Jumbled Words

I’m so sad to see Eduardo leave Arsenal. He used to be this razor sharp player. He used to be somebody people looked at and said “he’s going to become something special”. That is, until he had his leg shattered by Martin Taylor from Birmingham City in 2008. The tackle was so horrendous that Sky didn’t show any repeats (sound familiar?), but if you do a Google search on his full name, Eduardo da Silva, you get a thousand hits of it. This pic was on the THIRD PAGE, because it was all injury time. And no, I’m not putting any of those on my blog because it’s nothing for those of you with a weak stomach. Here’s an example, though.. Only look if you can stomach it, don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Long story short, he was back last season, but his game had changed for the worst. It looked like he was afraid to throw himself into the game, like he avoided tackles at all costs. And sure, it’s not hard to see why, but it was heartbreaking to see. He’s not gotten better, and you could (and I do) say that the injury ruined his career. It robbed him of his touch, his ability to turn quickly and be that precise, amazing football player he once was. And now it’s offical. He’s moving to Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine, which is a big step down.

It’s so sad, and it makes me hate football. It can be amazing and beautiful and the best sport out there, but the ugly sides are so… ugly. I don’t just mean the injuries. The media plays a big part too, especially when they run about proclaiming over and over that “oh, it wasn’t on purpose, he’s not that kind of player”.

Tough shit. When you ruin another players career this way YOU ARE THAT KIND OF PLAYER. It doesn’t matter if you meant it or not. It’s only in sports that “I didn’t mean to” counts as an excuse. The rest of us grew out of it in middle school. And if you want to know why this sort of media coverage is so hurtful, do read Tansy’s old post on it, written right after another player of ours had HIS leg chopped off. (And there’s that theme again!)

So, yes. I’m incredibly sad to see Eduardo go, but once a gooner always a gooner. I’m pretty sure the only exception to that rule is named Ashley Cole.