NFR -- Football commentator tells the truth! Film at 11

[HatterDon]

As we all know, the Barclay's Premier League is an international sports marketing franchise designed to bring mega bucks into the pockets of Sky TV. As we all know, those who speak for that franchise are required by law to repeat at least once per televised match that "The Barclay's Premier League is without a doubt the greatest league in world football." They are also, obviously thoroughly washed and rinsed so that any criticism that is given must be given to a player or an official or -- with certain obvious exceptions -- a manager. Owners, however, must be sacrosanct.

So there I am watching Arsenal demolish Wet Spam this past weekend, and the announcing pair [I can't remember their names, sorry] are speculating about Grant leaving and O'Neil coming in and the "color" announcer said something along the lines of this:

"If you fire a manager who you've only hired six months previously, then the failure is not his -- it's yours. West Ham had a manager that the players liked and the fans liked. The team was playing attractive football. The new owners not only fired him but signed a guy that excited exactly nobody. And then they gave him a four-year contract which pretty much everybody in the game thought was ludicrous."

I'm sure I misquoted him shamefully, but it was an amazing moment. I'm sure there have since been several memos pass around between the league and their television overlords and that the color announcer will be asked to restrict his comments on what goes on between the lines. But what a refreshing moment that was.