In The News: The Football Effect

How amusing to read that, post England’s embarrassing World Cup 2010 exit, men are flocking to sign up to dating services to occupy themselves.

And even more amusing to see from the same set of surveys that, despite England’s defeat to Germany, the women of England continue to watch the football! I know it’s only a survey, but is it possible we can read something into this information? Well – even if it’s not very scientific – we can only try!

So, if we were to think about this (and possibly take a few liberties whilst we’re about it!) it seems disenchanted men, filled with hope and occupied by the game to the point of distraction in the hype-filled run up, suddenly lose sight of the entire tournament and look to take their attentions to their love lives. And all the while, single ladies continue to watch the remaining games, perhaps entranced by the hunky Spanish forward David Villa or keeping an eye on how Robin Van Persie of Holland gets on.

I guess there’s still something to watch for the girls!

But if you spend some time thinking about the tactic of men who, when faced with the defeat of the national side, suddenly flock to dating sites – then you may start to worry about their state of mind! It’s as though a potential partner is suddenly sought as some kind of compensation for their outright footballing disappointment.

Even if we were to be kind, we might assume that they are merely going through their priorities in terms of their perceived importance. England are out of the World Cup? Ah well – time to turn the attention to the love life and start dating then…

I’d suggest that this is a total misplacing of priorities. It’s not too much to expect that a man might prioritise his love life, the quality and reward it offers, far higher than a sporting competition which, at best, offers the fleeting and only vaguely satisfying thrill of an occasional win.

I’m with the girls on this one. If that’s how the whole thing works, I’ll be watching the football all the way to the final, mainly so I can avoid all the guys on dating sites who are only there to cheer themselves up after being let down by Gerrard, Lampard and all the other England flops!

But who to support?!