Opinion Adam Goodes

[dont bowl there]

I think Jetta's reaction was excellent. I would be very proud if Fremantle players go the spear throw at the Eagles cheer squad in a few weeks time. Make the response to race inspired booing as widespread as possible. In fact, it would be great if Suns players this weekend and Cyril the week after do the same thing. Those booing Eagles fans need to understand the shame they have brought on the game.

This isn't a West Coast issue though. I was at North v Syd a month or so ago and it was horrible sitting in the crowd listening to the boos, you could feel the aggression stemming from it. Lets not make this about West Coast fans because it isn't.

Otherwise good post, thanks for the history on the Winmar situation.

 

[Clems Knee]

This isn't a West Coast issue though. I was at North v Syd a month or so ago and it was horrible sitting in the crowd listening to the boos, you could feel the aggression stemming from it. Lets not make this about West Coast fans because it isn't.

I agree with you, to a degree. Garry Lyon claimed that it had been dying down over the last month, and suggested that the Eagles fans brought it back. He's probably correct. In an earlier post I feared that many Freo fans would have done the same thing.

I booed my lungs out at Harvey last year, in the first return game after pinchgate.
It was one of my least enjoyable games. Yes we lost, and Boomer played a great game (ie it didn't work). But the booing created a negative feel on the day. We turned into a Richmond crowd that day. (That's an insult by the way).
I'm not going to boo all game ever again. I'll boo decisions and yell abuse at a player if he does something on the field, but footy is too good a game to waste it being so negative.

 

[Quinz]

I agree with you, to a degree. Garry Lyon claimed that it had been dying down over the last month, and suggested that the Eagles fans brought it back. He's probably correct. In an earlier post I feared that many Freo fans would have done the same thing.

Lyon was correct about one thing, it had been dying down over the last month.

Although that was mostly because of the fixturing I think. Before the game on the weekend Sydney had played three home games, had a bye, and one away game against Brisbane. The last time they had an away game against a decent sized opposition was the Kangaroos in Round 11, when the booing was also quite widespread.

It'll be interesting to see the Geelong response in two weeks. Previous attempts to tell people not to boo Goodes have only made it worse, but the effort seems more concerted this time around to stamp it out.

 

[Frank J Moose]

Out of curiosity, is anyone old enough to remember the reaction to Nicky Winmar's display of pride in his skin colour? I remember the act, and it is now folklore but I can't for the life of me remember Nicky being treated the way Adam Goodes is.

Does that mean we are less tolerant, more racist than we were 20 years ago?

Or did we consider Winmar's protest more "acceptable" than the stand(s) Goodes has taken.

Not being provocative, just interested in other people's views.

I bear no animosity towards Goodes, there have been times when he has done something on the field that has pissed me off, but as others have pointed out nothing like Harvey, Liberatore or a few others I could name. Looking at you "cheap shot" Mitchell.

One big difference. No social media. I dread what the reaction to Winmar would have been if there was.

 

[DudleyDocker]

One big difference. No social media. I dread what the reaction to Winmar would have been if there was.

True, I hadn't considered that. A place for people to be assholes anonymously...

 

[AAACockburn]

One big difference. No social media. I dread what the reaction to Winmar would have been if there was.

Talkback radio would have made the djs ears bleed though.

 

[Frank J Moose]

Talkback radio would have made the djs ears bleed though.

George would have put them in their place!

 

[Freo Big Fella]

"Why don't you like Adam Goodes?" "Because he's a flog" "why's that?" "Cause he's drawing attention to himself and having opinions and making noise and s**t. What about my feels? He can't tell me things about white Australia and that's all history and nothing to do with me.,.and why doesn't he just shut up" Boooo

"FFS Lach, get back to the zoo" - Anon. #sobrave

 

[Purple Jesus]

https://newmatilda.com/2014/11/13/punters-guide-not-getting-defensive-about-adam-goodes-truth-bombs

 

[rodney hoo]

https://newmatilda.com/2014/11/13/punters-guide-not-getting-defensive-about-adam-goodes-truth-bombs

Oh boy, I'm speechless. I'm in my sixties and when I was a lot younger thought they were lazy bludgers but woke up to myself some thirty years ago but articles like this still bring the bad message home. Adam is trying to stick up for his people, good luck to him.

 

[Frank J Moose]

https://newmatilda.com/2014/11/13/punters-guide-not-getting-defensive-about-adam-goodes-truth-bombs

Thank you.
Should be compulsory reading.

 

[E Shed]

Yes, I believe we are. Our society has been moving further and further to the right for a long time now. Our collective racism hides behind 'fear of terrorism' (ergo Muslims in general), but in reality it's more an intolerance of any non-whites. It's horrible.

I was going to write something like this on the mainboard thread but I just don't want to buy into it all, there is too much crap being thrown around.
Without wanting to start a political discussion I put a lot of blame on The Howard and now Abbott government who are prepared to make society an uglier and more distrustful place for the purpose of getting votes from the sort of people that respond to this kind of fear mongering.
The irony is that the lowest common denominator they are appealing to can't see that the Abbotts and Howards of the world have no intention of governing for their benefit, quite the opposite.
As you say, its horrible.

 

[Dockernut]

Lyon was correct about one thing, it had been dying down over the last month.

Although that was mostly because of the fixturing I think. Before the game on the weekend Sydney had played three home games, had a bye, and one away game against Brisbane. The last time they had an away game against a decent sized opposition was the Kangaroos in Round 11, when the booing was also quite widespread.

It'll be interesting to see the Geelong response in two weeks. Previous attempts to tell people not to boo Goodes have only made it worse, but the effort seems more concerted this time around to stamp it out.

So, you don't think the recent spike is attributable to the calibre of fans your club attracts in any way? Interesting.

 

[Sweetback]

I was going to write something like this on the mainboard thread but I just don't want to buy into it all, there is too much crap being thrown around.
Without wanting to start a political discussion I put a lot of blame on The Howard and now Abbott government who are prepared to make society an uglier and more distrustful place for the purpose of getting votes from the sort of people that respond to this kind of fear mongering.
The irony is that the lowest common denominator they are appealing to can't see that the Abbotts and Howards of the world have no intention of governing for their benefit, quite the opposite.
As you say, its horrible.

Yep, this was totally borne from Howard's time and the crucible of xenophobia and ill-feeling that was concocted post 9/11 and which started with the Liberals pandering to the haters stirred up by One Nation in the 90s. It's entrenched in a generation or two now and it's hard to see how it can be undone.

 

[rodney hoo]

I was going to write something like this on the mainboard thread but I just don't want to buy into it all, there is too much crap being thrown around.
Without wanting to start a political discussion I put a lot of blame on The Howard and now Abbott government who are prepared to make society an uglier and more distrustful place for the purpose of getting votes from the sort of people that respond to this kind of fear mongering.
The irony is that the lowest common denominator they are appealing to can't see that the Abbotts and Howards of the world have no intention of governing for their benefit, quite the opposite.
As you say, its horrible.

I don't know your profession and don't need to but you always write so eloquently, well said.

 

[Quinz]

So, you don't think the recent spike is attributable to the calibre of fans your club attracts in any way? Interesting.

That would certainly be a strange position to take. I think there is little inherent difference in fans based on what team they support.

 

[Dockernut]

Yep, this was totally borne from Howard's time and the crucible of xenophobia and ill-feeling that was concocted post 9/11 and which started with the Liberals pandering to the haters stirred up by One Nation in the 90s. It's entrenched in a generation or two now and it's hard to see how it can be undone.

Guys, guys, guys, can we please just keep our sweeping generalisations aimed solely at West Coast fans??

 

[clogged]

That would certainly be a strange position to take. I think there is little inherent difference in fans based on what team they support.

Yours is the only fan base who has an active mega thread on how much they hate their own reigning Brownlow medallist, and actively abused a 21 year old footballer into retiring. Remember what Daniel Kerr's sister said about Tom Swift?

 

[Nickos66]

I find it hard to fathom why anybody would even want to boo, let alone how it's becoming more and more prominent. Wouldn't being branded racist simply by association with the rest of the group mentality be enough to deter most? You might not be racist but continuing on doing it with the rest of the hird certainly paints you as one.

And on another note.. Take race out of it completely for a moment. What possible justification could people have to continue on with something like this each week - to aim and to make a concerted effort to make an individual feel like s**t. It's clearly having a profound effect behind closed doors on his wellbeing and mental health as a human being. Why do a group of bullies taunt an individual more confidently when in a group. There's simply no moral higher ground for people like this, you're kidding yourself if you think otherwise.

 

[clogged]

I find it hard to fathom why anybody would even want to boo, let alone how it's becoming more and more prominent. Wouldn't being branded racist simply by association with the rest of the group mentality be enough to deter most? You might not be racist but continuing on doing it with the rest of the hird certainly paints you as one.

And on another note.. Take race out of it completely for a moment. What possible justification could people have to continue on with something like this each week - to aim and to make a concerted effort to make an individual feel like s**t. It's clearly having a profound effect behind closed doors on his wellbeing and mental health as a human being. Why do a group of bullies taunt an individual more confidently when in a group. There's simply no moral higher ground for people like this, you're kidding yourself if you think otherwise.

Someone on the main board said it just looks like mass bullying.

 

[Quinz]

Yours is the only fan base who has an active mega thread on how much they hate their own reigning Brownlow medallist, and actively abused a 21 year old footballer into retiring. Remember what Daniel Kerr's sister said about Tom Swift?

We're the only team with a reigning Brownlow medallist.

Do you suspect unsavoury people are attracted to the club, or do they start turning once their first membership turns up?

 

[clogged]

We're the only team with a reigning Brownlow medallist.

Do you suspect unsavoury people are attracted to the club, or do they start turning once their first membership turns up?

I think the Eagles fan base is overly represented by the kind of people WA is renowned for producing: insular dimwits.

 

[Sweetback]

I find it hard to fathom why anybody would even want to boo, let alone how it's becoming more and more prominent. Wouldn't being branded racist simply by association with the rest of the group mentality be enough to deter most? You might not be racist but continuing on doing it with the rest of the hird certainly paints you as one.

And on another note.. Take race out of it completely for a moment. What possible justification could people have to continue on with something like this each week - to aim and to make a concerted effort to make an individual feel like s**t. It's clearly having a profound effect behind closed doors on his wellbeing and mental health as a human being. Why do a group of bullies taunt an individual more confidently when in a group. There's simply no moral higher ground for people like this, you're kidding yourself if you think otherwise.

There's a lot of theory around mob mentality, in particular how it manifests in sporting fans, but you can see how it manifests in other things like unions, or the catharsis of carnivals. The appeal of it is that the mob is more powerful than the individual and once the mob gets going then the momentum of the mob is irresistable and the individual is powerless to stop it. The individual may only regret or reflect on his/her actions when it's too late, when they have already been swept up into doing a terrible thing.

 

[Quinz]

I think the Eagles fan base is overly represented by the kind of people WA is renowned for producing: insular dimwits.

To be fair, they took all the seats before beacons of truth like myself managed to snag any.

There is a chunk of fairly average people that go to our games, as a fan-base I don't think that it would be out of proportion with any other side. Might have to consult a Roy Morgan poll to find out for certain.

 

[ImperialPurple]

I was going to write something like this on the mainboard thread but I just don't want to buy into it all, there is too much crap being thrown around.
Without wanting to start a political discussion I put a lot of blame on The Howard and now Abbott government who are prepared to make society an uglier and more distrustful place for the purpose of getting votes from the sort of people that respond to this kind of fear mongering.
The irony is that the lowest common denominator they are appealing to can't see that the Abbotts and Howards of the world have no intention of governing for their benefit, quite the opposite.
As you say, its horrible.

Unfortunately (and I know I am going to sound like a complete intellectual snob here...) it's the rise of the idiocracy. The people that swallow all of this so readily are not able to see that they are being played in order to swallow. It's like in 1984, where Winston believes the only hope in overthrowing the Party lies with the Proles, but the Proles won't (can't) rise up until they become aware, but they won't become aware until they rise up. Catch 22. And then during Winston's 're-education' he asks why the Party does what it does to the people, and he's told, 'why to stay in power of course'. That's all they care about - and even those in the Inner Party are only doing what they do to save their own skins, and have forgotten why they're even there in the first place.

Even Goebbels said that all you need to do to control a people is to provide them with a common enemy, get them scared that this enemy is getting 'more' than they are, promise to protect them from this 'enemy', and you are then able to control the people.

Yep, this was totally borne from Howard's time and the crucible of xenophobia and ill-feeling that was concocted post 9/11 and which started with the Liberals pandering to the haters stirred up by One Nation in the 90s. It's entrenched in a generation or two now and it's hard to see how it can be undone.

Children Overboard was the beginning, then encouraging the rampant 'patriotism' (read 'nationalism') surrounding Australia Day. How many of us here over 35 remember Australia Day as anything more than a barbie in the back yard with some friends / family? None of this ridiculous Aussie flag merch where the more you've got, the more you're proving how much ya f**ken love Straya mate. Pair o' flags flying off ya car windas, ya Aussie flag boardies and "STFU and stop spoilin our day ya f**ken towel heads and whingin blackfellas."

I hate where this country is going. Acceptance and diversity is a long way away from where we are in 2015.