Some nice extrapolations in your reasoning there...
I take issue with mass hysteria, and with people who fall victim to it. Sticking Ferrari logos on your Volvo (or worse, powder-blue Citi Golf) & having your 3-month old in a Ferrari getup isn't cute - it's sad. It shows a susceptibility to indoctrination and an inability to form your own opinions. Schumacher simply isn't all his fans made him out to be. He was the beneficiary of not only a team, but an entire governing body whose sole aim was to ensure that he occupied the top step of the podium Sunday after Sunday after nauseating Sunday. Why? Because the sheeple came in their droves, thus ensuring that uncles Bernie and Max's only worry was to find bigger mattresses to stuff their ever-increasing millions under. It turned the sport into a farce.
Add to that his willingness to simply drive his title rivals off the road in reckless, not to mention unsportsmanlike fashion, and you end up with someone I really couldn't give two hoots about. His antics in '94 should've seen him banned from the following season and his repeat offense in '97 should've carried with it a permanent exclusion from all FIA-sanctioned motorsport. Making a mistake here & there is forgivable - being shown to be not only willing to endanger your fellow competitors, but calculating in your endeavours to do so isn't. Objectively I can and do appreciate his abilities behind the wheel. Subjectively he's an ****** and seeing that the masses are willing to support an ****** is a sad reflection on society and its collective values.
As for Oom Frik who goes to the local mall on a Saturday morning - wearing his slops (Crocs?
), jogging shorts and barely-boep-covering Springbok jersey - on his Klippies-and-biltong run for the afternoon's 'big match'... Well, that's just the epitome of class, isn't it? In both cases the (admittedly stereotypical) fans personify something I actively try to dissociate myself from. For the same reason you won't catch me within 500m of a television showing a single 2010 match, let alone anywhere near a live game...
Take into account, Lancelot, that I am entitled to my view - however skewed it might be in yours. I don't actively force my stance on anyone, but I won't be apologetic about it either. One of my favourite quotes states that 'there is no reality, only perception' - this is mine, deal with it.
Oh, and as for 'trends' - can't be arsed, personally.
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