clicky clicky
Cracking read, and he makes a good point.
I will quote a little bit here.
Quote:
The large white type caught the eye on the newsstand in precisely the manner intended. Positioned directly underneath the stately Times masthead, it read “The dream final”, advertising TheGame’s comprehensive coverage of the FA Cup semi-finals that ended with the progress of Manchester United and Chelsea to Wembley.
A dream final for who exactly? For fans of the two clubs? Definitely. For the FA? Of course. For ticket touts? Certainly. And for media executives with their famously hazy grasp of how real supporters think? Yes, probably them, too. But for the rest of us, forget it. The “dream final” is a nightmare.
And nothing perpetuates the cycle more than the Champions League. Clubs playing in it are rewarded lavishly each time they step on the field. With every passing year, United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal gain more income, enabling them to draw farther away from the pack. United’s 8-3 aggregate thrashing of AS Roma that earned their place in the last four was a black night for English football. Why? Because a spectacular performance live on terrestrial television during a school holiday week will have garnered tens of thousands more impressionable young converts to the Old Trafford myth machine.
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