I'm Still Here

What on earth could have stirred the slumbering Guru and prompted him into action this rain soaked morning?

Football.

I am not a football fan, I will watch the occasional big game but I have a degree of contempt for the influence of money in the game and the lack of sportsmanship often displayed by the overpaid stars.

I'm not judging them all, for example the more I see of David Beckham's charitable work, the more I warm to the man as a decent human being.

The problem is that many of these young men get far too rich, far too young and they just cannot cope with the fame and it leads to all sorts of tabloid stories about extravagant lifestyles and misdemeanours.

Footballer caught speeding - clever barrister will get them off.

Footballer caught cheating on his wife - court orders will keep it off the front page for a while

Footballers biting other players - poor misunderstood lad.

Footballers and drugs/alcohol - you don't understand the pressure!

Footballers complaining about not being respected - get the man a birthday cake!

Footballers playing away - cue the sex tape.


It's all harmless enough I suppose, and who really gets hurt?

Well, sometimes people really do get hurt.



In 2012 Ched Evans was convicted of rape. He served half of his 5 years sentence and was released.

There is an inordinate amount of furore in the media today because he MIGHT be allowed to return to Sheffield United and try and pick up his career.

Frankly, serving such a short sentence for rape seems wrong to me but that's the system we have in this country.

The system also allows that after someone has been convicted and served their sentence they should be rehabilitated enough to rejoin society and fulfil their responsibilities as a law abiding member of that society.

They should find work and support themselves and their families and not become a burden on the state if at all possible.

We don't shun people who have been in prison, if we did what would they all do?

If there was no hope of finding a chance at making a decent life then isn't it more likely they will re-offend?

I'm not saying if Evans didn't play football he would commit further offences but think about this for a minute...how many people working with you or working in places you visit have criminal convictions?

Those who say the victim of Evan's crime will never recover might well be right and it sticks in my throat that he could possibly earn a lot of money for kicking ball about BUT if he was Ched Evans the mechanic or the shelf stacker at Tesco, would there be all this fuss in the media?

I hope he is never allowed to forget his crime, as his victim will never forget, but that should not mean we deny him a chance to live his life within the law.

I'm not defending Evans, I'm defending a system that, although far from perfect, is as good as we can hope for.