I watched the soccer match between the Glasgow Rangers and Celtic Glasgow yesterday morning with my friend Mark, seen in the photograph on the left. Mark, as you can see, is a big Rangers fan, and the match was pretty exciting. The Rangers had a poor first half but came storming back to finish with a 3-3 tie. Both teams call Glasgow home, and yesterday's game was played at Ibrox Stadium, the Rangers home since 1899. Mark tells me that Celtic fans are not allowed in Ibrox Stadium due to possible violence between the two groups. And I was surprised to learn that the Rangers were formed as a Protestant and Celtic as a Catholic team, and to a large extent fans of the Rangers are Protestant and fans of Celtic Catholic. Much of their bitter rivalry is based on these religious differences. This sounds very much what you might expect in Northern Ireland, and in fact, the migration of both Protestants and Catholics from the North of Ireland to Scotland over the years did bring added religious tension. Growing up on the South Side of Chicago, I think I can speak for all White Sox fans that they wouldn't care if players were aliens from Mars if they could get them back to the playoffs. With a 1-8 win-loss record, I suspect they would even welcome Satanists if it would guarantee victories. In fact, I am sure White Sox management would rent out the CIBC (Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce) fan deck for their Satanic rituals. I definitely think the citizens of Glasgow need to do some major introspection and start thinking like a White Sox fan.
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