Here's a new columnist to check out: Duleep Allirajah from the U.K.-based Spiked Online. Click here for his archive. Here's a passage from a recent column on the integral role hatred plays in the world of Soccer (Football) fandom:
Enmity is an integral part of the passion that animates football. Of course football fans will generally seek to mock and goad most opponents, regardless of whether there is any particular grudge against that particular club. But it's hard to generate much passion when the visitors are Crewe or Walsall and their travelling support could comfortably fit into a couple of minibuses. Look at any of the great rivalries in football: Celtic and Rangers, Barcelona and Real Madrid, Inter and Juventus, Spurs and Arsenal. Underlying each rivalry is a deep-seated history of mutual loathing. If you removed the vitriol and got everyone to link arms and sing 'Auld Lang Syne' it would diminish the drama.
As I've said before, as much as Americans can sometimes bash Soccer, hard core fans of American football aren't all that different from those who follow the "Beautiful Game."
