The Real question: Why is Mourinho a bad loser?

John Leicester of the AP writes of the lack of dignity that he felt Mourinho displayed in the 2-0 defeat of his Real Madrid side by Barcelona.

Sounding like a stuck record by a lovesick crooner, but repellently sour not sweet, Jose Mourinho wailed why, oh, why? In the warped view of Real Madrid's coach, the dice are stacked in Barcelona's favor. "They have got great power. The rest of us have no chance," he said.

And some of Europe's most respected referees — Mourinho rattled off the names of several of them — are seemingly part of some kind of pro-Barca plot.

Well, Jose, here's the real question: Why are you such a bad loser?

There is simply no excuse for it, and UEFA should now make it painfully clear that his hinted-at conspiracy theories, his mutterings of "scandalous goings-on" and suggestion that the European football governing body is cuddly with Madrid's historic rival are unacceptable.

"To win this way must leave a bad taste," the self-decreed "Special One" said acidly of Barcelona's deserved 2-0 Champions League semifinal victory on Wednesday, showing that he's not so special, after all. Or, to be more precise, not a good sport.

Shame, really, because Mourinho is a fine football coach, with a record of trophies and victories that speaks eloquently of his talents for organizing and motivating players, no matter their nationality or the culture he's operating in. In crafting winning teams in four countries — Portugal, England, Italy and Spain — the multilingual Portuguese has proven himself to be the ultimate European. He seems a nice enough guy, too, who will always have friends in the press box by providing an endless diet of controversy and flashes of charm and wit.