Thursday, November 4, 2010

CR7 is a disgrace to this sport



"Who is the best player on the planet: Messi or Ronaldo?"

You can produce volumes upon volumes of text debating this very topic. It is a question of football philosophy and personal preference. I will not attempt to defend one man against the other here (although my response should be quite obvious to you). What I will do, however, is expose the degenerate and disgusting aspect of Cristiano Ronaldo's game which should make any proper football fan loathe him.

There are plenty of athletes throughout sports who are cancers - Terrell Owens and Albert Haynesworth in the NFL, Manny Ramirez in baseball, Sean Avery in hockey. They are all excellent talents and add a competitive advantage to whichever team they play for. What they have in common though, is that all (or at least 95%) of the headaches they cause are off the field or on the sideline. When they have a chance to prove their doubters wrong, they enter the fray and give their all.

Ronaldo falls into a different category, which makes him a pathetic human being. His ability is mesmerizing. I'll give him that. But to give up on plays - to CHEAT the game itself by feinting injury and collapsing like a heap of bricks from the slightest of contact is an issue that will forever cement him as the second best player in the world. I don't care what happens during halftime, or in the dugout, or at a night club. But when you step on that pitch, and 10 other guys are relying on you to be an honest player and make the best decisions for the team, you owe it to them to act in an upstanding manner.

He is an unprofessional primma donna who attracts more viewers than any player on the planet, and conversely plays into the very reason most people hate the sport.

Yellow cards are given for diving. Why not the above clip? The minute Ronaldo gets up and reveals he is unblemished in an attempt to deceive the referee, give him a card!! No medic, no stretcher, no blood, no magic spray, no limp. Nothing. He is trying to cheat the ref and the game. That is a card-able offense.

Say what you will about his shooting, and speed, and sexy looks, and stepovers (which get him nowhere 90% of the time). The bottom line is, he is a disgrace to football. Lifting a Balon d'Or and being nominated for the most prestigious awards year after year carries with it an expectation of professionalism. The poster boy of the sport, should act in a way that reflects the dignity of the sport.

He doesn't. And he should never earn your respect.

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