Gerard Farek

husband, father, Longhorn and Gooner. retired. Tweet about sports and whatever else interests me.

[Gerard Farek @farekg]

@DougRobersonAJC At least cheap tickets should be available for it.

[Gerard Farek @farekg]

@RGIII I will preface this by saying I’m a Longhorn. Texas doesn’t belong in. But they belong in wwwaaaayyyy before BYU does. BYU lost to the only really good team they played. Twice.

[Henry Winter @henrywinter]

The Adoration of the Maga. A few thoughts. It all felt a step too far by Gianni Infantino. The award of the inaugural Fifa Peace Prize felt more to do with its president’s desire to please powerful politicians as much as Donald Trump’s love of such glitzy, expensive offerings of loyalty last seen in medieval courts.

It felt more about politics than sport, a risky game for Fifa to play whenever it wants to bring a national association into line for perceived interference by government in the future. The Trump trophy weakens Fifa statutes. It also distracted from the real trophy, the World Cup, and the group-stage draw, traditionally a celebration about bringing countries together. Infantino took his eye off the balls.

A football draw designed to work out who plays who and (eventually) where and when is not the time or place for such politics. Infantino wasn’t speaking for the world in bestowing the Peace Prize, as he claimed. So presumptuous. So out of touch. Many probably agree that Trump has been a force for good in geopolitics, some might disagree. Most would probably feel such decisions should be left to experienced experts like the Nobel Committee and, please, can we get on with a football draw.

It’s spectacularly naïve or simply arrogant for Fifa to enter such non-football areas. It feels more and more that this was as much an Infantino initiative as Fifa’s. Infantino was supposed to drain the swamp when he arrived at Fifa in 2016 in the wake of assorted corruption scandals bedevilling the governing body of world football. How fitting that the nadir of Infantino’s propensity for self-aggrandisement as leader of what’s supposed to be a team game came in Washington. It was there that Trump promised to transform politics with his “drain the swamp” rhetoric, also in 2016.

The selfie moment was particularly cringe-worthy. Infantino forgets that football is the star of the show, not a 55-year lawyer. A senior football executive, who’s been at the heart of the English and European game for more than 20 years, messaged me during the drawn-out draw with his verdict on Infantino. “I feel revulsion, anger, shame, disgust – how has our sport been taken over by a Swiss ***** and turned into a total travesty???” He also pointed out that ensuring the leaders of USA, Mexico and Canada each somehow pulled out their own country’s name was not a good look for a draw based on chance.

Great for the cameras, though. Flash, bang, wallop, what a picture of Infantino's priorities. And who gets the next FIFA Peace Prize? And wouldn't Infantino have gained more respect had he used the money for the Trump trophy to subsidise excessive ticket costs? He's lost sight of what should be the real priorities for the leader of football. The game.

It's sad, really. Many sensible people work at Fifa, passionate about the game not their own ego, but it's alarming what happens to the leadership when they take power there. Even the great football manager Arsene Wenger has changed since becoming Chief of Global Football Development at Fifa. He now campaigns for more games, backing the expanded World Cup, which he would have railed against as a widely-admired, free-thinking club manager, fiercely protective of his players' well-being. "I believe that 48 teams is the right number." Arsene, just listen to yourself.

Many fans probably won’t lose much sleep that Wenger dances to Fifa's tune or that Infantino cosies up to Trump, Aramco and co. Some probably think Fifa’s a video game. Most just can’t wait for the football. The game’s about Mbappe and Messi, Haaland and Salah, Kane and Dembele, not Infantino and Trump.

The game’s about the Tartan Army, the brilliant Mexican following, the ever-hopeful English, the mobile carnival of Brazilians and the millions of other fans flocking to venue cities next summer, only a third with tickets. The USA is prepared for the party. I covered USA 94 and you couldn’t really tell there was a tournament on, certainly where I was in Detroit, Chicago and DC. You will this time, also in Canada. Mexico's total immersion was never in doubt given their passion for the game.

Infantino should remember this. He runs a great football organisation, not a political organisation. He needs to re-focus. Fifa is undeniably a force for good in many countries. The Fifa Foundation runs a new community programme that supports 154,924 people in 54 nations. Its new Digital Education Programme works on computer literacy amongst disadvantaged groups, helping them into the workplace. It’s easy to say it’s all about Infantino (Foundation board president), soft power and ensuring he keeps countries onside, voting for him, but the Foundation undeniably changes lives.

Infantino needs to look at his Adoration of the Maga and remember what he should be doing for football: serving it, not himself. #FIFAWorldCup.

[Gerard Farek @farekg]

@MattMcCarthy985 The style of play is why I gave up on NBA years ago. NBA to basketball is like WWE to wrestling. Entertainment, not sport. College basketball, women’s basketball. Those I watch.

[Gerard Farek @farekg]

@ClayTravis The NBA is to basketball what WWE is to wrestling. Entertainment, not sport.

[Gerard Farek @farekg]

@BradleyGloves Okay with interleague play. Since regular season is meaningless now. 40 percent of the teams make the postseason. Awful.

[Gerard Farek @farekg]

@RustyMansell_ I was in left field stands. Right behind bonds.

[Gerard Farek @farekg]

@nut_history I attended the last game at Atlanta Fulton county stadium (game 5 of the 96 series) and the last game at Turner field.

[Gerard Farek @farekg]

@nut_history Jim Northrup.

[Gerard Farek @farekg]

@680TheFan Absolutely. Besides the Smoltz point, I miss the variety of pitchers I watched in the past. Knuckleballs, changeups, change of speed. It was fun to watch all the ways pitchers got hitters out. I love the guys who pitch on guile.

[Gerard Farek @farekg]

@OrtizKicks Yep. DODGERS players, including Kershaw, have admitted over the years that they also cheated in 2017. Clearly, to me, Casparius was tipping pitches. Nothing more sinister. For Orel to throw that out, he’s just being a you know what.

[Gerard Farek @farekg]

@AlexiLalas I’m expecting, not hoping, but expecting the USMNT without its so called stars to play better than they have and win the gold cup. Which I don’t give one sh$# about. I also expect that Pulisic and McKennie will both be injured ahead of World Cup. Same old story.

[Gerard Farek @farekg]

@AlexiLalas Panama is officially our bogey team. Doesn’t matter the coach.

[Gerard Farek @farekg]

@MikeBellATL @AtlantaFalcons That would require someone with an IQ above plant life and any sort of guts in the Falcons front office. Zero for two.

[Gerard Farek @farekg]

@MattBraeuer @SFA_MBB Congrats!!!!! Your dad would be so proud!

[Gerard Farek @farekg]

@BillLikesSports God help us. He wasn’t worth the initial offer. Love the guy. But we have to move on after all these moves. If you want to throw away money, find somebody else.

[Gerard Farek @farekg]

@BNightengale Remove Vizquel and it’s on point.

[Gerard Farek @farekg]

@steakshapiro The wife is from NJ and I’ve learned well. After much exploration, I’ve found there are only two places in dekalb county that make a very good bagel. The general Muir near Emory university and the Bronx bagel buggy in chamblee.

[Gerard Farek @farekg]

@SeanTPendergast Never thought he was worth 6/156. And I love the guy. We have moved on. It’s done. It’s like Braves and freeman. Would’ve been nice but didn’t work out.

[Gerard Farek @farekg]

@steakshapiro I’m with dillingham. I got no idea what targeting is. Sort of like what a catch is in nfl. But I will also say that after watching tons of cfb this season, that’s not been called targeting this season.