Little fish

Grrrr I am so mad with the news channels today and it's not over politics for a change. It's over sport reporting, which if you know me, will know this is unusual. I am not the world's greatest sports fan. Sure I have been to see Crystal palace play, and like horse sports and motor sports, but that's as far as I go. I will cheer on my local team and obviously nationally when  they deserve it.

However this year's FA Cup has got interesting as my local football team, that are really low on all the leagues have made it through to play on of the highest teams in the country, tonight. Good for Sutton United, the players deserve the credit as most players a day jobs and practise on top of that. They have no high transfer fees, a tiny pitch, and only enough seats for local style matches. I know this because for two years I worked opposite their home ground. Match days were always fun as parking was limited, and I ran the off license opposite  so if they won we got very busy very quickly.

Anyway that said, tonight they are playing out of the league and all the press and media have taken to reporting the fact. But it's the language they refer to the team I find insulting. Just because they don't have a high bank roll or grounds that include enough space to hold every few at food known to man, doesn't mean they are any less skilled or supported. In fact I believe they work harder to get to this position as they have less time to train having to work normal day jobs. But the media love to prefix their name with words like "little" or "underdog", it's just insulting. They maybe a non professional team with a changing room the size of my bed room but on the pitch they play just as hard with less monetary reward, but local praise overflowing.

It won't have been so noticeable to me, but for the fact this household saw it all before last year when Kansas City me the playoffs in the United States. My husband being a Kansas State boy, was over joyed, especially  as he had dragged me to Wembley which turned out to be their first win of a long run of wins. Don't ask me to explain more about that game I still have no idea, except their game is played in quarter which means more beer and hot dog time, whilst a band plays and girls in barely there outfits jump around to keep warm. But like Sutton United the media used the same derogatory language to Kansas City.

It seems to be in modern sporty out only carry any weight or credentials if you have a bottomless pit of money, most of your players are bought in rather than  local players, and you turn match into a bank breaking event for the family. This is why I don't follow sport much, it's too much business too little natural local talent. People forget the football team of 1966 that won the cup against Germany  all had proper jobs and not six figure salaries. They didn't have sponsorship deals to boost their already overflowing bank accounts. They had to win to get bonuses. May be that's how it should be. None of this pick and number and add six noughts to it transfer deals. You train with your local team, you have a proper day job to pay the bills, and only get rewarded when you actually win something . We would then have the chance to watch skilled talented players. Instead of spoilt brats who take a dive rather that get a bruise.

Sorry but that's how I feel and why tonight I'm cheering on Sutton United, knowing their fans watching live are long term season  ticket holders who watch rain or shine win or lose. They are the team that deserve to win even if they are little fish in a shark pond.