The day I offended what was the world’s greatest broadcasting giant | OneFootball

Scott McTominay is a player Newcastle United were said to be thinking of adding to our midfield in recent transfer windows. Based on feedback from readers of The Mag, he would not have been hailed as a great signing.

The consensus was: “Don’t really rate him but if he is good enough for Eddie, I’ll trust the gaffer’s judgment.”

As things turned out, McTominay did leave Old Trafford, heading to Italy rather than Tyneside last August.

Napoli signed him for £25.7m, ending a Man Utd career that had started as a youth player. In his 119 Premier League starts and 67 run-outs off the bench, he scored 19 goals. About one-in-10.

This season in La Liga, his strike-rate is eight from 27 starts and one substitute appearance. Much more impressive. He has also been one of Scotland’s best players.

Those are the games in which I’ve seen him over the past few months, though initially his transformation fooled me. His physical transformation.

McTominay is a “big unit”, reportedly 6ft 3in and 13st 7lb in old money. While his height has not changed since he left north-west England, his appearance has. I would bet a pound to a penny he has lost a fair bit of timber.

“Look at his face,” as football commentator Barry Davies might have said. “Just look at his face!”

This is a sensitive subject for yours truly, because a fat face is the first sign I’ve “let myself go”, to quote the missus.

Clothes and lies can disguise the truth but a spare chin or two are impossible to ignore. McTominay’s face, until this season a bit chubby, now boasts pronounced cheekbones and a Hollywood hero’s jawline. Quite some achievement for a footballer who turned 28 last December.

So that’s the background to my being cancelled by BBC Sport. What a claim to fame.

The Beeb’s online football department ran a story this week on McTominay’s effectiveness for Napoli. The sub-text, of course, is that he is just the sort of all-action, determined midfielder so sadly lacking in his former team. He would certainly have given our powerhouses a bit of competition on Sunday afternoon.

Rather than point out the obvious, as several posters did, I focused on his appearance. The BBC was not happy. My comment broke its rules,.

Here is the email I received today from BBC Sport.

Hello simon ritter

Thank you for recently contributing to the BBC website. Unfortunately, we’ve removed your comment because it broke the house rules

This is the text you wrote: Am I the only football fan who has noticed McTominay’s face has changed shape since he left Man U? No doubt he has lost a lot of weight in the past few months, training and playing with a thoroughly professional bunch of teammates.

Your comment was considered to have broken the following House Rule:

“We reserve the right to fail comments which…

Are considered likely to disrupt, provoke, attack or offend others Are racist, sexist, homophobic, sexually explicit, abusive or otherwise objectionable Contain swear words or other language likely to offend”

Please take a moment to read the house rules, so we don’t have to remove your comments in the future.

If you want to appeal the decision, visit our moderation appeals page.

Please don’t reply to this email, because the address isn’t monitored.

Regards,

BBC Moderation Team

My response?

I will not “appeal the decision”, though I do worry the word “against” also seems to have been banned by the sinister-sounding Moderation Team. The lack of punctuation in the house rule I have allegedly breached is incredibly offensive. Have BBC employees also banned the full-stop? And capital letters on proper nouns?

In effect, I stand accused of the editorial equivalent of “behaviour likely to cause a breach of the peace”. There is no alternative at such times than to quote the wit and wisdom of Oscar Wilde.

Tweaking the philosophy of Aristotle, the Irish playwright pronounced: “Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess.”

Whether I will contribute again to the HYS (Have Your Say) section of BBC Sport stories is a moot point. Rest assured, dear readers, I will continue filing to The Mag, a far more worthy recipient of my self-important, pompous and occasionally amusing thoughts.