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For a while, all I thought about as a Manchester United supporter
was when we'd end the drought and win the league. When that was
achieved, I wondered if we'd return to European glory.
I wondered if I'd ever see a match at Old Trafford, if there'd ever
be live matches on television over here and wondered if the Internet
would ever be a major source of football news.
I wondered if Manchester United would ever sign an American and
if they'd ever play an exhibition match in the States. I wondered
what it would be like to sing in a packed bar on Euro away with
a bunch of plastered reds, wondered if it was wise to make a speech
at Alex Ferguson's testimonial dinner and definitely wondered if
that tattoo was a mistake.
I wondered if we'd ever survive without Robbo. I wondered if we
could ever be the same without Eric.
But I never thought I'd wonder if I loved the club as much as I
used to. Now I do. Thanks to Malcolm Glazer.
Let's put all the financial aspects aside for the moment. Forget
that a man who has never seen a match is placing his own personal
debt on the books of Manchester United. Forget how the club has
gone from no debt to half a billion dollars in debt in one fell
swoop. Forget how £20 million in transfer funds is supposed
to forgive everything.
Forget that Glazer will do his utmost to break up the current Premier
League revenue sharing television deal, which would be disastrous
for all but five top-flight clubs. Forget that he's sued Buccaneer
season ticket holders who complained about high prices and threatened
to move the team if he didn't get a new stadium.
The bottom line is the club is owned by a man who knows nothing
at all -- not an iota -- about football. And he, or his condescending
son, will make all the decisions about how Manchester United is
run.
The whole way Glazer has gone about this takeover has been nauseating,
with no word at all from his camp on what his plans are or how he
intends to run the club. Not even an attempt to assuage the fears
of the supporters. The only communication in this whole debacle
has been a lie from Joel Glazer that his family is "avid Manchester
United fans."
I would have preferred the honesty of "we think you're stupid
and we'd also like you to know we have complete contempt for you
as well."
I've heard and read a lot of things about the anti-American aspects
of the opposition to Glazer. Well, as an American I find the fact
that a person who does not know who George Best is having say over
all things United is disheartening at best, disgusting at worst.
I could name 50 Americans off the top of my head who would make
better owners than Glazer.
One U.S. columnist wondered if there would be such an outrage if
a Brit bought the Dolphins. That's nonsensical. You could move the
Dolphins to Cheyenne and turn them into the only franchise in a
resurgent XFL and people would only be mildly surprised. We're a
young country, it's a young sport, the NFL is a young league, and
local rivals are 300 miles apart. We do things differently.
What I really like about football, as an American, is the tradition
and the history. It offered a nice balance to my home where we have
TV time outs, catered tailgating and started our own soccer league
on the assumption that our people just wouldn't stand for a match
ending in a draw.
I suppose Glazer's takeover was the logical conclusion to United's
commercial course. There has been no shortage of signs. Not defending
the FA Cup to satisfy Sepp Blatter's greed and the FA's delusion
that England would get the
World Cup. The monstrosity that is the Megastore and the tie-up
with the Yankees.
Take a look at this list: Champions Cola, Red mortgage lending,
Red Devil spark plugs, United car insurance. Only one of those is
a joke.
I could stomach most of it, barely, because I knew the ridiculous
profit margin was going in part to the club. As a shareholder, some
of it was even going back to me in dividends -- I'd say nearly 0.001%.
But Glazer is the final straw.
The man is a vampire and a fancy-dress freebooter. He's not getting
any of my money.
No match tickets, no jerseys, no DVDs, no pay-per-view, no cover
charges. I can do without Nike, never pay for another Vodafone top-up
card in the U.K. and I have to admit that no Budweiser is self-imposed
ban I've been living with happily for years. I'm not going to judge
other supporters on what they choose to do, but I made a boycott
pledge and I'll stick buy it.
But that's not all there is to it. I know in my heart that I'll
never be able to stop my support for the team in red playing at
Old Trafford -- or even the Budweiser Bowl or Nike Park at Old Trafford
or whatever the hell it is tarnished with. I suppose I could switch
my allegiance to whoever is playing Liverpool, but that seems impractical.
They play City twice a year, for one.
Basically I could never want United to lose. So if I catch a game
for free I will cheer them on, and know that whatever satisfaction
that bastard gnome who bought my club gets out of it, he'll never
really know what it is to be United.
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