The ever impartial BBC.

I've always had a bit of a soft spot for the BBC, you can always rely on them to get the facts right. Their policy is to get the news right, not first. They also have a duty to the public to get it spot on. After all we are paying for it. (Well, I'm paying for neighbours and thats about it at the moment, but that's not important.)

Yeah, good old Aunty Beeb, you can always rely on her... To be bigoted and insulting! Oh yes, today people, a newsreader on BBC North West said this priceless line while talking about the Hearts v Gretna match: "There would be quite an upset if a certain team won in Glasgow today."

Now that sounds like blatant opinion to me. So much for being completley impartial. This woman (forgive me I didn't catch her name she isn't important to me) has made an assumption about the people of Glasgow, specifically football fans. Ok, they're not all saints, but the vast majority of football fans in Glasgow are a brilliant bunch. I don't follow football, but as soon as I mention that I'm from Glasgow, people assume I'm a bigoted sectarian and are appalled when I don't swear allegiance to a Glasgow team. (But with a surname like O'Neill, they make their own decision anyway, I don't have much say in the matter.)

There has obviously been some trouble in the past with Celtic and Rangers (I wasn't going to mention them, but I think it's necessary) but they're not even playing today, lets recap on who actually is. Hearts (from Edinburgh if I'm not mistaken) and Gretna, a 2nd division team? Neither are actually from anywhere near Glasgow, this match has absolutley nothing to do with Rangers or Celtic so are we to assume that this narrow minded BBC employee thinks that all football fans in Scotland are the same as the tiny minority of trouble makers that hit the headlines every couple of years? That's certainly what it sounds like.

There are racists and bigots in every walk of life and just for the record, the tartan army are actually among the most peaceful of all supporters. It's been proven in the past that the Scottish football fans, who incidentally come together to support their nation in the world cup or european league (what bigot would support alongside his mortal enemy), are being tarred with the brush of a few. And today has just given people in the North West of England more reason to believe this farce.

So good one BBC, your brilliant employees are broadcasting their bigoted opinion to the entire North West. I'm sure Gretna fans will be delighted to hear that they are terrifying the whole of England with their constant violence and sectarianism. And Hearts fans, travelling to Glasgow, where obviously they're heading to a certain fate, death by an angry mob of Glaswegian football fans gutted that their teams aren't playing today.

I know for a fact that in Glasgow today, cup final day, there are hundreds of fans in pubs watching the football, enjoying the last games of the season, who ever wins there will be celebrations, the atmosphere will be like a festival and everyone will enjoy the day for what it is.

I'm not trying to persuade you otherwise, belive what you like, be terrified of Glasgow if you like, we do sound a bit hard with our scary Trainspotting accents (yeah, that film was actually filmed in Edinburgh, but you can't tell the difference can you) and reputation as knife weilding riot causing extremists who will drink as much as they can just to get kicks from violence. Believe that, it's the stereotype that today, the BBC have reinforced. It means we can all fight each other to a bloody death and no one else will bother us.

xxx