I am losing my love of football

[dart]

this thread, it's emotional.. .

 

[Bloods]

I'll admit my team is crap, but the problem is with the competition as a whole, the top end of it will always be great at what they do, its just the slide between top and bottom is so great, that the average skills across the competition have slipped.

The biggest problem is that the talent pool from which the clubs draw really isn't any greater now than what it was 15 years ago, but we now have 2 more teams in the competition to spread that talent and that is where the problem lies.

While I agree with that thought process, there has always been a significant gap between the best and the worst. We lost 26 games in a row across 92-93. Brisbane and Richmond won 8 games each over those two seasons. We had Fitzroy etc. after that.

 

[Eaglemaniac]

This.

I go to watch my local side in the WAFL every week and it's brilliant. Good old fashioned, hard football largely devoid of flooding or zoning. The beers are full strength and cheap, the food is edible and well priced, you can listen to quarter time addresses, you can kick a footy on the oval, you can sit on the hill and spread out allowing the kids to play on the grass, you don't have to listen to the immature and lame chanting, and the atmosphere is surprising great during close matches.

Unless its a West Perth game and then you have to listen to that one person constantly screaming long undecipherable noises for the entire game. I'm surprised whoever it is hasnt been asked to quieten down..it sounds terrible on the telecast as well.

 

[footy75]

I have been losing my love of football over a few years but now that the umpires are finally letting it go a bit and not blowing the whistle every time there s the slightest bit of contact i am starting to enjoy it more and more again

 

[possum8]

I have been losing my love of football over a few years but now that the umpires are finally letting it go a bit and not blowing the whistle every time there s the slightest bit of contact i am starting to enjoy it more and more again

Yes i have not come away from a game this year complaining about the umpiring, it is more about how poor my team is playing. I think the game is much better when it is not over regulated by the umpires.

 

[Ancient Tiger]

I have been losing my love of football over a few years but now that the umpires are finally letting it go a bit and not blowing the whistle every time there s the slightest bit of contact i am starting to enjoy it more and more again

True but the maggots always find one or two soft ones when they want to, to ruin the consistency they'd given us all day!

 

[blue healer]

True but the maggots always find one or two soft ones when they want to, to ruin the consistency they'd given us all day!

It's the consistency that's the problem. They consis

Yes i have not come away from a game this year complaining about the umpiring, it is more about how poor my team is playing. I think the game is much better when it is not over regulated by the umpires.

Why is a game over regulated when legitimate free kicks are paid?

I've always accepted that there will be soft or incorrect decisions made. What I won't accept is legitimate frees being missed just because some want to see the whistle thrown away. Too often commentators and fans laud the fact that the umpires swallow the whistle in the last quarter of close games. IMO this is total crap, if a free is a free in the first 3 quarters of a game it should also be a free in the last quarter. People complain that howlers in the last quarter might influence a game, I think a howler is not just a soft free paid, it is just as much a howler to let an obvious one go and this can influence the result just as much as a soft one.

I have never seen as much incorrect disposal in the game as I've seen this year. Throws are the norm rather than the exception. I reckon, if I've got the ball a metre from a team mate, I can throw the ball more accurately and at a friendlier speed than I can handball it. And it's a lay down misere that I will take the throw option first time, every time if I think there's a 90% chance of getting away with it. I have no doubt that players think that way as well. The only way to stop it is to penalise everything that looks like a throw until players get the message that throwing the ball is not a legal disposal. Otherwise "in close handballs" will become a thing of the past, if they're not already.

And when did it become legal to be spun 360 degrees in a tackle and miss with foot or fist only to be called play on?

 

[roosmad]

Most overrated game in history. Hawthorn blew them out of the water. They kept them at arms length all day. Geelong made a late rally but at the time watching it, it was never a possibility they would come back. Hawthorn killed the game when it was hot.

is it school holidays already?

 

[roosmad]

Most overrated game in history. Hawthorn blew them out of the water. They kept them at arms length all day. Geelong made a late rally but at the time watching it, it was never a possibility they would come back. Hawthorn killed the game when it was hot.

some info from the "most overrated game in history....

perfect football day
yeates/brereton centre bounce
ablett first mark/goal
brereton goal after being crunched
hawks first quarter was insane
cats last quarter was awesome
abletts stats 12 kicks,8 marks 9 goals 1
abletts boundary throw in goal
cats outscored hawks in 2,3 and 4th quarters

the margin may have seemed to be 4 to 5 goals but it never felt like that as a neutral supporter....
football the way it should be played.....
inb4 some someone born in the 90's says yeates was a thug, go back and have a look at round six from the same year (brereton flattened yeates)

overrated laughable....

 

[blue healer]

Take your own advice.

BTW would you rather have your club rape girls, rort the system, be bastards for the sake of being grubs..or would you rather watch your club win a flag by devising stragedies and game plans around the players your club slected.

What is it you want? The game is OK i have seen it in worst condition. 1987-88 ring a bell?

To me a lot of older people long for the days or simple things, when you went to the footy, got drunk, yelled racist abuse at the non anglo player in the opposition side, piss in a toilet filled with drunk blokes and over flowing sewage, belt people on the way home after being so drunk and then go home and belt your wife if you lost.

And not even remember the whole game..just random moments.

Yeah the good old ******* days for sure.

This word sums up my view of todays game better than any I can find in Websters.

 

[Lockyer24]

Loving the absence of cheap frees and umps ignoring a lot of KBs rubbish rules.

Don't care about rolling mauls once the ball gets out there's more space to play with.

 

[pinot]

Harden Up. Don't think the game is as good to watch as skilled players have been almost completely phased out by players with UFC mentality that possess little skill. But if AFL turns out to be UFC with a football so be it. I'll love the game no matter what (sorry let me re phrase, I'll love Carlton no matter what)

 

[NarklesHelmet]

some info from the "most overrated game in history....

perfect football day
yeates/brereton centre bounce
ablett first mark/goal
brereton goal after being crunched
hawks first quarter was insane
cats last quarter was awesome
abletts stats 12 kicks,8 marks 9 goals 1
abletts boundary throw in goal
cats outscored hawks in 2,3 and 4th quarters

the margin may have seemed to be 4 to 5 goals but it never felt like that as a neutral supporter....
football the way it should be played.....
inb4 some someone born in the 90's says yeates was a thug, go back and have a look at round six from the same year (brereton flattened yeates)

overrated laughable....

Ha ha, whatever mate, I am a child of the 70s and was at the game, my first ever GF in fact as my old man is a lifelong Cat and I would therefore see a load of Geelong games.

I'll go through them all for you, my answers in bold:

perfect football day : Who cares about the weather when it comes to footy?
yeates/brereton centre bounce : A big hit? So what, it was in the first second of the game. Dermie coming back from it was more impressive, sure, but that this somehow elevates a game?
ablett first mark/goal : Gee, a mark on the lead from a prodigious full-forward (most teams had a spearhead back then, they often kicked the first goal. Big deal.
brereton goal after being crunched : Great goal, one of the most courageous things you will ever see. Does not maketh the "greatest match ever" though
hawks first quarter was insane Dominant, completely finished the game as a contest
cats last quarter was awesome They were always behind the eight ball, were never a serious threat and the margin got closer due to late goals. Only pulled out this quarter when the sting was out of the game due to how violent it was.
abletts stats 12 kicks,8 marks 9 goals 1 : A fantastic forward had a great game. Happened all the time back then.
abletts boundary throw in goal: Great bit of Gazza magic. He was a magician.
cats outscored hawks in 2,3 and 4th quarters: Ha ha, this one is great. The margins were, 40 at quarter time, 37 at half time and 36 at three quarter time. If you did watch a lot of footy back then as you say you did, you will remember that any margin over 5 goals meant game over (unless, maybe, you were Collingwood in a GF ). Comebacks were much rarer back then. It never got under six goals until the game was dead. Coming back from 6 goals down was simply never gonna happen.

the margin may have seemed to be 4 to 5 goals but it never felt like that as a neutral supporter.... Says you. This GF was just another in a long line of GFs that had lopsided contests. Having a team in front by so much during the game until very late fools people a lot into thinking this was a closer game than it was and the mythologising about this game will continue I guess. It was brutal, yes, but having a team in front by 6 goals minimum at every change says all you need to know about it. You just never felt it possible that a team could come back from that back then and this was no exception.

 

[mcuzzy]

Last season I stared to really dislike the sport. It was mostly the poor/inconsistent umpiring and the confusion over rules. Was a real shame because Richmond played quite well for the first time in many years.

This season it has been more enjoyable despite the club's poor form. It's also a breath of fresh air to not have to hear about which new drug the Essendon players are getting jabbed into them.

 

[richcogs]

I am 24 would of been to at least 100 live matches. i used to watch 3 games a week on TV (excessive). I had watched two soccer matches before this season.Well this year I have watched 4 soccer matches and 4 football matches. I am losing complete interest in AFL. I think it may be because of how badlt the Tigers are playing. That Richmond Brisbane game last week has given me nightmares.

 

[Eastern Rangers]

People complain more when their own team isn't playing well that's for sure. But the reality is that the contest has gone from the AFL, clubs either refuse to engage in one on ones by zoning off and protecting space, or they pile players in and around stoppages to get weight of numbers to the ball. Either results in miss matches in numbers.

The competition is for the most part very even, with a few dominant teams. Other clubs are struggling to attain the standard of football required to challenge the very best teams in the comp and i think it comes down to a lack of talent. Not that the talent isn't there for conventional football, rather the style of football is different and few teams have the personnel to play to break through the defensive tactics enacted by every coach in the league today.

I do love some of the contrasts in styles though between strong contested sides and the more talented running/ uncontested sides and where and how they like to win the ball and in what manner they move it forward.

I don't think the evolution of our game is at an end game and i think time rather than rule changes should fix the situation.

 

[Eastern Rangers]

So from talkback i have

1. rolling mauls
2. ticket pricing
3. expansion teams have taken all the talent - middle road team can not bridge the gap.
4. Ross Lyon turning Freo into a contender, so defensive.
5. players throw the ball and drop the ball now and its play on but you can dive on someone and it holding the ball
6. lack of big forwards, wasn't it great to see hawkins yesterday( hawks fans wont agree)
7. rules committee ruining the game
8. interchange cap
9. economy is bad, cutting non essential costs

Neither interchange cap or rule changes resulted in the increased running power which resulted in more players at the stoppages or defenders and forwards pushing up the ground more, which requires them to be lighter and fitter. It was a tactical necessity.

I agree with the throwing the ball and incorrect disposal. Especially the later, it's simply not paid any more and i'm not sure paying it will actually improve the game.

 

[The Blue Baggers]

to avoid packs the umps just need to pay the frees that are there .. starting with incorrect disposal

 

[Klaus]

to avoid packs the umps just need to pay the frees that are there .. starting with incorrect disposal

With the rugby scrum nature of the current game, the umpire simply can't pinpoint when a throw is committed. When you've got 30+ players fighting for the ball in the same spot, the umpire is often blindsided.

It's almost getting to the stage where the umpires need to look at adopting some of the old VFA rules and permitting throws in the game. They should look at reducing the number of players on the field to 16 while they're at it, it would improve the spectacle as there would be more talent on the ground and less congestion.

 

[rose jam]

to avoid packs the umps just need to pay the frees that are there .. starting with incorrect disposal

However that'll slow the game down because teams will start to pack behind the ball even more meaning when you get a free kick you'll likely be forced into sideways chipping more often.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[The Blue Baggers]

However that'll slow the game down because teams will start to pack behind the ball even more meaning when you get a free kick you'll likely be forced into sideways chipping more often.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

alright just let players dispose of the ball anyway they like !

 

[Hot Pocket]

As a tiger supporter, i have always watched a lot of football not involving the tigers. In the last 2 years I have found that i am watching less and less. I am going to the football less and less but going to my local footy more and more.

I have listened to talkback and tried to understand the reason I am not as Interested. My Father In Law is a fanatical Cats supporter, he said he is turning off non Cats games now, he never did before.

So what is going wrong, lets say that there has always been good sides and bad sides, so when good teams play each other the games are good, like the hawks and cats. and lots of bad games, tigers and lions

So from talkback i have

1. rolling mauls
2. ticket pricing
3. expansion teams have taken all the talent - middle road team can not bridge the gap.
4. Ross Lyon turning Freo into a contender, so defensive.
5. players throw the ball and drop the ball now and its play on but you can dive on someone and it holding the ball
6. lack of big forwards, wasn't it great to see hawkins yesterday( hawks fans wont agree)
7. rules committee ruining the game
8. interchange cap
9. economy is bad, cutting non essential costs

So the experts say that the players are more skillful and a lot fitter, and supporters of Port, Hawks and Cats are probably saying there is nothing wrong, but the reality is numbers are down at games and on TV.

What does everybody think.

Economy is bad?

LOL WTF seriously?

 

[greatwhiteshark]

Everyone keeps saying just let the game evolve!
But most of the games evolution over the last 20 years has been manufactured evolution based on rule changes.
The rules had no need to be changed and I think the majority of older footy supporters agree with this. Why didn't they just let the game of Aussie Rules evolve under the rules of Aussie rules football?

No what they did instead was stuff around with rule changes and interpretations on a yearly basis and this is still ongoing and have ended up creating a brand new sport all together.
And now you guys think this was evolution of the sport??

The sport would of still evolved under the rules of the sport in 1990. The players would still be professional, they would still of become fitter, faster, stronger. The coaches would of become better strategists.

They stuffed it up and now they spend their time on a yearly basis trying it fix what they stuffed up. And you guys think this is evolution. It is manufactured evolution. It is not natural evolution.
You can't just say now leave the sport alone and let it breathe and evolve, why didn't they do that in 1990?
The fact remains that the most talked about subject the last 10 years by the media, members and supporters is the state of the game and the rule changes. That is without question!!!!
We once talked about football games and umpiring only. The umpires are even excused now because they instructed to not uphold the laws of the game.
It is one huge mess all because of manufactured evolvement. Natural evolution of the great game of Aussie rules is what was required and it didn't happen.
And here we are now stuck with a hybrid game of Australian Rules Football called AFL.

 

[Fat Snag]

Everyone keeps saying just let the game evolve!
But most of the games evolution over the last 20 years has been manufactured evolution based on rule changes.
The rules had no need to be changed and I think the majority of older footy supporters agree with this. Why didn't they just let the game of Aussie Rules evolve under the rules of Aussie rules football?

No what they did instead was stuff around with rule changes and interpretations on a yearly basis and this is still ongoing and have ended up creating a brand new sport all together.
And now you guys think this was evolution of the sport??

The sport would of still evolved under the rules of the sport in 1990. The players would still be professional, they would still of become fitter, faster, stronger. The coaches would of become better strategists.

They stuffed it up and now they spend their time on a yearly basis trying it fix what they stuffed up. And you guys think this is evolution. It is manufactured evolution. It is not natural evolution.
You can't just say now leave the sport alone and let it breathe and evolve, why didn't they do that in 1990?
The fact remains that the most talked about subject the last 10 years by the media, members and supporters is the state of the game and the rule changes. That is without question!!!!
We once talked about football games and umpiring only. The umpires are even excused now because they instructed to not uphold the laws of the game.
It is one huge mess all because of manufactured evolvement. Natural evolution of the great game of Aussie rules is what was required and it didn't happen.
And here we are now stuck with a hybrid game of Australian Rules Football called AFL.

Agree totally with this post. I am in Victoria and love the game but it is not the game it was.

 

[bradrowe#32]

I'm still in love with the game and am actually watching and enjoying more non-Collingwood games nowadays.