The competition for the Villain of the Year was a two-villain race. In the end, it came down to which of the two individuals had a bigger pan-Canadian impact, which is why the worthy second place finisher has to settle for the runner-up spot.
However, his strong regional appeal has forced us to also recognize the silver medal winner in the Villain of the Year category …
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
Paul Mariner.
HOOFBALL! SHORTS!! OBSCENE GESTURES!!!
In Toronto there is no greater villain than Mariner. Amongst his many detractors he is blamed for pretty much everything wrong with Toronro FC (and that’s a long list). The act of simply not blaming Mariner for something is viewed as supporting him and runs the risk of getting you shouted down.
He’s said to be tactically inflexible and outdated, to be ruining the TFC Academy by moving it away from the Ajax-influenced system set-up by Aron Winter, of hating fans and challenging them to fist fights, manipulating Winter’s firing to his own advantage, squeezing out Canadian players and for the lack of a white Christmas in Toronto.
He also, indisputably, lost a lot of football games. That, more than any other thing, is the biggest factor in the hatred directed at him.
But, as many non-Torontonians like to point out, Toronto is not Canada and Mariner isn’t viewed in the same way outside of the 416 area code.
However, everyone from coast to coast to coast of this peaceful and loving nation wanted to string Christina Pedersen up by her ankles and let the wolves eat her following the Olympic semi-final against the United States.
And, you’re right…I might be understating the hatred Canadians had for her.
The Norwegian referee is a swear word in Canada still. In the long and infamous history of crap calls that go against Canada, Peterson’s u-5 worthy, 6-second violation call tops the list. And, that’s even if the US had not scored off a penalty that came off another borderline call she made off the free kick that shouldn’t have been given in the first place.
Good, God how does a referee at the bloody Olympics make that call???
Sorry, lost my ability to be objective for a moment there. Pedersen did that to everyone in 2012.
Hell, she’s even more hated than Paul Mariner. And, that's saying something.