You may remember two days ago I did a post on how the Ottakringer Brauerei brewery in Austria was going to give a lifetime of free beer to whichever player on the sucktastic Austrian squad scored a goal.Well, yesterday Austria's Ivica Vastic made a stoppage time penalty kick against Poland to give his team an unexpected 1-1 tie.
So naturally every party in Austria until Vastic dies is on him, right? Wrong.
In yet another horrible reminder that sports are first and foremost a business, rather than a chance to win free beer for life, the Austrian Football Association canceled Ottakringer Brauerei's offer, claiming that the Austrian national team doesn't need "such type of motivation."
Oh but wait, it really has nothing to with that at all. That's just a convenient white lie to tell the masses. The REAL reason why the Austrian Football Association is rejecting the offer is because they have a sponsorship deal with Stiegl brewery, and they might lose that sponsorship if they let a player take free beer from a competitor. Yes, we can't possibly let an Austrian player drink whatever beer he chooses. You want a non-Stiegl beer? Nein, dummkopf!
God that's classic. And to think some people out there honestly believe that David Stern is telling the truth when he says playoff games aren't fixed for ratings.
Remember everyone, as much as we hate to admit it, sports are a business first. And that won't change anytime soon.
[HT: Fanhouse]
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