The Procrustean bed

(average: 0 out of 5)

Whenever the authorities are in need of manipulating a movement, in particular a rebellious one, it comes as a logical consequence that they will have to follow one of the three following paths; the path of violent suppression, the path of the internal corrosion or the creation of a different core which will speak the same things but in a controlled way. This policy is implemented, as in every other aspect of our society, in the athletic matters of our town / country the past few years.
The conflict between our faithful supporters of our team and anyone else that indicates or expresses any form of establishment, the inherent pride of a PAOK fan and the tameless nature of ours, found valid grounds for growing, not only because of our origins but also due to our intrinsic revolutionary temperament. Having as a base the city which can be easily described as the capital of the poor, and in a regular basis hard done by, north (you see we do not hold the privilege of having a family member that has access to the centers where all the significant decisions are made) and in the castle of Toumba (our stadium) commenced the creation of unconquerable generations. Moreover, when the corresponding success of the triumph team in the 70s was imprinted inside the field, gave the sparkle which was needed for the marching to start. The phenomenon (a true phenomenon…) of PAOK, a movement which is deeply, conscious and mostly diachronically rebellious, that no authority could control nor tame, was confronted with all the previously mentioned ways, but naturally the last one was selected to be the chosen one.

When our team sank to abjection due to debts, after the presence of unscrupulous crooks like Batatoudis and Goumenos, and of course with the coverage (or even the support) of the each time government, the “masters” believed that our supporters would “deflate” and we would remain in peaceful order, mainly because of the poor product promoted by our team and the weariness of our fans from the continuous actions, But it was then when the outmost action of rebellion took place; in just one night, the cliental relationship between the team and the fan was abolished and our supporters moved on and bought thousands of seasonal tickets. Additionally, we made repeated sold outs even though we knew that we could not expect something alluring from our team.

In order for the imminent scenario to be well believed, the need for the creation (or better the reinforcement) of this second core next to us appeared. As a consequence and since the existence of the three “big” teams of Athens did not allow that, our townymates were selected. A selection which was rather more than accidental… The team of the Papanastasiou district which was really alluring to the non – supporters (with the gangster, the crying pussy and others…) had never bothered the system and due to the luck of personal history and personas was very easy to step on it. So, this signalized the start of the plan.

The small towny team, either through its formal carriers or through its mouthpiece (you know…the owners of the fucking dog) started whispering about revolution, initially with a cowardish way and afterwards in a more challenging way. Taken as granted the existence of many radio stations and newspapers, not only in our city but also in Athens (do not forget that these businesses need to have clients – buyers), finally resulted in a “silent bargain” in order for everybody to gain something; the means of propaganda would gain more clients whom they could “suck” their money out and control mentally (because all these media can easily form political and social awareness, in accordance with the beliefs or desires of the interests which they serve). On the other hand the owners of the small towny team of Papanastasiou would gain internal control of the team itself with no oppositions no matter what would happen (relegation to second division, loss of the cup final etc).

It was then when the Procrustean bed was set up.

According to this plan, all the teams of our town had to be presented as equal, not in order to strengthen the size of the other teams but in order to shrink the size of PAOK. And this shrinking had nothing to do with the team itself but it was an effort to hit this unconquered movement. This fascist madness that their main gate spokespeople (yes, the same people whose gate which was occupied by thousands of our fans…hehe – I still remember that game; amazing and unprecedented laughter even though we lost) must have a radio show during highly commercial hours, the constant advertisement of every single stupid thing their president (the dentist..) was talking about but mostly this wisecrack of them that they are the bosses of the city (how ridiculous is that???) are just some examples where we can focus on in order to comprehend their attempt for promoting the worms (aris) and for equalizing all the teams.

The abolition of history, the forgery of numbers, the specific “voices” in the radio stations, certain penholders, and all these who deliberately tried to “allure” the PAOK supporters into a game where we had to prove that history is written not in the way that some people were trying to show; that there is not even a slight comparison between our fans, our history, our dynamics and their ones. Every person, well hidden under his anonymity, but mostly the “directional” ones (people that if you were patient enough you would hear them in all radio programs expressing their disgraceful opinions) is trying to put a small piece into this maestrical puzzle of deceit, of acquired dementia if you prefer.

We, the PAOK fans, the “bad boys” of the Greek society, we need to turn our backs on this scenario. We need to be undressed from the rags that we wear on the Procrustean bed, shake our hands and let them watch us glow. This bed is way too small in order to fit our dreams. We need to keep the revolutionary flag up high but mostly we must put a stop in this infertile radio – contradictions with all these inexistent puppets but also with all these people that will be planted in the forthcoming future. We need to end this mesmerism of our souls so that our eyes and our ears can stop believing what we think we see and hear.

The support toward the administration of Zagorakis for this year (and for all the following years that will be necessary) is a rebellious action/practice which the short sighted PAOK fan will never comprehend. Mostly because he will be too busy trying to convince all the above mentioned puppets that a roller skater is faster than an airplane.

GTGipas (translated by GkaZ4) 25/06/2008