11/05/24
May 09, 2003
Sectarian thugs attack Celtic football star Neil Lennon.: The ex-Leicester midfielder was attacked by religious bigots on the streets of Glasgow late last night. (Local link for you SpoFi purists). In the past he has received death threats that caused him to announce his retirement from international football. This kind of behaviour beggars belief in supposedly civilised societies in the 21st Century. It's only a game, isn't it?
I couldn't really tell if the people who attacked him last night and those who threatened him last summer are supporters of the teams he is/was on. If so, harming your own football team's chances of winning is a surefire way to relegate yourself to the warm division in God's eyes. ...and what the Fooker said.
posted by pfuller at 11:54 AM on May 09, 2003
They may not even be supporters, but assuming they are Protestants and this is a religious attack they would either be supporters of Rangers (Celtic's bitter city rivals) or Nothern Ireland. So the answer pfuller is both yes and no. I did say supposedly civilised.
posted by squealy at 12:00 PM on May 09, 2003
Its not just a game...its life. What else is there really to do? Why NOT feel passionate about the game to the point of violence? At least you feel alive... To take a famous saying...Better to have fought and won or lost, than to not have fought at all... 
posted by StarFucker at 12:02 PM on May 09, 2003
What else is there really to do? Why NOT feel passionate about the game to the point of violence? At least you feel alive... Okay, now I'm scared.
posted by pfuller at 12:13 PM on May 09, 2003
So speaks the wise voice of someone who's never faced the ICF or the Headhunters.
posted by squealy at 12:15 PM on May 09, 2003
and thanks, squealy. I'll shut up now.
posted by pfuller at 12:15 PM on May 09, 2003
I was of course referring to StarFucker or BrainFucked as I now know him.
posted by squealy at 12:19 PM on May 09, 2003
For some reason i can't get to those sites at work squealy...
posted by StarFucker at 12:27 PM on May 09, 2003
All the local links you can eat. Of course this'll change over time. But right now, there are articles from Glasgow Daily Record ("Lennon's last straw"), Glasgow Evening Times ("Lennon won't quit Celtic"), UTV ("Celtic manager waiting to make decision on Lennon's future"), Belfast Telegraph (he was the Republic of Ireland captain?), and Ireland Online, take your pick.
posted by worldcup2002 at 12:29 PM on May 09, 2003
Northern Ireland wc2002. You're either trolling me or trying to wind me up. Pesky yanks. :-P
posted by squealy at 12:35 PM on May 09, 2003
Oh, sorry, I forgot about that division. Go Norman Whiteside! (old Man U player no?) So, you're N. Irish, squealy? Really, no offense was intended. Save for the football, I'd never have known there was a division between the countries. So, which one is Eire? The whole thing, or the bigger country (the Republic?). Holy crap, you might as well give us a quick rundown on how it all got so complicated. Was it the Anglo-Saxons that did it again?
posted by worldcup2002 at 12:50 PM on May 09, 2003
Never mind, squealy, I read the article. I think I've finally figured out that Celtic is of Irish origin, and why there's a Celtic team in Scotland but you never hear of a Celtic team in Ireland (either one), and Celtic is Catholic, and I, tho a Protestant (and non-Yank! as well as a member of the Commonwealth!), have supported Celtic (even tho I've lost touch lately). Of course, the Catholic v Protestant thing is not about religion, but the subjugation of one group by another fiery group. Give Ireland back to the Irish, huh? Boy, why do I feel like I'm going to start talking about Israel and Palestine? And, wow, wasn't it the English empire that started this up in the first place? (Hey, Dubya, take heed.)
posted by worldcup2002 at 01:00 PM on May 09, 2003
Glasgow is a large city full of headcases, some of whom saw an opportunity to cause mayhem and took it. I wouldn't get too vexed about it, someone else will be getting their heads kicked in tonight, and tomorrow night, in cities all over the UK for reasons which defy rational thought.
posted by Fat Buddha at 01:28 PM on May 09, 2003
Aside from him not being hurt too badly, the only positive thing I see in any of these articles is in the Glasgow Evening Times article: Passers-by approached Lennon after the incident and offered their names should he need witnesses. Sigh. I was just reading an article the other day that stated that the last thing that folks in the SPL want is for there to be a tie at the end of the season that would require a final game between Rangers and Celtic. No wonder. FYI: Celtic Trounced Motherwell the other day 4-0 which brought them just barely ahead of Rangers for the first time in a while (I thought that they were out of it).
posted by eckeric at 01:39 PM on May 09, 2003
Go Celtic! Go, fatboy Hartson, and slick Larsson.
posted by worldcup2002 at 03:17 PM on May 10, 2003
We are not civilised...we only live under the guise of civilisation.... Take a look around you sometime...watch the news.