Thursday, January 27, 2011

But Does Sarah Palin Understand The Offside Rule?

The results are in for the contest to find the stupidest comments about the Andy Gray affair and - shockingly - it's been a clean sweep for the Daily Mail.

Heading up the 'Amateur' category is a thought-provoking article by Kelly Smith - the thought being 'who the hell is Kelly Smith'? The answer apparently is someone who played girl-football or, as she modestly puts it, 'one of the best players in the world'.

Heh. Think that one over. She's one of the best players in the world, providing you exclude the hundreds of millions of better players who are the wrong sex. Her entire claim to fame is that she can compete successfully when men aren't allowed to compete at all, but she's complaining that men aren't welcoming enough to chicks who want to invade the men's game? Hello? I make that Self-awareness 0 Irony 5.

Still, in a sad echo of her sporting career, Kelly's lunacy is completely outshone by a male professional. Yep, proving once again you can take the man out the Guardian, but can't stop him being a huge mangina, Martin Samuels offers this:
This is Karren Brady's point about women being defined solely by gender in football. Nobody would link all male referees in the same way. If Gray held a dim view of Mike Riley, for instance, he would not have presumed the same of Mike Dean, purely because he was also a man called Mike.
Huh? I liked these guys better when they just called everyone Hitler. As it is, this analogy doesn't even make sense on its own terms.

There's no policy to rush anyone called 'Mike' straight up the ladder, we're not being constantly asked to subsidise a whole parallel world of Mike-only leagues, Mike Development Officers and the like, and you can criticise 'Wall Street II' without Michael Portillo demanding you be fired and Michael Buble writing a protest song.

Other than that, it's a perfect fit.

Fat Martin's point is just a more slippery version of the one from Kelly the Fantasist. Women officials will start with a three goal lead, but we all have to congratulate them on scoring a hatrick.

But that's not the best of it. No, as befits a true professional, Mart manages to leave Kelly in the dust and reach whole new heights of humbuggery. Yes, indeed: the Sexist-Finder General just happens to be the same guy who uses bogus quotes to try and smear a real woman of achievement as a bimbo.

1 comment:

JuliaM said...

"...and - shockingly - it's been a clean sweep for the Daily Mail. "

Out-Guardianing the Guardian? Wow!

I have to say I've found this whole kerfuffle even more baffling than the offside rule itself.

Apparently, I'm supposed to be delighted that a sexist dinosaur has been slain on my behalf by a gaggle of people whose OUTRAGE! meters go all the way up to 11 and stay there.

Yet who are curiously silent or - worse! - forgiving when the misogyny emanates from a culture that, shall we say, is intended to make out streets more vibrant and diverse...