No one batted an eyelid the other night when, after Theo Walcott's amazing run to set up Arsenal's equaliser against Liverpool, one TV pundit chose instead to focus on the apparent stupidity of the defender who could have pulled Walcott down to prevent the goal.
A couple of days earlier, one fan each from Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United are assembled on Radio 5 to discuss their team's chances in the Premier League, only to start lobbing wit-free jibes of a level I last heard during a nursery school spat.
No one at United, Chelsea or Manchester City seems to be at all bothered about the dodgy backgrounds of Messrs Glazer, Abramovich or Shinawatra - not while their teams are winning anyway.
Robbie Fowler was widely castigated a few years back for revealing a t-shirt with a message for Liverpool's striking dockers; there's a nervousness among club owners and pundits alike when football and politics start to mix.
For years we were fed the line by much of a shameless that sectarian abuse spat out by Old Firm fans was just working men getting a bit of frustration off their chests - no harm in it, doesn't mean anything.
There's a common link to the above: football is routinely allowed to exist outwith the standards of behaviour, morality and difficult questinos that make up real life.