I love football, both American and real football you know, the one played with a round ball and your feet. You probably know it as soccer.
What I don't love is football (soccer) hooligans. They have been a blemish on the game for a long time. The game's history is full of violence and death because of people who are unable to separate sports from reality. I recall watching the European Cup final in 1985 between Liverpool and Juventus. 39 fans were crushed to death at that one.
Much effort (time, money, police) has been made to fix this problem. I had to go through security at Gatwick (London) airport the day the European championships started in Portugal. The cops with dogs and sub-machine guns made DFW look and feel like a tea party.
It has thankfully been a long time since their has been a game related death. That was until this week.
One police officer was killed and 100 people injured after a game between Catania and Palermo in Italy's Serie A. That is most tragic, what is impressive however is the Italian Football Federation's response. All professional soccer games in Italy have been canceled until further notice.
"I have demanded a stop to all activity of football in Italy," said the Italian football commissioner, Luca Pancalli. "Enough is enough. It's a situation that I cannot speak of. To lose your life at 38 is incredible. This is not a sport. The football tournaments will remain suspended until we solve the violence in our football."
To realize the magnitude of that decision you have to understand that Serie A is the second most profitable soccer league on the planet. This decision costs money, creates scheduling nightmares but they made it anyway.
This has caused me to reflect on sports in America on this Super Bowl weekend. Would the NFL suspend games under similar circumstances? Would they sacrifice the dollars? I doubt it. The Super Bowl, and the endless NFL network coverage, the insufferable five hour pre-game show and the overpriced commercials remind me how "Super"ficial it all is. I used to love the Super Bowl but now it is an event I can do without. I installed shelving during the game last year.
