Tradition Is No Mask

If tradition were a person or an object,it would rival the Ark of The Covenant,the Shroud of Turin or even the presence of a deity or priest.Not to be touched because of its powerful aura.However,in the world of sport,tradition is not all that immune to ''human'' defects and situations if the aura is not kept as mysterious as it should normally be and yesterday in Argentina,River Plate became the latest example of tradition gone wrong and out of the window.For those who might be too abreast,I'll make it as clear as possible for you.River Plate got relegated from the Argentine elite division and this is not from the league games I played on my Sony Playstation or a big footballing joke.It happened yesterday after they lost their playoff game to Belgrano by 3 goals to 1.This means that 110 years of history,tradition,clout and legacy have been sacrificed on the altar of incompetence just like in so many other cases in world football.West Ham United,Newcastle United,Deportivo La Coruna,Juventus and AS Monaco to mention just a few.
I am never against tradition.In fact,I'm one of its huge followers.Clubs like Liverpool,Real Madrid,AC Milan,Ajax,Boca Juniors,Benfica,Santos,El-Ahly (Egypt) have my eternal respect simply because of what they have given to our beautiful game.They set the standards for modern clubs to follow and that is magnificent.However,tradition can only be tradition when it grows with time, adapts to modernity and adopts contemporary ways of keeping the old brand still powerful.Real Madrid,for instance,have never gone away from their ''traditional'' ways of gathering the best talent around to put on the jersey of the King' club.They had Paco Gente,Puskas and Stefano back then.Now,it's Ronaldo,Kaka,Casillas wearing that kit and they still challenge for everything around.
But when we look at the River Plate case,it tells us of how some have failed to see the wisdom in keeping the brand alive by embedding and growing with the ages.The club that produced Daniel Passarella and blessed us with Ariel Ortega is now grappling with debts of about $19 million (according to the BBC).It looks a paltry sum but that's how huge it looks for a club popularly known as ''The Millionaires''.Alledged stories of gangsters being beneficiaries of transfer fees and a decline in general managerial success are marks that show how low River have sunk.Of course,relegation could have been nature and science's only just rewards for such sins but it tells us all that no big club is too big to go down in this modern era of football.Even my mother's favourite Hearts Of Oak in Ghana who were African Confederations Cup champions just 6 years ago flirted with the drop until late on in the just ended Ghanaian season.Frightening,it may seem but it can happen to any club.All you need to do is mismanage affairs.If your fans don't go on rampage like River Plate fans did yesterday,you'll have the club's ego to rebuild and face the constant reminder that the many years of tradition have gone down the drain under your watch.
Now that the dust has settled in Argentina,let the lesson rise up in the air:tradition is,certainly,no mask.