You Can't Make This Stuff Up

The old saying in show business is that there is no such thing as bad publicity. There are some owners of sports teams that would also share that same sentiment, like Dallas Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones. In the world of European Futbol, the big teams like Manchester United, AC Milan and FC Barcelona are used to drama and bad pub. It usually gets a shrug of the shoulders by their fans and makes for some interesting reading in a sports daily while enjoying a cup of coffee or a pint. I would venture to guess that a team that aspires to earn promotion from El Infierno to La Liga would rather do without any team drama. Unfortunately for Xerez CD, what happened last week has landed them in the papers for something other than their play.

In the very early hours of last Wednesday morning, "la madrugada" as they say in Spain, gunshots were fired in a brothel in the sleepy Andalusian town. That news alone probably would have made the local paper somewhere in the back pages. But when police were called to the scene and realized who was actually there and had allegedly been involved, the story got much more interesting. Xerez President Joaquin Bilbao and his personal chauffeur (nice!) were led away in handcuffs after firing gunshots in the brothel which fortunately did not harm anyone but did end the decoration life of several pieces of crystal hanging in the brothel. Reportedly, Bilbao and his chauffeur got into an argument with some other patrons. Evidently some punches being thrown. Judging the the photo above, Bilbao bore the brunt of one of those blows. Bilbao then left the brothel saying he would be back for 'revenge'. This meant retrieving his gun and proceeding to show his aggressors a lesson and blasted away on a chandelier.

Once the news broke, Bilbao had no other choice but to resign his post as President of Xerez. For Xerez coach Esteban Vigo this was pretty much the last thing he needed to happen as his team had been in a mini-slump picking up only two points in their last three games. For a team that has never gained promotion to La Liga, a distraction like the club president getting arrested for firing his gun in a seedy brothel is not particularly welcomed. To Vigo's credit, the club went out and beat Las Palmas on Gran Canaria with a late second half goal. This tempered worries for now that a repeat of the 2001-2002 season would not happen. That was the year Xerez was looking good for promotion only to secure a meager four points in their last eight games and fall way out of contention. Will Xerez be able to hang on despite all of the club distractions? That is one of the biggest questions heading into the final months of El Infierno.


As for the games, a HUGE match this weekend between Zaragoza and Xerez at the Estadio Chapin. I can't help but think one of the Xerez supporters will be hanging some clever banner mentioning Bilbao. For you Jozy Altidore fans, another week of him not wearing a Xerez uniform and it won't happen again this weekend as Jozy has been called by US Coach Bob Bradley for this week's World Cup qualifiers.

Resultados - Jornada 29

Albacete - Huesca 0-2
Rayo - Gimnastic 3-2
R. Sociedad - Girona 2-0
Salamanca - Tenerife 1-2
Zaragoza - Sevilla At. 4-0
Las Palmas - Xerez 2-3
Levante - Castellon 3-1
Elche - Hercules 2-2
Murcia - Alaves 1-0
Córdoba - Eibar 1-1
Alicante - Celta 2-2

Clasificacion

1. Xerez - 54
2. Tenerife - 52
3. Hércules - 50
4. Rayo - 49
5. Zaragoza - 48
6. R. Sociedad - 45
7. Castellón - 44
8. Salamanca - 44
9. Huesca - 43
10. Levante - 43
11. Gimnástic - 38
12. Girona - 38
13. Murcia - 38
14. Elche - 36
15. Albacete - 36
16. Celta - 35
17. Córdoba - 33
18. Las Palmas - 32
19. Alavés - 31
20. Eibar - 28
21. Alicante - 24
22. Sevilla At - 11