I did not see that coming (Musings on the not so beautiful game)

One of my twitter accounts is @eurofutball. It's where I keep up with my favorite team, Chelsea (CFC), my favorite player, Fernando Torres, the British Premier League, and European football in general, what we in NA call soccer.

One twitter account I follow 'sends up' Arsenal's long-time manager, Arsène Wenger,  Wenger knows best, where tweets often include a variation of

• I did not see that coming.

This blog briefly discusses what I did not see coming when following Chelsea fans on Twitter.

First the good stuff. There are many admirable CFC fans on Twitter. By admirable, I mean loyal supporters who support the club, all its players and manager through thick and thin. Moreover, they use language suitable for all, including kids.

Sadly, there are many CFC fans who exude hatred and ridicule to players who do not live up to their expectations and ridicule anyone on twitter who disagrees with them. 

Such fans are typically vulgarians whose favorite words are f*ck and the 'C' word, often combined as 'effing c*nt.'

They do not support the team and all its players, only those who perform well, game in and game out. Score, win, I love you. Otherwise you're a piece of sh*t. This is what I did not see coming. 

From an early age my parents taught me the following:

• Obscenity is lazy. If you disagree with someone, explain why. To resort to name-calling or obscene language means you lack ideas and arguments.

• Sports celebrates the human spirit. It's about having fun and valuing the best in humans. Sports is joyful.

• It's about how you play the game, not about winning. Indeed, in the end, winning is nothing if wins are bought by those with the most money. Winning because of money is okay so long as you know that buying wins is meaningless. 

• Professional sports are just games played by boys and girls lucky enough to extend their childhoods. At best, sports are entertaining diversions from our mundane, real lives. At worst, cut-throat, big businesses that cynically manipulate fans to get their money.

• Competitors deserve respect and should be treated as you would like to be treated. If you trash sports foes, you trash yourself.

From childhood I've followed professional sports like Canadian hockey and the NA version of football, as well as baseball and basketball. 

Only recently have I been able to follow the beautiful game of football, aka soccer.

Immediately, I noticed significant differences in the British Premier League related to fan behavior on Twitter, comments on Youtube videos, and news stories. 

Most experience relates to Chelsea fans but I suspect it also extends to fans of other clubs.

• Extreme obscenity is the norm
• Hatred of opposing teams and players is the norm
• The more successful opponents are, the stronger the hatred
• Trashing your own players and manager is the norm, at least for CFC fans
• Respect for opponents is nonexistent
• Envy of successful teams and players manifests itself as hatred
• Past wrongs reign supreme, are never forgotten
• The 'milk of human kindness' (sympathy, empathy) is nonexistent
• Reflective thinking and thoughtful analysis of human behavior is nonexistent

Sadly, many fans of the beautiful game are ugly human beings. 

Twitter trumps Facebook

Most of my friends and colleagues are on Facebook. I was but am no longer - see 'The Facebook dilemma'.

Not many people I know use Twitter. Not sure why, but here's some guesses:

• Isn't Twitter just a bunch of navel gazers tweeting about what they had for breakfast?
• Already use Facebook and there's a limit to the time I can spend online, let alone on a new learning curve, especially when I don't see the value.

Fascinating, because when I was on Facebook, it soon became apparent that it was a colossal time waster (see earlier blog). Sure, it was neat to see the photos 'friends' took on vacation, and learn the minutia of their lives, but mostly, anything learned was trivial.

Moreover, Facebook is basically selling users to its advertisers. On CBC one morning I heard someone say that when social media sites like FB are free, what they are selling is YOU.

TWITTER'S BENEFITS

In contrast, with Twitter, you learn things of substance and often before they appear elsewhere, providing you follow users worth following. I could discuss how Twitter has been useful in the so-called 'Arab Spring' and similar worldwide phenomena, but I'll keep it personal.

Twitter is a single website I go to daily to keep up with what interests me. It's the equivalent of one-stop shopping.
Some of those I follow on Twitter:

1. CSTM: @CanSocTransMed

• Latest updates on the CSTM website and transfusion medicine in Canada.

2. California Blood Bank Society: @cbbsweb

• The CBBS E-Network Forum is one of the quality places on the Internet to ask transfusion-related questions.

3. Dr. Brian Goldman: @NightShiftMD

• Dr. Goldman, a Toronto ER physician and host of CBC's White Coat, Black Art, tweets about the latest news related to Canada's health care system.

4. Dark.Daily.com: @Dark_Daily

• Robert Michel tweets highlights from the Dark Daily, which provides business and management intelligence for laboratory managers, pathologists and diagnostic executives. Great way to keep up with the business of lab medicine.

5. CBC's 'The National': @CBCTheNational

• Learn what's on the 10 pm hour-long newscast (Best newscast in Canada, hands-down. Sorry to all those who loved Lloyd and now Lisa LaFlamme, but CTV is definitely "news lite".

6. Chelsea football: @chelseafootball and Team Fernando Torres: @TeamNandoTorres

• Passionate about European 'futball' (soccer) and a huge Fernando Torres fan, even though he's having a terrible year.

7. David Pogue: @Pogue

• David is the tech columnist for the NY Times. Following his tweets is an easy way to keep updated on the latest IT advances.

8. Oxford Dictionaries: @OxfordWords

• Love words and language? These tweets will delight.

9. Dan Gardner: @dgardner

• Dan, an Ottawa Citizen columnist, specializes in piercing the nonsense of Canadian politics.

10. Old Strathcona: @oldstrathcona

• I live in the Old Strathcona district of Edmonton and appreciate keeping current with local businesses and events.

11. Rick Mercer: @rickmercer

• Love Rick's tv show and his take on all things Canadian.

FB vs TWITTER

Long ago I learned that I was addicted to information. Twitter provides information worth knowing.

With apologies to buddies on FB, with few exceptions, Facebook does not offer info worth knowing. With FB you can easily spend hours browsing the trivia of your friends' lives and come away with nothing that matters, at least nothing you will remember for more than a couple of minutes. Given our time on this planet is limited, is this time well spent?

HOW TO USE TWITTER

You can create a Twitter account and never post a tweet. Go to Twitter and sign up.

Choose a username that does not reveal your identity. For example, I chose bogeywheels and my spouse and I chose grumblingonions as usernames. Thus our Twitter accounts are @bogeywheels and @grumblingonions.

People know who we are only because we included our websites in Twitter info but you can leave all the info blank and remain anonymous.

Once you have a Twitter account, you can subscribe ('follow') whoever you want. You never have to tweet. But each day you can access your Twitter account and read the tweets of those you follow.

All the valuable information you want in one place. That's the beauty of Twitter. And do not be put off by the 140 character limit. It's a great way for users to learn how to write concisely.