Soccer Fans Attemt to Burn American Flag

Associated Press via ESPN ^ | September 22, 2001 | AP

[oldvike]

Club coach disgusted by display

[Associated Press]

EDINBURGH, Scotland -- Fans of the Greek soccer club AEK Athens tried to burn the American flag before the team's match against Scotland club Hibernian, and booed during a moment of silence for the victims of the terrorist attacks in the United States.

"What went on in Athens disgusted me," Hibernian coach Alex McLeish said Saturday. "With what happened last week, innocent people of all nationalities in America, anyone would show respect."

There was a minute's silence at all 77 European games played during the week. But McLeish said that as the players stood in silence to pay their respects in the Athens stadium before Thursday's UEFA Cup game, many AEK fans jeered through the silence and tried to burn the American flag.

"What badly disappointed me was that there was no effort made by anyone, the police included, to do anything about it," McLeish said. "When I first heard all the shouting and jeering, I thought it was their way of doing the minute's silence. Then I was told by someone who said, `Look, they're burning the American flag.'

"I could not believe such anti-American feeling in a European country."

Several hundred fans booed and jeered, and a group set fire to an Israeli flag, while others tried to burn an American flag but couldn't get it to light.

[AmishDude]

I've always wanted to start a thread about this:
Why Soccer is Socialism:

• 10 people run around a field with essentially the same job.
• There is one distinguishable player and he gets blamed if anything goes wrong.
• Most of the effort is an excercise in futility because nothing useful gets accomplished.
• The least of infractions is punished severely.
• Nearly all of the scoring results from a random event (deflection of a corner kick).
• It denies the value of opposable thumbs. Come on, a quadriped could play this game.
• There is no strategy to speak of.
• The skills are easy to master.
• Ties are acceptable and expected

I'll bet a book could be written on the subject.

[ST.LOUIE1]

...to Burn American Flag

Any idiot can burn a piece of cloth.

They can never burn America's spirit.

As the world will soon learn.

Terrorists=toast.

[ValerieUSA]

The problem with empty gestures like a public moment of silence is the open void... and voids will be filled. The Greek flag-burners took advantage of the void. Creating a void is not productive, it is destruction. It would be better to just begin the games without the gesture.

[Alan Ford]

you forgot to say :

*The favorite sport in the world

*When there is a World Cup the the all work on the Planet takes a hold for 30 days and everybody takes a holiday

* The European Champions League is the most profitable and succesfully managed sporting yearly event in the world

*Most of humanity is basicly nutz about the game

[boltfromblue]

No one is forcing you to pray, just allowing a period of silence at an appropriate time for people to pray together, which has a more greater impact for the prayers, as rupert sheldrake's work on morphic resonance tells us.

[BritBulldog]

I couldn't argue with you any more. I think your right. They say you learn something new every day and I've just learned something. Thanks.

[eastsider]

A moment of silence is not a comfort or a help, it is nothing.

I agree that a moment of silence is no substitute for personal comfort or help, or for prayer, whether in private or in fellowship with others of one's faith. Then again, I don't understand the moment of silence to even try to substitute for these things. Rather, I understand the silence to be a public acknowledgment of a public loss. In that sense, I find it apt.

[watcher1]

LOL

Dumb game
Played by dumb people from dumb countries

[boltfromblue]

Perhaps it allows for those who would freely create their own individual prayer thought forms to do so, rather than do a rote prayer used in only a few religions. It is how Quakers pray here, in touch with their consciences.

[ValerieUSA]

*smile* I am an argumentative contrary critter... I hardly know what to say now. God bless you.

[waxhaw]

I lived in Athens for 3 years, '90 - '93. The reason the Greeks couldn't get the flag to burn is because they're incompetent. All the good Greeks left Greece a long time ago and came to the United States... all that's left there now are communists and moslems.

[ValerieUSA]

Keep reading, maybe you'll catch on.....

[rebapiper]

It was the Clintons that made the enemies for us and Bush has got to restore and undo what the Clinton have done. The Clinton's were handing out Billions of our tax dollars everywhere they went. The Clinton would bomb anyone that didn't go along with him, Clinton Slaughter thousands for a diversion during the Impeachment. The Clintons ripped us off so they could make money on high oil and gas prices. The Serbs wanted peace but it wasn't peace Clinton wanted. He couldn't get other countries to cut back on OIL unless he got rid of the Serbs Oil Refineries. He was to bomb Iraqs Oil Refineries but for some reason he pulled back on Iraq. Richardson, and the UN nut that went their were making deals with Saddom. Clinton couldn't even put on a good show with Iraq. Ritter was out to expose the Clinton administration so he had to do something and no better place than Kosovo. The Serbs were being murdered and nobody came to help them but when they fought back, Clinton,Blair and the UN used this hot spot to get rich. I honestly think they are all still raking in the millions. Both Clintons are getting Billions for a book of lies and con games and that nobody will want to read but yet some fool will give them billions for a book not even in the making. I think the Clinton's have a few more surprises in store for us before they release a book.

[Churchillspirit]

The monemt of silence is not intended as a vacuum, but rather an opportunity to pray or reflect.

[Churchillspirit]

Monemt = moment.

[LenS]

Take your isolationist, "anti-globalist" garbage back to Salon and Pavda where it belongs. You can hide like Pat Buchanan during Vietnam, but this time our enemies are attacking us here. It's time for some real US imperialism where we end the long history of a number of very stupid peoples. Greece needs to join Afghanistan and Iraq as US nuclear testing grounds.

NO QUARTER!

[AmishDude]

*When there is a World Cup the the all work on the Planet takes a hold for 30 days and everybody takes a holiday

You are right, I forgot to add that one.

Soccer coach:
OK, I want you guys to go out and kick the ball. You, Johnson you are going to kick the ball and you, Nunez, if you get near the ball -- kick it. Now this is very important, it should go generally toward the other team's goalie. But you can kick backwards if one of our guys is there, just to confuse 'em. And remember, whatever happens, if the other team gets close to you, fall to the ground and grab a body part. I hope I didn't confuse you, but strategy is an important part of this game.

[TKEman]

Me too. These people make me angry.