"Real" waste of money...for now.

Why do the “little” always revel in the failures of “bigger and powerful”?

According to memory and my (typical) shockingly accurate calculations, nine out of ten casual sports fans will typically root for the underdog during the Super Bowl. The common reason is to see the big, bad favorites fail and to see the team that less people expect to win…WIN.

This same principle applies to all of the “big” sports franchises in the world as well: Yankees, Red Sox, Lakers, etc. These teams are ones that you either love or hate. Most people really could care less who these teams are playing- they just want the "other" team to win.  It is a true rarity to find people who simply feel “eh” about any of those teams. The reason these clubs are vilified are the same reason everyone is fascinated by epic celebrity falls from grace (please see Woods, Tiger; Lohan, Lindsey or Spears, Britney) - MONEY. They have literally tons of it. Most of us do not. Either way, we normal, little folks always seem to be fascinated by these failures, sins or…ahem…indiscretions.

This brings me to Spanish “super club”, Real Madrid. During last summer’s international transfer window, newly appointed Real president, Florentino Perez, spent $340 million to upgrade a roster that had not been living up to the traditional standards expected from Real supporters. Thus four of the world’s best players, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Xabi Alonso and Karim Benzema, were purchased to become the new “Los Galácticos” and lead Real to European glory. Well, yesterday they failed..at least for this year.

French power, Lyon, eliminated Real Madrid in Real’s backyard 2-1 (on aggregate) to advance in the UEFA Champions League. Even though Lyon has won seven consecutive French Ligue 1 trophies, it is still an upset of epic proportions in world soccer. This upset is equally being welcomed by and has fascinated the vast majority of soccer fans across the world. The reason, of course, is the same reason the world simply cannot follow the Tiger Woods saga enough. The “big and powerful” have fallen.

The old adage, “money doesn’t buy happiness”, can definitely be applied to sports. Sports fans see it year in and year out. However, for every 2003 Florida Marlins team, there are ten big money winners- especially in sports without salary caps. Soccer is no different. This obviously is supported by recent history. When you throw enough money at something, championships will be won. The fact that the Yankees and Lakers are the incumbent champions in their respective sports proves that. Other examples of celebrity recovery support this as well (i.e. Britney, Kobe and sooner rather than later- Tiger).

So even though free-spending Real Madrid has been denied European glory this year, enjoy the “little win” now. History dictates that they will spend more and eventually, buy their European trophy soon enough.