Terracing, atmosphere and the Ballack conundrum

[flasher10]

Reading an article on terracing in german football grounds:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/6458843.stm

I came across the following:

"[Professor Gunter]Pilz, from the Institute of Sports Science at Hannover University, told BBC Sport: "Standing is part of German football culture and there is no evidence at all that it is more dangerous than sitting.

"You can't sing and make a good atmosphere when you are sitting. And German fans like to be able to move around during a game. Sometimes fans move around more during the game than some of the players."

Terracing could be the solution to the Ballack stutting around not doing very much (apart from the odd foul) problem.

See, Michael Ballack being the German captain and all round top player in Germany may feel that moving around the pitch too much may be a bit beneath his dignity. Furthermore, i would like to develop this hypothesis a bit further by suggesting that Ballack may have some form of Personal Pitch Movement Quotient (PMMQ) derived from his observation of Mean (as in average) Supporter Movement (MSM) in any stadium that he plays in. The Michael Ballack PMMQ will always be less than the MSM because that is the way that he views the amount of physical effort to put into any given game.

Because all football grounds that he plays here in England are all-seater the MSM is very low, thus resulting in a very low PMMQ for Michael Ballack. So, if we were to allow terracing and therefore more movement in football grounds here in England the MSM would inevitably rise. This should have the knock on effect of raising Michael Ballack's PMMQ - resulting in the lazy bar steward moving round the pitch considerably faster, less strutting, more cantering and maybe on odd occasions me may be blessed in seeing him actually sprint in games of high emotion and drama.

Therefore, the reintroduction of terracing would be a win-win situation all round. More atmosphere, cheaper admission (one can but dream) and more effort from a man that is supposedly on ?130,000 per week.

Conversely, in away games the home team may attempt to reduce Ballack's effectiveness by making the ground all-seater, thereby reducing the MSM. But we should at least see improved performances from the Germany captain at Stamford Bridge.

[SydneyChelsea]

I read this yesterday but i forgot to reply.

The funny thing is there are some people who'd believe it!