Identifying football fans

[Petra Pan]

Yours truly:
> In other words, how would the 
> rescuing Scots know that a fellow 
> Scottish football fan is being 
> attacked if the attacked is Asian in 
> appearance?  I'm assuming that your 
> example is implying that the rescue 
> is prompted by the desire to defend 
> a fellow SCOTTish football fan from 
> the supporters of the rival English 
> team, and not because of anything 
> else.  Heck, in the midst of the 
> melee, how would the Scots and the 
> Anglos know who's friend and who's 
> foe?

David:
> By physical appearance, of course!
> 
> If a fan has a blue face, with a
> white St Andrews cross on it, that 
> is usually understood to imply an
> allegiance to the Scottish team.  
> A white face with a red cross would,
> on the other hand, indicate 
> identification with the English team.

<light dawns>  Can you tell I've never 
been to a British football game?  
Hmm...so face paint may be more than 
for show of support...it's also for 
the convenience of your friends and 
foes in case a rumble breaks out.  <g>  

Out of curiosity, does everyone 
attending the game wear paint?  Sports 
of course is very much warfare 
conducted without deadly intent (well, 
mostly anyway).  I'm under the 
impression that for some fans, 
preparing to go to football games is 
very much akin to preparation for 
battle.  Wait, have I just said 
something obvious?

With paint on, skin color, which is 
one of the key markers for racial 
identification, could become a moot 
point.  Does this render toothless 
the original assertion that common 
cultural identity is of more 
importance than the racial one to 
Scots of Marley's persuasion?

With paint on, you could be 
green-with-purple-polka-dots 
and your fellow team fans would 
still identify with you.  This 
cracks me up on so many different 
levels!  <chortling madly>

David:
> Other indicators for the
> *particularly* observant might include 
> articles of clothing in the team
> colours, flags being waved, etc.
> 
> Finally, there are cultural
> indicators: shouts and gestures of 
> support or opposition, songs sung, and
> so on.

Yes <a-nodding> you're right - such 
markers may not be obvious anywhere else 
but they certainly would be at a football 
game.

Hey, I wonder if football fans jumping 
each other inspired the Skirmish of the 
Magical Mascots at QWC?

Petra chants: "30 - just 30!"
a
n  :)

__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo.
http://search.yahoo.com