Suarez Apologizes for Handshake Refusal... So?

I understand Luis Suarez and the Liverpool club issued a formal apology for Suarez's gesture to refuse shaking Patrice Evra's hand at the beginning of the Man. U. - L'pool match on Saturday.

Big fucking deal!

They're making too much of this, really! I mean, so what if Suarez didn't shake Evra's hand? Was he absolutely required to? These players are supposed to be fierce adversaries; they're not supposed to hug and kiss each other on the pitch. To hell with the handshakes! The last time I checked, it was not the law to shake the hand of everybody with whom you compete. So why do they have to do it in the Premier League?
And why is Suarez vilified for not shaking Evra's hand? After all, Evra's behaviour cost Suarez to miss eight games. I'm sure Suarez did not want to shake Evra's hand because of that reason, not because Suarez is a racist. (If he is a racist, that's too bad, but I can see how a player, any player, would be upset at another player who is the cause for the lengthy suspension of the first said player. Were they supposed to just "kiss and make up", for the sake of appearances?)

Let's not become so sensitive as to forget that sports is a place where competitors try to take each other out of contention, not take out each other.

And one more thing: If Suarez was supposed to apologize for this minor thing, then shouldn't Rio Ferdinand also apologize for his refusal? What was he thinking, that two wrongs make a right?
But, again, I don't think any of those gestures were wrong. It would be gay, as in lame, uncool, stupid, to condemn these players, and really subjective and ridiculous to just condemn one.

Capello No Longer England's Coach

Okay, everybody who stays in touch with English football knows that Capello is out as England manager.

This is not bad for him. No, sir. I'm sure Capello has enough money to not give a crap if he ever coaches again. (And I think he did say he was going to retire after this Euro, too, if I'm not mistaken.)
This is bad for England and for national football in that country.

Capello was undoubtedly the most productive manager the English national team had in a long, long time, and possibly ever if one considers just match statistics. So, I'm sure his replacement for this summer's tournament will not do any better than Capello would have done.

I also don't think Capello's departure is just about Terry's captaincy and nothing else.

I think the FA pressured and annoyed Capello on a lot of things.
Whenever Capello coaches a team, he gets results immediately. With England, not so much.

If you ask me, probably the English federation messed with him, not leaving him to do his job in peace, over these four years, and the Terry issue was just the straw that broke the camel's back.

Why would they unilaterally change his team?

Some people just think they rule everyone else.

Thus, I guess the Italian, who won trophies upon trophies with Real Madrid and AC Milan, among others, finally said "Ah, screw it!"

In conclusion, I know one more team I'm not going to bet on to win Euro 2012!...

Oh, and Wenger apparently weighed in on the controversy, saying Capello's replacement should be an Englishman (- see more here).
Okay, fine, Wenger is entitled to his opinion, but what makes him think he should share it with us? I don't give a crap what Wenger thinks about this whole thing, Capello surely doesn't give a crap, Terry or Redknapp are probably indifferent, too, and I would bet that the FA's opinion is that Wenger should just shut up and mind his own business, also.
I guess being like a demi-god at Arsenal ('cause, otherwise, he more than deserved to be fired, based on his results) made Wenger think it's his place to tell the FA what to do and who to hire, too.
Maybe he should win a trophy or two, first, and make people believe that he knows what he's talking about...

Balotelli Charged by FA

After the encounter between Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur, on Sunday, Mario Balotelli has been charged with violent conduct, by the FA, for striking Scott Parker in the head.

Highlights here.

Parker made a meal of it, of course, by acting as if he had been shot or impaled with something, and it's not at all obvious that Balotelli ever meant to hit him.
After all, Balotelli was backing up, and he couldn't see where exactly to step. It seemed like he was trying to re-gain his balance, too.
Of course, people could say that the second landing of Balotelli's leg was unnatural, a little, but: number 1, sometimes people make unnatural moves when in unnatural positions, and, number 2, that move did not actually appear to hurt Parker; it was the first one that made Parker squirm.

So, even though it wasn't as obvious as what Pepe did to Messi, in the Copa del Rey, last Wednesday, Balotelli now faces a four-match ban.

It kind of makes you wonder: What kind of people are running the FA? And could they be interested in preventing Manchester City from winning the title?
Incidents like that occur more often than the press surrounding this particular one seems to suggest.