Money Power Respect

And I thought I could stop writing about the Rooney incident...

This time at least it's something good; an article on The Guardian's Comment is Free site which cuts through a lot of the self-serving bullshit that's been printed on the matter.  First off he suggests that far from there being a "flood of complaints" as The Sun (and everyone else just seemed to assume) claimed yesterday, there was actually just a trickle, or a drip, perhaps a single drop:

The likely nuance is that this particular swearage was perpetrated directly to camera, but so what? Neither personal nor specific, it was a gabbled, meaningless incoherence directed at no one and signifying nothing beyond Rooney's competitive aggression, his usual articulacy overridden by release and relief.And credit where it's due: most people appear to have grasped this; Sky fielding very few complaints as a consequence.

This is my favourite paragraph, neatly summing up the ridiculousness of the arguments and the vomit-inducing nature of the fake-moralising-outrage:

Central to the media sanctimony has been the idea that Rooney deserves punishment because he's some kind of role model; or, in other words, sometimes being good at football has shorn him of the right to equality before the law. The notion that anyone might aspire to his personal characteristics – particularly when those positing it have spent large chunks of their time professing precisely the opposite – is patently absurd, a slight that should ignite parents and teachers into rage. Whether or not any kids were watching – and would there be an issue had the incident taken place during a post-watershed game? – if they're relying on Wayne Rooney to show them how to behave, it's society's problem, not his.

And finishes by pointing out the wrongness of the apology:

The only real pity is that Rooney apologised. It's hard to imagine that he felt a moment's contrition; far more likely, someone at United anticipated the fuss and thought it might help, itself an appalling indictment of our time; perhaps Wayne was actually asking what fucking what the country has become.

Sense.  Finally some sense.  If only anyone had any faith in The FA's sense.  Any wonder no one has any respect for them.