| While I
cannot claim to know the woman who was featured on ITV at the
Worthington Cup final, I know of her kind. A dedicated supporter no
doubt, but one that has put us all to shame.
We have seen them on TV
time and time again. Newcastle fans who have been robbed of a title,
Middlesbrough diehards having lost a Cup Final/been relegated/lost
another manager, Sheffield Wednesday supporters stunned at going down on
the last day of the season and Arsenal fans, who just can’t believe that
they watch their side week in, week out.
Sobbing away in the
stands on their own or with a group of equally choked mates, they are
zoomed in on by the cameras to beam them back into the front rooms of
the nation. Hilariously funny if you are in front of the box watching
someone else’s team suffering, but not so when it is your own.
What that young lady
has done is put a great big smile on everyone’s face at home. All those
fans who hate Tottenham and they seem to be increasing in numbers by the
day (although it beats me why when the are much more odious sides out
there). They were lapping it up. “Look at her,” you could imagine them
saying as they choked on their beer.
We all felt like that
on the day. It hurt. Not just losing, which was bad enough, but the
team let the fans down in front of a huge audience … and that lady did
likewise. She let us all down, by making us as big a laughing stock as
the team.
It didn’t help when
her boyfriend came out and said she didn’t go to many matches (in which
case, how did she get a ticket ?) and that she had never seen Spurs
lose. Well, she has now and she should have seen Spurs lose before she
went, then she might have been used to it.
What she did was
understandable, but she obviously did not understand the whole dynamics
of the TV coverage on the day. Go face painted. Go with a silly hat
on. Go with a cockerel on your head. But don’t go crying on national
TV.
This is private grief,
not for mass consumption. Shed a tear in the company of those who
understand away from the glare of the cameras and floodlights. Pour it
out in a pub or at home, but not in the middle of a huge ground full of
disappointed fans.
Failing that, get your
boyfriend to say that you had wanted to go to the toilet at the
Millennium Stadium, but unfortunately, there were insufficient numbers
and you were just about fit to burst. Just don’t embarrass Spurs
supporters as a whole live on TV. The team are more than capable of
doing that for us already !!
TED MAUL |
