate issue with kneeling that it is blatantly activism- whether you agree with BLM or not.
But here’s an invisible elephant in the room no-one noticed: the Chinese Communist Party. I lost count of the number of CCP adverts I witnessed: World First, Alipay, TikTok, Hisense & Vivo were just a few which appeared on the stadium’s hoardings. I don’t need to remind you of my family’s background: my Mexican great-grandmother thrown into the gulag by the communists; my grandmother dying of lung cancer (because it was misdiagnosed as pneumonia) and a CCP policeman pointing a loaded pistol to my father’s forehead when he was just 8 years old- simply because his father fought for the KMT (the Chinese nationalists who lost the Chinese civil war).
For those blithely unaware, the CCP wants to destroy the western world by all means necessary. Whilst it does not support gestures from its own citizens in support of BLM (since CCP does not want any diversity of politics, race, religion or anything else in its nation), the communists see BLM and its associates as useful idiots.
Modern sports is being exploited as the ultimate distraction tool for the elites: it fulfills our animalistic instinct for conflict, whilst providing drama to fill tabloid columns and making us unaware of the elites’ plans. That includes the likes of Bill Gates, who bought up plenty of farmland during the lockdowns, Jeff Bazos and those pushing for “Climate Lockdown” measures. Covid passports, un-personing those who refuse vaccines, travel restrictions, derailing business… THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOU.
I’ll admit I wished I grew up much sooner and paid far less attention to F1 and football.
And don’t get me started on “FrEeDoM dAy”.
Verstappen 10
Bottas 8.5
Norris 9
Hamilton 6
Perez 6
Sainz 9
Ricciardo 6
Leclerc 7
Gasly 8
Alonso 9
Russell 9
Tsunoda 6
Stroll 6
Giovinazzi 5
Latifi 5
Raikkonen 7
Vettel 6
Schumacher 7
Mazepin 5
Ocon 5
CRYSTAL Racing Acid 