Che Guevere, Manchester Utd. and Fresh up
Disclaimer: I (Stephen Thorne) the writer of this post am not currently, nor have I ever been, nor will I be associated or affiliated with any communist party. I am a sociologist NOT a socialist, they difference is more than linguistic. Nor am I a Manchester United Fan.
This post is about Che Guevere (sort of) the world's most well marketed socialist. You know the guy that appears on all the t-shirts. I think it is random that he is so well marketed for a socialist. My cousin just went to Malaysia and came back with a Che Guevere wrist band. From Malaysia I can almost guarantee you that the sweat band was made in a factory where the working conditions where not up to Che's standards. The t-shirts and other Che gear are so prevalent that you wonder if people even know who the guy was. For those that don't he was a military leader under Fidel Castro in Cuba. Both Fidel and Che became the "poster boys" for popular led revolution. Che was influential in training guerrillas through out South America. People (on the whole) buy the t-shirt not because they believe it is cool or trendy, not because they agree with the socialist point of view.
If I can draw a parallel with sport- Che is like Manchester United (or the Lakers or Yankees) people support Manchester not because they actually like the team and are "fans" maybe a better word is "followers" (or sheep). They think that it is cool or trendy to support a football team, so naturally they go for a team that is winning and therefore cool and trendy. WRONG, it is no fun supporting a team that always wins because you become use to winning, for example Canturbury rugby when we win the Ranfurly Shield it is not a major deal I mean the shield is ours isn't it? However when BOP win it they go off the hook. Personally I think it is much more satisfying as a sports fan to support a team that doesn't always win. Case in point: Liverpool Football Club, if find it enjoyable to support them because if they do win anything it is a great achievement they are the underdone so to speak.
It is like the fresh up adds if you run around in pink batts or eat chilies then the Fresh Up is better. Supporting Liverpool is much like running round in pink batts - very tiring and often itchy- and when they do win it feels good. You do not get this experience from supporting Manchester. The New Zealand Cricket team through out the 1990s are another good example- when they play well as they are know it is awesome because we know how bad they were - we were watching them in our living rooms wrapped in pink batts.
Which is why the teams I support are not normally the traditional band wagon teams- Liverpool - all though Liverpool is becoming a band wagon team.
Che is also like scooters - they were alternative to start with and you expected to see "alternative" people on scooters - helping the environment and saving money. But then the was Christmas that the Wharehouse sold them for dirt cheap. I remember speeding the New Years at Akaroa and every kind had a scooter - suddenly the guy with the dreads and hemp shirt was not cool any more. This is like Che (and sadly starting to become true of Liverpool) people are jumping on band wagons and pushing guys like me and the hemp shirt guy off our hypothetical scooters.
posted by Steve-a-saurus at 1:24 PM
4 Comments:
Sadly, i became a Liverpool supporter in a rush of hormones when i was 13 and madly in love with superstar 19yr old Michael Owen, when i saw him at the World Cup playing for England. Oh those red shorts... oh the skills with a soccer ball! On a mad whim i decided i needed to start supporting a Premier League team, and as the man-who-got-my-13yr-old-self-excited was playing for Liverpool, that was the team i chose.
However, my maturity can now be seen in the fact that, 7 years later, Mister Gorgeouschops has just moved to Real Madrid, BUT i am still a staunch Liverpool supporter! There was a moment when i wondered what on earth i was going to do when Mikey boy transferred, and who's muscly little-red-shorts-clad legs would i be watching? But i'm glad i was truly at the level of maturity when i did not merely follow the crowd, but continued my undying support for the underdog/team you've always supported :)
(there was a time when i was tempted to support Man U simply for their constant winning streak, but that got boring after a while, and that was before i switched alleigance to hot-ness rather than ability-to-always-win-ness....
i wish this was an anonymous comment. Im sure youre all going to laugh at me now. I WAS THIRTEEN!!
Yay for not being a sheep!
Sounds like my sister who decides which team will win a game of soccer by judging the best looking team and worst looking keeper. This is a much easier way of deciding a game with out the running around, sweating and puffing. You just line up the two teams sing an anthem then hand out the trophy. I also am a die hard Liverpool fan but unlike The Don it was not because of Owen or his pants. I became a Liverpool fan due to an equally embarrassing situation though - a rather ridiculous text based soccer management game called "One -nil Soccer". That was back in the day when Eric Cantana was still one of very few non-British players in Britian :). From "one-nil" i progressed on to a equally embrassing and addictive game known as "Championship Manager" or effeictionalty as CM. This is my rather shamefull introduction to what has otherwise been a very good expeuirence of supporting LFC. I am even more shamed by the fact that the to considered turning away form LFC but NOT to Manchester, i was briefily a Chelsea fan of which i am not proud.
Heh... In School I supported Man U, merely because the maths teacher supported liverpool. :D
hmm *raises one eyebrow* thats weird.... I was also a Chelsea supporter for a brief period... *spooky music*
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