Bear with me for a second if I step back from covering the sport, giving out the news, a bit of opinion of Serie A, La Liga and the rest of World Football through that lens. That's what we do here, that's what I agree with and frankly what I will continue doing, whether or not The Ball is Flat prospers.
What we won't give you here, on the show or on the blog, is more of the same regurgitated pablum that calls itself soccer writing in this country. We won't resort to copying and pasting other people's work like some often do, and you won't get the same opinions that get bounced around the so-called professional soccer journalists. I don't have anything against them, they have their place, but they take their cue from their bosses, the ESPN's, Gol TV's and Fox Soccer Channels, media outlets whose primary function isn't to report or comment on the game, but to sell you on their assets, and get you indoctrinated on their product.
No, The Ball is Flat is about our opinions first and foremost. We are fans of the sport, not soccer journalists and we reserve the right to criticize and cajole as well as praise, certainly the teams we represent, but primarily the teams we don't. Especially those teams. I write about Real Madrid often, but I also write about Barcelona. I can criticize one for over-spending and the other for being hypocritical at their reaction to the other one over-spending because I do not have to be fair and balanced. Leave that for the biased pseudo-journalism that masquerades as the real thing in this country. Why, because our opinions count in this country and we have the avenue and the ability to speak them and disseminate them online. Read them, listen to them, argue with them or ignore them. That is your right.
You have no right however, to endanger my family, harass and pressure my employer, send hate filled and bigoted emails or threaten my life. And all because I disrespected your club?
Now, certainly this scenario is not real. I would hope that our listeners and our readers know that we consider you our friends and that I wouldn't say something or write something on purpose that would make light of one of the many tragic situations that have befallen players, coaches, managers and supporters in this game. But what if I did? What if I made a statement that offended Basque supporters or Catalan supporters? I have not so don't say I did, but we have all made comments that offended other people before. I called my own Dad a "blind, drunken fool" just recently and I'm not proud of it. I might even say something hurtful about your precious Milan or beloved Juve before the end of the year. I might even say how much I dislike Barcelona. I support Espanyol, so what would you do about it?
Would you endanger my family, harass and pressure my employer, send hate filled and bigoted emails or threaten my life, and all because I defamed the honor of your club or your fellow supporters? Slander or libel, well that's a big proof to contend with and the majority of it is on you. Did I knowingly harm you by what I said. Did I do it on purpose, to harm you or your own.
What I'm getting at is that this scenario already happened. A few years ago a pressure group in the United States that supports Liverpool FC succeeded in getting a show much like our own taken off the air for statements made on the air by the host that defamed the character of a group of supporters that died in one of the greatest footballing tragedies in history: Hillsborough.
It got me thinking. I put myself in the host's shoes. It's what I do. Now, I have no axe to grind. I will make no statement that supports what this other host said. I believe, as a supporter of a club that lost a vital and important member of our footballing family, that I am extremely sensitive to the painful memories that Liverpool supporters revisit, every year on the anniversary of their loved ones' deaths. But let's say that I was not an Espanyol supporter. And let's say that I had made an insensitive remark about Dani Jarque's death. I would expect outrage. I would expect our listeners and our readers to condemn what I said. I would expect you to stop listening or stop coming to the website. It is your prerogative, as a citizen, but are you due more? How big should your pound of flesh be?
My job? My family? My career? My life? No one is guaranteed a pleasant life free of disagreeable moments. We are all offended and we all offend. We all make mistakes and when we do, it is very easy to ask for forgiveness for ourselves, but not so easy when it is someone else making that mistake, and that person he is offending is you. It stands to reason that one day even I will offend one of you, certainly not as blatantly or as idiotically as that other guy did today, but it is not out of the realm of possibility that someone will take issue with what I say or write. My answer to you would be, well, what author Fran Liebowitz said once, “Being offended is a natural consequence of leaving the house.” Deal with it.
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