British Soccer Fans Same Batch of Wimps As American Fans

We are reminded of the late, lamented comic Mitch Hedberg's explanation for why he didn't protest anything; "I'm against picketing, but I don't know how to show it." Manchester United fans have been talking a tough game for months about how they would boycott the team because of Malcolm Glazer's impending purchase of the squad. Sure, they were all pissy on the surface, saying they'd stop rooting for the team because Glazer, like every other American, really, doesn't give a crap about soccer. But in the team's first game since his bid yesterday, ManU fans bent over and took it like every other fan on the planet, cheering the team on in a 2-1 victory. Glazer, who as an NFL owner knows a good investment based on smacking fans around when he sees it, doesn't plan on attending any of the team's games and, like the rest of us, probably doesn't quite understand why a sport would be so perverse as to not let you use your hands. The "boycott" seems to have fizzled before it started. "I am not going to jump on the bandwagon of hatred and say this is disastrous for the club," said one fan. "We should wait and see." As Bobby Knight once said, if you just relax and accept it as inevitable, maybe you can enjoy it.

Fans Show Modest Anger at Glazer (Washington Post) Glazer Seizes Control of Manchester United (Forbes)