Not that I’m Unpatriotic, BUT … !

Actually, I’ve just been hit by a horrible thought …

Well …

More of a horrible worry …

I’m assuming, at this point, you’ve noticed I’m a bit of a science fiction fan … ?

Certainly of Dr Who and most of the Star Trek’s that have been floating around.

And Iain M. Banks, I should add.

And … And … And …

Well, I could happily go on, but you get my point, I hope …

So when the four year cycle that leads to football’s World Cup I sigh gently to myself, and start looking forward to when it’s over.

I’ve got to confess, I’m not the biggest sports fan, to be perfectly frank.

Football’s usually the game that get’s my goat.

Well …

That’s maybe being a bit harsh.

Or maybe you had to have my childhood.

You see, my step dad was a rabid footie fan, so you could pretty much guarantee it’d be on, somewhere in the house.

Which I think turned me off to the game.

It certainly didn’t help I got teased about my height, in school: mostly when it came to PE lessons, and getting picked for the football games.

On top of that, I really couldn’t — for the life of me — get the hang of football. Or rugby, come to think of it.

But, in either case, having a ball kicked at you or being chased around by bunch of sweaty 16 year-olds — male ones! — wasn’t exactly my idea of fun. Especially when they were all a foot taller than you.

Obviously left me feeling a bit embittered …

•••••

Embittered, and ultimately, seriously turned off by the game.

Hmmm …

Maybe that’s not the phrase.

Hmmm …

Uninterested, maybe sums it up a little better, I think …

Except when it comes to the FIFA World Cup.

Now, don’t go getting the wrong impression, here.

Good lord, I’m planning to avoid the tournament like the plague!

Which is sort of my issue, really …

You see, the huge increase in choice of TV channels — through either satellite, cable, or the Freeview service — has given us viewers an equally huge range in TV channels to watch.

Some of which are devoted purely to sport.

Some of which aren’t.

There’s whole CHANNELS of science fiction out there … !

At any rate, there’s choice available for those that can afford the investment in the kit, there’s the nearest pub with Sky TV, if you’d like to make a night of it, with your mates.

And — as a happy upside for us non sports-fans — a lot less football on terrestrial and Free-to-air digital TV for the rest of us.

Not that that’s a guarantee of quality, of course.

But the option’s there … !

Which is my point, I think.

The fact that various World Cup games are going to be broadcast on most of the major channels is something I personally regard as an imposition.

Frankly?

I’d feel a lot happier if the whole kit and caboodle had been sold to Sky TV, from the word go.

Because — and this is my next point — of Extra Time.

Extra Time …

Extra Time … and Penalty Shoot-outs!

I really get steamed up about them … !

Because, obviously, either throws the TV schedules out, by miles.

Which is kind of the nub of why I find the World Cup in particular, and these major sporting events in general, such an annoyance.

Oh, don’t get me wrong.

Or think me unpatriotic.

After all, I’m both English and British, and can’t help but wish the England team well.

It would be nice to see the England team get that trophy.

But when a sporting event that I’ve no really time for starts digging into the scheduled time of something I would like to watch … ?

That’s when I start having problems, in all honesty.

Especially — with this years tournament soon to start — when’s there’s definite overlap between the last few episode of series 5 of Dr Who.

I’m just thankful that — so far — so there’s no apparent over-lap.

But God help the BBC — or anyone else — if England get through, and there’s threatening amounts of stoppage time.

☠