Dr. Geoff Meek's presentation was very interesting. I have a fairly strong interest for European soccer and Dr. Meek's presentation touched on a couple of "behind the scenes" events such as hooliganism and racism that take place during these soccer matches. Hooligans are those who join "firms" for a certain team and basically they decide to meet and fight to promote their firm and become the best. There are firms for every team which shows how much hooliganism is present. Dr. Meek said how he had personal experiences with these firms of hooligans. He also clarified he was not a direct part of the hooliganism, but he has seen it on various occasions. Dr. Meek talked about his thoughts on hooliganism and stated that it is getting better but it will probably never go away because it is such a big tradition for English soccer teams. I have to agree with him. I believe that hooliganism has become a part of English soccer culture. It makes the English Premier League different from other leagues. While there may be firm in other leagues they are not like the English Premier League. As bad as hooliganism can be, I agree with Dr. Meek that hooliganism is still present and will be present for more time to come.
Dr. Meek's presentation also talked about racism. He touched on the video we watched in class that showed players such as Thierry Henry had bananas thrown at them inferring that they were monkeys. The crowds also contributed to this racism by chanting monkey noises to go with it as well. Dr. Meek explained how vulgar and uncalled for the racism was and I completely agree. Racism should not be present in any place. Dr. Meek felt very strong about how bad racism is. I completely agree. I also believe that there should be something done to stop it. The video explained how racism is being dealt with and venues are taking a stand by forming police squads specifically for prevention of racists acts. This is a very big step to the end of racism in English soccer venues. I hope that racism will continue to diminish.
Like you, I too hope that racism in European soccer will continue to diminish. Katie Grubb also posted an entry on her blog that included a clip on racism that was done by ESPN. It confirmed much of what Dr. Meek discussed as well.
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