Football Dichotomy
The post-Clasico interview on December 10th that José
Mourinho calmly conveyed was one of great sorrow for Real Madrid fans
across the globe as Barcelona proceeded to deliver yet another
historical 1-3 defeat to los blancos in the Bernabeu. However what was
interesting was the manner the Italian public perceived the interview,
due to La Gazzetta dello Sport’s (Italy’s leading sports paper) article
that discussed the press conference. The title read “Mourinho:
<Barcelona, just lucky>”. If one had listened to what Mourinho
spoke about, it can hardly be reassumed in these words. Mourinho did
state at some point that Xavi’s shot took a lucky deflection off of
Marcelo, but proceeded to analyze the game from different aspects other
than luck. La Gazzetta is almost immaculate when reporting on football,
they’re arguably one of the foremost football papers in the world.
However this was worrisome. Not from a judicial point of view, where one
might want to criticize the newspaper’s conduct, but it was
preoccupying due to the message the article subtly dispatched. The
negative images are reinforced and the rivalry is fueled. Not just the
Barça-Madrid rivalry, but the Mourinho-Guardiola one and at some degree
the Ronaldo-Messi debacle. There is a necessity for conflict management in many of these
rivalries, as the intensification of arguing about the Milan-Inter
derby, to mention one, has become inaccurate and utterly absurd in some
instances. The ability to objectively view a sport that is characterized
by an incredible amount of passion is a very difficult task and some
may argue it is even impossible. Objectivity however is one of the keys
to reduce the amount of tensions that populate stadiums, which lead to
violent confrontations (granted this itself is not the main catalyst)
and in some instances death. Violence occurs in stadiums and heated debates occur daily over every
technological outlet available to people. Fans love to rip at each
other’s teams and players constantly. Often enough these arguments are
of a very hostile nature and tone, thus the delivery methodology can be a
dangerous platform to build on. Football topics have become greater and more largely discussed than
in any moment in history due to the internet and the creation of new
virtual arenas that people can argue in, such as Twitter, Facebook and
so on. Does arguing imply violence? Of course not, but it’s one of the
variables in the equation of conflict. For the vast majority these extremely redundant debates and behaviors
are incorrectly structured and approached; mostly driven by one’s own
passion for a particular team, but also the lack of necessary conceptual
tools essential to properly discuss the topic. As is clearly deductible at this point, the discussion is one that is
quite complex and it is about to become a whole lot more intricate. But
the article will serve as a détente, meaning to decrease tensions,
which interestingly are produced by thoughts that are firstly abstract.
Invisible. Concocted and stored in our minds. Somehow these thoughts can
be translated into the yearly ritual of a Roma fan knifing a Lazio fan
in the stands or vice versa during the derby. Now it’s time to begin deconstructing the understanding of football
actions, events and tensions. From a cognitive perspective one can
decipher various reasons that explain the source of conflict amongst
teams and amongst fans. However once someone moves across borders,
cultures and language football interpretations take a very complicated
turn (the “Cultural lens” shall be analyzed in another article).
Nowadays communication and people constantly cross national boundaries
thus football has become a globalized issue, however the technology has
made sure the debate itself has spread quicker than the norms that
should govern such debates. In certain cases the perceptions of the direct adversary are extreme.
This occurs in rivalries such as Real Madrid-Barcelona, Milan-Inter,
Roma-Lazio, Atletico Madrid-Real Madrid, Manchester City-Manchester
United, Arsenal-Tottenham and so on. It is a curious phenomenon but due
to the conflicting interests the game generates (meaning both teams want
the win) and intense climate surrounding such rivalries, the opposing
team is often seen as if they had spawned out of hell by the fans. Any
action or word they utter is demonized and harshly reprimanded. Let’s delve into a few common examples to clear up exactly what is
meant here. Simple examples for the Milan-Inter derby would be the
milanisti’s view on Mourinho, Materazzi or Inter in general. On the
other hand from interisti’s view on Ibrahimovic would arise the same
level of criticism and disrespect. Mourinho has been dubbed as
“classless”, “lucky”, accused of “training rich teams thus it’s simple
to win”, “Inter cheated” and so on. However for the fans of Inter
Mourinho is a god. As for Ibrahimovic he will be forever loathed by many
Inter fans (also many Juventus fans), who will even go to the extent of
claiming that “Ibra sucks” and other notions of this nature. And once
again in the eyes of Milan fans, Ibra is a god. Now what is interesting and what will be addressed is the question
that comes from the dichotomies at hand. How can the same man or team
purport such a dualism of ideologies? The epistemology of this question is what needs to be addressed in
order to have an enlightened view of the sport. Recognizing how one’s
own cognitive process has developed is key to reducing your bias.
It is almost a universal norm amongst fans that you must love your
team and not your rivals. However the notions of “loving your own team”
and “loathing another team” aren’t mutually inclusive. One does not
imply the other. The latter is a fabricated concept. But it does develop
for a simple reason: in situations of conflict, the world is seen in
black and white. There are only two possible answers. We are good, and
thus you are evil. There are no other options. But is this really true? Is it correct to view Inter and interisti as
a single and unified entity with members who are equally evil and
equally implacable in their pursuits of unjust and immoral goals? To understand this, it is necessary to firstly absorb the fundamental
idea that conflict breeds this dichotomy. But how come? What occurs in
conflict to restrict your choices down to the two aforementioned
options? The more intense the rivalry is, the more intense the debate that
comes out of it. Once the conditions take a turn to a more stressful
situation, this is whence it becomes clearer how the weight of the
psychological aspect comes into play especially in these big rivalries. Once these more intense debates are in motion they perpetuate quickly
through one fan base. Rationality takes a back seat due to the
heightened conditions of irritation or frustration that the situation
yields. This means that perceptions become oversimplified (such as the
examples mentioned earlier). Furthermore there is a reduced tolerance
for ambiguity along with an increased degree of hostility and aggressive
behavior. These are important factors to always recall and recognize in the
heat of one of these debates. Sports generally do arise a very strong
sense of passion especially for the team you may support and most people
are not strangers to such emotions. Now, one of the difficulties that come about is a person’s belief
system. One, however, cannot possibly believe that Ibrahimovic isn’t a
top footballer. There isn’t a person on the planet that could actually
prove the contrary. How could one of the top scorers and most able
footballers on the planet possibly “suck” (to put it in layman’s terms)?
Year in and year out, Zlatan has been the decisive piece of the team to
win silverware. Over his years at Ajax, Juventus, Inter, Barcelona and
Milan he has won and lead his team to the leagues in all countries.
Thus, once again, in no manner can he be classified as an overall poor
footballer. Yet there are many people that genuinely seem to believe he is. As
there are many who refute to believe Mourinho is a top manager. Ask most
Barça fans these days and they’ll immediately point out he is the
anti-Christ. Well, not quite. But he surely represents anti-football
nonetheless for many. The distorted notions are birthed in emotions. Simple. Both positive
and negative bias that accompany one’s judgment. Once one maps out the
history of Ibra it is easy to see how Inter or Juve fans interpret his
departure as a betrayal, thus this offsets an irreparable hatred toward
the player coloring every future analysis from then on. These negative images are extremely persistent to change. Once the
belief is formed it becomes self-perpetuating. Why is this? Because
people seek out, recall and interpret evidence in a manner that sustains
beliefs. These perceptions are resistant to new stimuli because people
view their beliefs as the unshakable and unchallengeable truth.
Consequently the images themselves also, obviously, perpetuate and
intensify the conflict further. It is an interesting and complicated topic nonetheless that has been
briefly investigated, but it is one that is overlooked often that leads
to the extreme contrasting views of opposite fan bases. Many times the
views are based on futile factors and few selective actions or words the
fans recalls of a single player. Thence it’s translated into hatred for
the entire club. Obviously these methodologies are too extreme and one must remember
how the emotions factor into a person’s bias. There is a necessity to
calculate the total attributes of a player or team instead of only a few
selective ones that favor your bias. Once there is an exclusion of qualities, then this is where your
prejudice is playing a limiting role. Once people rid themselves of
their bias then they may begin to analyze and critique the sport more
accurately. Until then, one’s judgment remains flawed and will
disseminate additional conflict. What is ultimately being proposed is the following: can a Real Madrid
fan learn to love Messi’s genius? His phenomenal dribbling, speed and
vision? Can a Milan fan learn to appreciate the grandeur of Inter’s
historical “Triplete”? Can an Inter fan appreciate the magnificence of
Nesta or Maldini or the Invincibles? Can a Barcelona fan recognize
Cristiano Ronaldo’s greatness? Can this appreciation be universally
applicable to the sport instead of specific clubs only? And may you not misinterpret this question by thinking it alludes to
renouncing to support your own team, but instead to, perhaps, lift the
prejudices that encompass the images of your arch-rivals, and learn to
view them with a reduced degree of hostility and a higher degree of
objectivity.
sumber: http://themilanguy.com/2012/01/23/football-dichotomy/
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