The Teeth of the Tiger
So it’s on , no doubt about it . It’s not quite the honest mistakes we are getting treated to this time it’s the overturned mistakes.
After the last couple weeks anyone with half a brain will be able to see Operation Stop Timmy Before 10 is well and truly commenced. Leading the charge on our enemies behalf are the media surprise surprise but the refs and their employers have shown themselves to have quite a bit of skin in the game also.
It’s nothing new that we are under attack and we should have foreseen that certain elements will go all out to stop us hitting a record achievement . What staggers me is how brazen they are about it. They really are throwing it in your face and saying what are you gonna do about it Timmy ?
I’ve just read the horrifying news of Celtic fan blinded in one eye by an attack over the weekend. Unfortunately I have more bad news, it’s only going to get worse.
As we move closer to the 10 the pressure and hatred will increase. What will it take to make people stop and think,,lives being lost ? Shoot, the media would just play it down and paint the person as a rogue.
I dont have the answers . I do have suggestions though .
First and foremost the CSA / AICSC / CT should call a meeting of its members and start discussing boycotts. Even the fact that the discussion is taking place will have some horrified.
Who to boycott ? The obvious answer is cup games but surely the trip to Ibrox must be viewed with some wariness.
Should they convince their members boycotts are in everyone’s long term interests ( and if they don’t then they chose the wrong orator because it’s actually effing true and if you can’t argue against then at the very least abstain from voting and at most change your stance ) then you can use that to promise the next debate is no more season tickets. Now that would see some scrambling.
If they won’t stand up for the fans and act for the good of the game or their fellow fans then the blogs should start calling for boycotts . Most just focus on the sport though and it would need a united effort to make any impact I expect . Probably not then .
Do I expect any of this to happen,,of course not. I believe that many are too wrapped up in the sport and the drama that comes with it to fully focus on the bigger pictures in life. This is intentional .
Karl Marx said sport is the opiate of the masses and it is designed to distract . It does distract indeed and when the season is playing out there is always some angle or drama that is being trumpeted until the next game begins . Mac Gregor and the crush are the current talking points not reform .
I don’t see much appetite for change at all and I will put that down to the fact we are top dogs right now but that is a very short term view and we would be better served acting to clean up the game from a position of strength .
That could change though , one spark can light the strongest furnace . There’s always a tipping point . Celts for Change happened before and can happen again. Be a lot easier this time with social media actually although that same social media would certainly be used against us and specifically to tar those who are calling for action. Their address being leaked is common . Many weight up the personal cost and decide not worth the hassle . Its an old trick but very effective.
Can be counteracted easy though , the privileged can afford private security measures the working class cant and as a matter of fact the world is so interconnected that the ability to instantly communicate has negated a lot of the need for physically being there . You can’t hit what you can’t see being the point.
Any high profile fans in the public eye can expect a personal and professional backlash should they tackle the establishment and like I say many shirk at that . Not blaming them.
Not all doom and gloom though there is some good news.
We have never been defeated and while our cause is just will not be. Many many times in history our ancestors were forced to stand up for themselves and we are here today because of those acts and we sing songs of those very acts in rebellion at authority. We can and do draw inspiration from the past . They might be gone but their actions still echo .
The support have never been so educated , so affluent , so worldwide , and as connected as we are. No one anywhere is pulling the wool over our eyes and playing us for fools ever again . Actually the roles have reversed now . We are smarter than them now . There are more of us . We can see through their acts in seconds, smoke and mirrors isn’t cutting it no more . We know their moves, seen them all before . We have our media and know yours is corrupt and is slowly dying on its feet helped by their lies and agenda. This time we are in better shape than them .
The fools push and prod but the tiger has teeth and perhaps it’s time they found that out.
Mahe the Madman
sentinelcelts@gmail.com @sentinelcelts
I don’t think Karl actually said that. But there are some interesting writings on Marx and Sport, e.g., T.R. young’s ‘The Sociology of Sport: Structural Marxist and Cultural Marxist Apptoaches’. Here is the abstract:
A Marxian theory of sport has two major dimensions: a political economy in which one weighs the degree to which sports serve the accumulation problems of advanced monopoly capital and a cultural-Marxist dimension in which one examines the ways in which sports solve the problems of legitimacy and help produce alienated consciousness in self and society. This article provides insight in both uses to which commodity sports are put. In brief, advanced monopoly capitalism uses the advertising industry to colonize desire and myth in sports as an envelope in which to insert commercial messages. The human desire for good and enlivening social relations is transferred to the lifeless commodity. A better use of sports is to locate desire within community and interpersonal concerns rather than profit and false solidarity. A radical research agenda is summarized in the last section.
Great piece & comment by Mike.
My reply is simple – the Ibrox support & their cheerleaders in the media were almost ecstatic that the score was only 1-0 last Sunday, believing that although completely outplayed, they could/should have had a draw.
This is, and has always been, their win at ANY cost and under ANY circumstances attitude- no thought is given to the standard of performance from the club, either on the field of play, or off it.
So we are right to ‘flag up’ the real possibility of social unrest should the tenth title look like materialising.
This is a question that I could never have contemplated asking until the events of the last couple of months – Will the officers of our club do all in their power to bring about the ten titles, or, will they squander it in the name of ‘peace’?
I am not paranoid, but the repeated failure to strengthen the squad from a position of financial strength, perplexes and intrigues me.
Is the clubs social conscience about to serrepticially undermine Celtic?
The Green Brigade’s antics and support for matters of (their) conscience damage Celtic financially and yet they profess to be the essence of the fan base.
Gold,,
“ This is a question that I could never have contemplated asking until the events of the last couple of months – Will the officers of our club do all in their power to bring about the ten titles, or, will they squander it in the name of ‘peace’? “
That is a question indeed but my first thought was that’s illegal as you have deliberately cost your shareholders money and although I don’t trust the suits at all I doubt they would play professional russian roulette over Scottish football. I could be wrong of course and nothing , well almost nothing , surprises me at all of any aspect of the “ beautiful “ game anymore.
The one thing I believe that is unethical is infact PL’s bonus. Im not saying he shouldn’t get one . What I am saying is if his bonus is predicated on the current bank balance and also he is tasked with spending that balance as part of his duties,,then thats a conflict of interest . If he is to continue with a foot in both worlds then a set bonus irrespective of current bank balance would sit a lot easier with me. I must admit I wouldn’t want to be in that situation myself .
Like yourself it seems I do believe things will worsen the closer to the 10 we get and the next rung on their ladder is taking lives . Its no longer a sport . Its just another brick in the wall.
Hail Hail
Mike I lost my huge reply to the vastness of cyberspace ! Turns out I need to log out to post ? Great comment and thanks. Chomsky ” Sport is the opiate of the masses ” . Many have echoed his sentiments . I see it now Im free of the hype. The Nfl is an advertisers dream ffs,,,ad every 15 seconds or so. The GAA still for the most part is athletcism and skill , not hype and marketing . When I want a sports fix it usually works.
Hail Hail
It was indeed Mr. Chomsky. One of my two favourite writers/thinkers… along with Derrida. I have a pretty good sense of what old Noam would have made of Scottish football… wonder what Derrida would have made of it all.
I thought Rudolph Steiner said that football was the opium of the masses
Anyways, how bad are scotland, feel for the Celtic players right enough.
I know Marx said religion is the opiate of the masses . I might be wrong but thought it was chomsky obviouslty. It seems early for an international break,,only what 4 games in or so ? Give the Aek manager the Scotland job! He’s only on a two year deal I believe with Aek. And by the way Aek got liquidated and refused to return to the top league immediately after it even though their governing body and clubs themselves were going to push it through . They chose to start at the bottom, all players contracts were void, they were released and they started again with brand new people. Nice !!!
Hail Hail