Wouldn't it be great if TV coverage of the World Cup was limited to England's games, those of hosts South Africa and of the tournaments 'big guns'.
Then we would be spared the ordeal of having to sit through a match between Bongo Bongoland and the Former Soviet Republic of Bulimia and other meaningless events.
Mike Phelps
Yeovil, Somerset
Thursday, 10 June 2010
Dear Daily Mail
From the letters page of today's Mail:
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ah yes, because not watching a game is not an option
ReplyDeleteHe's right, you know. Maybe it is indeed time to scrap the law that requires everyone to watch every single televised game of football.
ReplyDeleteI just want to sit and weep. It says much about the Daily Mail that it would print this letter.
ReplyDeleteUtterly incredible. Ignorant, racist, small-minded and stupid boxes all ticked in just two short paragraphs.
ReplyDeleteIf ever there was a brief glimpse of what a BNP-supporting Daily Mail reader is, this is it.
Shameful – but sadly not uncommon in England.
I'm a bit concerned that your first two commenters don't seem to have got the point.
ReplyDeleteHint: It's the blatant racism...
I'm afraid the first two posters have missed the point entirely.
ReplyDeleteI too despair that the Mail sees fit to publish such an openly racist letter.
doesn't seem to be in my edition. anyone got a pic?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous (12:26) - Pic http://tweetphoto.com/26477062 from http://twitter.com/uponnothing
ReplyDeletewould like a transcript of the Tunbridge wells letter please!
ReplyDeleteI think the first two commenters almost certainly did get the racism, but were rightly pointing out the ludicrousness of Mike's reference to "the ordeal of having to sit through a match". Earth to Mike: you don't have to watch football matches in which you are not interested.
ReplyDeleteAs I recall, there are 5 African countries participating: South Africa, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Cameroon (sorry if I missed any). Bongo Bongoland is mysteriously absent.
Because Bob asked nicely, here's the letter that follows the one above:
ReplyDeleteI can't understand the popularity of the woman on The One Show on BBC1 each evening. Her accent is almost indecipherable. She is certainly not worth £2,000,000. Lord Reith must be turning in his grave.
Jonathan M Balcon, Tunbridge Wells, Kent
Oh, I forgot Algeria. Sorry Algeria.
ReplyDeleteTerrible.
ReplyDeleteSurely even the semi-literate hacks at the Daily Mail could have corrected the missing apostrophe.
awful. "tournaments" (sic) needs an apostrophe.
ReplyDeleteWhat a bunch of scrotes
ReplyDeleteI am new to this site having found out about it from one of the comments complaining after Richard Littlejohn's column on Mail Online on Tuesday.
ReplyDeleteHow do you find these sites? It's not advertised as far as I know and it makes very interesting reading.
Funny on of those players from "Bongo Bongoland" might be the star of the tournament..and might even end up playing for the best team in Europe... I think the world of football can do with one less "fan-atic".
ReplyDelete"I just want to sit and weep"
ReplyDeleteget a grip, love. mike phelps ain't shedding no tears. pointing out the daily mail's short comings doesn't make you a left wing political commentator or satirist. treat it with the contempt it deserves and get on with your life.
yours, enraged of bongo bongoland.
Do people actually read the letters page in a newspaper? Wow.
ReplyDeleteMakes me want to weep as well. I wouldn't use the Daily Mail as toilet paper.
ReplyDeleteI figured this was a joke - however, it's been picked up by the Guardian and a few other outlets. Googling the fellow reveals he's very active in the comments and blogosphere, and all his opinions are, well, a bit twatish
ReplyDeleteI'm not racist or anything, but I really don't see why I should have to watch black people playing football on the tellybox.
ReplyDeleteThing is, because of the massive England flags covering my windows, I can't find the "change channel" switch on my remote control because it's too dark, and I'm too retarded to operate the light switch. Or kill myself, unfortunately.
Good lord, that's disgraceful.
ReplyDeleteSurely it should be "tournament's".
Aside from the blatant racism and thick-skulled idiocy of "the ordeal of having to sit through", finding humour in 'bulimia' is pretty despicable too. But then, are the Mail any more sympathetic to people suffering from serious eating disorders than they are to foreigners?
ReplyDeleteGah.
David: I hope that's some carefully crafted satire, or at least some good old healthy trolling.
ReplyDeleteTo the 'Anonymous' who posted about finding blogs like these: I think I was first made aware one of them by Twitter, then found others through inter-site linking. I recommend here, Enemies of Reason, Angrymob, Left Outside, Septicicle and Five Chinese Crackers. They are all linked to over on the right -->
Think this is bad? Just wait until the police start banning people from wearing their Bongo Bongoland football shirts in pubs.
ReplyDelete@ David
ReplyDeleteWhen people use terms like "Bongo Bongoland" and "Former Soviet Republic of Bulimia". There's no need, and it's not funny. They're loaded terms, not as offensive as say, 'paki', but the intent is there.
Mr. Understanding's comment is slighlty polemic, agreed, but suggesting someone should "open their mind" is a little arrogant, considering your inability to open your mind to the racist undertones of the letter.
In general, the notion is riduclous anyway, the match between "Bongo Bongoland" and "Other Unfunny Name" could decide England's outcome for instance. And Phelps would appear to want to watch England and the other 'big guns'. As The Guardian reported it, Phelps is basically arguing that there are too many foreigners in the World Cup.
Finally, it's also a blatant example of the Daily Mail's creation of xenophobic agenda, which they do time and time again, from articles, to opinion pieces to choices of letters.
Is Bongo Bongoland actually playing this year? I thought they were beat out of the running by Johnny Foreigner!
ReplyDeleteRegards
Mail Reader Of Engerland
All issues of race aside, it would be nice if each match were only on one channel. I seem to remember during the last world cup that some of the "big guns" were on both the BBC and ITV simultaneously. I'm glad I've got Sky this time around.
ReplyDeleteJesus! Major sense of humour failure all round. I thought the letter was hilarious. It's clearly a bit of fun and not to be taken seriously. Then again, he is from Yeovil.....
ReplyDeleteBlackberries
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for that information.
What's even more impressive is the strapline above the letter
ReplyDeletehttp://images.newstatesman.com/blogs/daily-mail.jpg
Daily Mail readers always end up supporting the referees at a World Cup.
ReplyDeleteSomething to do with an affinity with men in blackshirts.
Bongo Bongoland are not in this year's World Cup, as their entire population have arrived here as illegal immigrants and are currently stealing all our jobs, whilst sponging off the state. They are only ever seen in the streets when demanding that we take our flags down. I feel so outraged about them, I'm about to launch a Facebook Group.
ReplyDeleteI saw this earlier and was trying to decide whether or not it was a piss-take - surely no-one can be that much of a knob, can they? Still, I loved the way that today's Mail, after whinging about how England flags are banned, contains a two-page spread of houses, cars and horses adorned with St George's flags by people who clearly have a wee bit too much time on their hands.
ReplyDeleteI love it when people talk about "do-gooders". What does that even mean? Is trying to do good now somehow bad? Personally, I'm fed up of these do-badders who think nursery rhymes and England flags are banned, meandering through life blissfully unaware that "bongo-Bongoland" might be a teensy bit condescending, pausing only occasionally to froth at the mouth when they see people being "racist against their own country" (I wasn't aware it was possible to be racist against a land mass, but hey-ho...) Big, big fail.
ReplyDeleteBongo Bongoland were my dark horses, but now this blabbermouth's gone and drawn everyone's attention to them...
ReplyDeleteHas the Daily Racist made any comment on the furore over this letter? (I suspect not.)
ReplyDeleteThis is disgusting. He forgot to put a question mark at the end of his first sentence.
ReplyDelete