“Silly Season”
With the 2015 Summer
Transfer Window now upon us, it wasn’t until the past few days that I had
actually heard this term silly season used to describe the window. Quite honestly it did cause me to
pause, re-read and then ultimately re-tweet the post that had me in
hysterics. It is such a brilliant
description of what the transfer windows have become nowadays that I can only
wish I had thought of it myself and thrown on a copyright just as quickly while
I was at it. As I was running some
test recordings for my new blog that I’m starting last night, my rant lead me
off into the direction of the transfer window and 99% of the garbage and
bullshit that is associated with it on a daily basis. In some ways I suppose it is flattering, knowing that we
have a club that is so massive in size and popularity that these
newspapers/tabloids/websites know that they can print just about anything
during silly season and it will end up spreading like wildfire throughout not
only England and Europe, but across the world without one shred of evidence to
support any single piece of transfer gossip mentioned therein. Part of my problem with the happenings
of silly season are partially due to my own self proclaimed ignorance to
exactly how things work in the media across the pond both in England and
throughout Europe. I am not going
to give credence or credit to any one website in particular because for one:
there are just too many to name, and 2: they exist not only in England but Spain,
Germany, France etc. Now I do
understand the way that the Internet works and how valuable the advertising
dollar can be, so website clicks and page views are really what any website is
looking for in the end. Sure they
would love for you to come across that one teaser of an article that is so tantalizing
absurd yet interesting nonetheless, that you suddenly add that particular site
to your Bookmarks and make a point to check back on a daily basis just to see
what other unbelievable transfer rumor may have been concocted overnight. At this point they have you, “hook line
and sinker!”
The
point I’m trying to make is that I was born and have been raised my entire life
in the United States. Journalistic
integrity is still something looked upon with a great source of pride for the
many phenomenal journalists that grace our websites and newspapers throughout
the U.S. With all 4 major sports in
the States, each major outlet, whether it’s ESPN, Fox Sports, Sports
Illustrated, etc., all have a stable of fantastic journalists and writers with
unbelievable sources and contacts.
When Adam Schefter goes live on an episode of SportsCenter, or sends a
Tweet out via his Twitter account with breaking news of a possible trade or
free-agent signing, you can rest assured knowing that he has the inside sources
that know beyond a shadow of a doubt that this particular deal is done!
So
what does all of this have to do with Manchester United and the Barclays
Premier League you ask? Well as I
said up above, I’m not going to give these sites even a mention due to the
ludicrous rumors that they spread on a daily basis. In fact, I probably would have never considered sitting down
and writing my blog post on this particular topic if not for the most
unbelievably outlandish “rumor” that Ed Woodward and Louis Van Gaal were
preparing this unbelievable bid in upwards of $180+ million to lure not only
Gareth Bale away from the Santiago Bernabeau but also bring United’s long lost
son and legend, Cristiano Ronaldo, along with him! Then as any die-hard Manchester United supporter would do, I
clicked the link so that I could see just what kind of crazy article this would
actually prove to be. Now let’s
get one thing straight here right off the bat. Ronaldo has been, still is, and forever will be a LEGEND at
Manchester United. It was where he
turned from a young boy into the superstar you see terrorizing La Liga opponent’s
week in week out. Cristiano will
be the first person to thank Sir Alex Ferguson for being like a father to him
and along with many of the clubs legends at the time, teaching him how the
beautiful game is supposed to be played.
That is why every summer, once domestic leagues have ended and the
transfer season begins, the inevitable “Will this finally be the year that Ronaldo
comes home to Manchester United?”
Simply placing Ronaldo and Manchester United in the same sentence will
garner your website millions upon millions of clicks and page views. And 99% of us United supporters know
not to believe any single bit of it.
Do you think Van Gaal and Ed Woodward would love to add Gareth Bale to
their starting XI for next season?
The answer is obvious! And as far as Ronaldo is concerned, fans here in
the United States have witness first hand what LeBron James has done since he
left the Miami Heat to return to his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers. LeBron will be appearing in his 5th
straight NBA Finals come tip-off this coming Thursday evening. In essence, if Ronaldo were to make a
similar decision to return to Manchester, it would be met with so much fanfare
that it would probably quadruple that of what LeBron did in returning to
Ohio. With football being the
world’s biggest and most watched sport and Cristiano Ronaldo being the #1 or
#1A player in the world, depending on where your allegiance lies between himself
and Messi, CR7 deciding to return to Old Trafford would grace the cover of
every newspaper and website worldwide! But enough about hopes, pipe dreams and
wishing upon a lucky star, let’s finish with just why silly season has become
just that: Silly!
There
is one English newspaper that I have downloaded on my iPhone and whose sports
section I browse on a daily basis.
That would be the Daily Mail.
That’s not to say I don’t occasionally read something interesting from
the Guardian or the Telegraph but the Daily Mail seems to catch my attention
most of the time for one reason or another. Many of you local fans in England would probably have a
laugh at me for sounding so “touristy” like that with my choice of newspaper
but it’s not for a lack of trying that I make that choice. I just can’t stand that Manchester
United seem to be linked with a different player ever other day and it gets to
the point where it sounds so ridiculous that I just say to hell with it all,
and simply wait for the official Twitter accounts to give me the information I
need. I’ve become so annoyed by
the whole mess of nonsense that I finally decided that Mark Ogden and Jaime
Jackson would be the only two credible journalists in England who I would follow
and give any credence to. If
something during silly season is tweeted from either of the two, then it’s legitimate
as far as I’m concerned. Between
those two and the official Twitter/Facebook accounts of the players and the
clubs, that’s all of the truthful information I’ll need. Never again will I read a ridiculous
post of how United are going to sign Pele and Maradona is returning to Serie
A. I know that grand bit of
sarcasm isn’t necessary but you get my point! And to the rest of you whores of the page view and site
click realm, I bid you adieu and good riddance! Go find another sport’s street corner to turn your tricks!
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