You Decide What Happened

By: Matt | December 30th, 2008

Depending on your perspective, your reaction to this weekend’s KJH love-fest could have been one of adulation and adoration, of hero-worship and veneration of the next great saint. Or it could have been the closest thing to a funeral for Ajax’s ambitions that will be held under the guidance of the club’s top brass. Since the situation is so fickle, I am going to write two blurbs. You can pick which one you want to read and post on your refrigerator. You can even tell me about it. But, if you have been reading this blog, you know which one will get my most coveted magnet.

…This weekend, at the Amsterdam ArenA, the wild fans of Ajax bid a fond farewell to their captain, Klass-Jan Huntelaar. For several seasons, KJH has scored important goals at a remarkable rate for the club nearest to his heart. His stay in Amsterdam was longer than most had expected because of his love for Ajax and all it stands for. While several giants of Europe came calling, KJH insisted on remaining under the tutelage of Marco van Basten, so that the torch of great Dutch strikers might be passed properly. Now, KJH moves on to Real Madrid in what may be Ruud van Nistlerooy’s ultimate season, another signal of KJH’s high ambitions, prodigious talent, and future successes. Ajax wishes him well and hopes he can win trophies and cups at such a storied club.

(pardon me while I mop up the vomit from my keyboard)

…Last weekend in Amsterdam the club officially divorced itself from the glories of its past and buried its hopes for the future. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, despite wearing the captain’s armband, decided to leave for Madrid, where his place on the Champion’s League squad is not even ensured. The club’s response was to throw a party for this abdicator. The necessity for banners and signs and confetti was clear due to the lack of trophies and cups KJH won during his (short) stay at Ajax. Rather than simply recognizing that this is a good piece of business (selling a player who intends to leave when his contract is up), Ajax decided to prematurely and without merit place KJH alongside the club’s pantheon of legends, all of whom, incidentally, actually won the eredivisie at the least. Rather than recognizing that KJH was never one of our own despite our efforts to adopt the PSV-trainee, Ajax pandered to a want-away in hopes that he will choose Amsterdam for his retirement home (rather than Heerenveen or Eindhoven).

In other news, Ajax crushed ADO Den Haag 3-0. Cvitanich scored the hat trick. The king is dead, long live the king.