I have made a momentous decision.

I am no longer a fan of FC Barcelona.

FC Barcelona has announced that tonight, when the Barcelona players run out onto the field, they will carry a banner that says "No to the war." Several of the players, especially the Argentinian crew, have spoken loudly about their anti-American feelings. They have every right to take these actions, though I believe it's a better idea to keep politics and sports separate and think that FC Barcelona has made a very serious mistake in mixing the two. And, of course, I have my right to demonstrate my disapproval of any action FC Barcelona takes. I plan to do so by boycotting the club from now until it makes a public apology, which it is never going to do and especially not on my say-so.

During wartime, when it's a question of loyalty to your country or loyalty to a sports team--and it seems to me like I have to make a choice here, since not only some players as individuals, but the organization as a whole, have come out in opposition to the United States--I'll go with both my home country's government and my adopted country's government rather than just some sports team. That's all FC Barcelona is to me now. Just another club. "Més que un club"? It's just a soccer team. Supported by a bunch of jerks who take their frustrations out on the players more obnoxiously than those of any other club I've seen. They're not particularly violent, they're just pissy. And whiny.

It does not help that the coach, Radomir Antic, despite the professional success he has had, publicly supported Slobodan Milosevic during the Serbian Wars. I had been willing to overlook that until now, as well as the attitudes of some of the players, especially of Bonano and Sorín, reasoning that one does not vet one's workers politically and so their individual actions are not the club's responsibility. But now that the club has openly proclaimed its anti-American status, I will no longer overlook the actions of the coach and the players on the ground that FC Barcelona is openly supporting said individuals' actions and that it, as an organization, is therefore responsible.

So who do I root for now? Ajax Amsterdam, with Ronald Koeman as coach. Koeman is a gentleman and was a fine player known for his intelligence as much as his skill. He was the leader of the great Barcelona teams of the early Nineties when they won four Spanish Leagues in a row and one European Cup. And, get this. During the mayoral elections one year, buffoonish Socialist then-mayor Pasqual Maragall said that he was going to get Koeman to run for City Council on his party's ticket--this was when the Maastricht treaty went into effect and EU nationals could vote and run for office in their adopted city's municipal elections. Koeman responded something like, "First, it's not very professional to say things like that without checking with me first, second, Enrique Lacalle, the PP candidate, is a friend of mine--he even rents me my house--and I'm not going to go against him, and third, in my country, I vote for the conservative party anyway." It was devastating and the talk of the town for a few days.

Also, I will say one thing in favor of defenestrated coach Louis van Gaal. He is well-known for refusing to put up with any sort of racism, which is very common in the world of soccer fans. Van Gaal once pulled his team off the field and took the forfeit when he was in, like, the Belgian league, because his team's own fans were insulting his black players, making monkey noises, and throwing bananas on the field, for the grave sin of playing lousy that day. So we get rid of a guy who is best known, on the issues, for being legitimately anti-racist and putting his money where his mouth is, and we hire a guy who is best-known, on the issues, for backing Slobodan Milosevic. That's progress.

And in the Spanish league? I guess I root for whoever's playing Barcelona.