Pre-FA Cup Dirge!!

FA Cup Fever, Minnows v Giants, Multi-Million pound footballers v bakers, jumpers for goalposts. To be honest until we get knocked out and thats generally tomorrow I hate the FA Cup, I always watched the final until last year when it was contested between Chelski & Manchester United Blacksox. I played cricket instead and I didn't miss it, probably because we lost to a non-league team, probably because we always lose to non-league sides these days.
I think it's mainly because it was those two sides, you watch them week in week out on telly anyway and the fact they were contesting the "greatest" football competition final yet again really got to me.
Where are the Coventry's, Ipswich's, Sunderlands, Southampton's, QPR's to fight for the right in the final? Gone along with the money thats made our game more and more vulgar to a certain extent every year.

I suppose the Manchester United decision along with the FA's to pull out of the 2000 comp was the straw that broke the camel's back really. Not entirely Manchester United's fault I hasten to add but they could of helped themselves in the case by fielding a side of note. The FA really were to blame for that farce.

Maybe I'm getting old but the only game of the FA Cup I used to see were the finals or when we played in them, I remember our trips to Whitby & Macclesfield (non league at the time) and I enjoyed them, now the drop in FA cup attendances is having a wider effect on the game. Stupid prices at times for stupidly timed matches I refer to Watfords trip to Plymouth on a Sunday Night last season, Sunday night? What ever happened to Saturday Afternoons?