It's World Cup year and, just to help England's preparations, there's negative press again flying about to deflect from the football.Usually it's in the month before the tournament (think the dentist chair of 1996 and the many metatarsal injuries) but this time at least we can let the hype cool before June.
I'm talking of course about John Terry, whose name has been 'mud' since the revelations of his private life were published last weekend. The fact he's not just any run-of-the-mill England player - he's the captain of the side, a leader, a role model - has made Terry's affair with Wayne Bridge's model girlfriend a national scandal, so it seems.
Before this 'news' hit the headlines on Saturday morning and stayed there since, after Terry had legally failed to keep it out of the papers, the Chelsea player was considered a top professional and all-round nice guy. On the pitch he was a hero; off the pitch he was 'dad of the year'. But now he's public enemy number one and debates are raging among people who don't even like football as to whether Terry should remain England skipper at the World Cup finals in June.
I must admit I feel a little sorry for Terry. What he did was very wrong, no doubt. But it's a private matter, not one for every Tom, Dick or Harry Redknapp in this country to judge him on. He's the not first human - let alone footballer - to make a mistake and he won't be the last. Former England legend Stuart Pearce spoke out today not so much in Terry's defence, but trying to keep a lid on the hype, saying this "witch hunt" is wrong.
I totally agree with 'Psycho' - let's not forget what a great footballer and leader JT is and let's separate his professional career from his private life. I hope he remains as England captain. And in getting off Terry's back and concentrating on real news (Afghanistan, Haiti, this year's general election), the British public might even give his marriage a chance of reconciliation too. So, I'll leave my blogging here and not mention it again!
(Photo credit: Downing Street)
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Well said, sir. Marriages can and do recover from any number of awful sins and mistakes, but this is unlikely when people unconnected with the marriage and with no stake in seeing it succeed seek to take glee in the failure. And as you say, there are far more important things to focus on. When people are dying either because of our leaders' decisions or the poverty that made an entire country unable to cope with disaster, to be obsessed with a glorified reality-soap plotline is perverse.
ReplyDeleteSorry, I don't agree. John Terry has got himself in this mess. The difference between his public image as 'Dad of the Year' and what has happened in private is naturally going to attract tabloid interest as it smacks of hypocrisy. That he has tried to cover it up with court injunctions and has not shown any sign of regret (unlike Tiger) does not reflect well on him either.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the super-injunction thing was indefensible (but then they usually are), but if we're going to get into role-model territory, let's look at the empty, vain, petty values much of professional sports-celebrity generally. I just don't buy the 'they're in the public spotlight so it's okay to apply a different standard to them' argument. What kind of message does having unrealistic and frankly hypocritical expectations of people send to the 'young people' people always claim to be so worried about? If it is not okay to judge and denounce and condemn someone in your church for falling into weakness and personal sin, why is it okay to cast stones at more visible people?
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