Monthly Archives: December 2008
No Cake For Hitler
Having a quick flick through the news this morning, I was astonished to see that complaints have been made by the parents of a toddler to a bakery that has refused to put the child’s name on a birthday cake. The parents of three year-old Adolf Hitler seem to be missing the point I think.
The American couple, from New Jersey, also have a child named Aryan Nation who surprisingly also had to forego the treat of a personalised birthday cake from the politically sensitive bakery at ShopRite. The parents claim that the names of the children have nothing to do with the Nazi regime, and insist that names are just names and their children will obviously grow up to be model citizens.
I can’t help thinking that the issue here isn’t whether the children will grow up balanced individuals, or whether the bakery was right or wrong to refuse to inscribe the cake. The point is that the parents have chosen a name that will cause these children a lifetime of torment. I mean, you wouldn’t want to call your kid Harold Shipman just to prove a point that he won’t grow up a serial killer.
No Smiling On The Terraces
I’m not sure how much more football I can take…no that’s not what I mean. I’m not sure how much more of the ridiculousness surrounding football I can take. At the weekend Arsenal’s Emmanuel Eboue was brought on as a substitute in the game against Wigan only to be substituted himself shortly after. Why? Well he was having what is referred to as ‘a nightmare’, the last act of which was to tackle one of his own players and pass the ball to the opposition.
It’s not Eboue’s poor performance that made me take notice of the story though, it was the reaction of the fans; he was given an ironic round of applause as he left the field. When I read this I had to smile, it was good to know that some fans still have a sense of humour, something I thought had disappeared from the terraces a long time ago.
But only hours later switchboards were jammed, phone-ins were inundated and editors were working after hours as the footballing community condemned the outrageous behaviour of everyone who had cheered. Poor Eboue, they lamented, he’s got feelings too y’know! The behaviour of some of the players towards the referee after several decisions wasn’t mentioned.
Should those fans have stayed silent? I mean COMPLETELY silent? That would have surely been more upsetting for Eboue. Or worse still what if they had jeered him? Would that have been an acceptable response? I doubt the dry humour of a few thousand football fans will lead Eboue to seek out therapy or turn him into a depressed recluse who’s afraid to leave the house.
Those people who ‘condemn’ this type of behaviour by Arsenal fans ought to take a look at the behaviour of the Arsenal players next time a penalty is awarded against them…but now I’m straying from the point; the reason why I started writing this.
Also this weekend I read that Swansea City fans had cheered ex player Lee Trundle, who came on for Bristol City in a 0-0 draw, as a mark of appreciation for all that he had done for the club in the past. How nice, I thought, all too often ex players are savaged when they play against their former clubs; just ask Frank Lampard or Sol Campbell. But that wasn’t the crux of the story…
