Play Nice James Hird rushed to hospital - suspected overdose

[The_Wookie]

I'm not sure this is the right place for this conversation

Its not.

Folks I have awakend from my sleep to see yet another Hird thread degenerate into HTB style discussions we really dont want. Im closing this thread pending further developments.

On behalf of most of us - if not all - we wish Hird a safe and speedy recovery.

Thanks for your time, and enjoy your weekend,

 

[The_Wookie]

Now good folks, we're going to take another crack at this today, and see how we go in the interests of fair discussion. If you have issues please use the report function. If you have concerns about moderation, please email support@bigfooty.com or contact an admin/supermod where applicable.

I stress this much - its a sensitive matter and should be treated as such. If we can keep the bickering to a minimum that would be fantastic.

Remember general media criticsm should be posted to the fourth estate, general saga discussion should be posted to the ASADA boards.

 

[Frank Bunn]

Now good folks, we're going to take another crack at this today, and see how we go in the interests of fair discussion. If you have issues please use the report function. If you have concerns about moderation, please email support@bigfooty.com or contact an admin/supermod where applicable.

I stress this much - its a sensitive matter and should be treated as such. If we can keep the bickering to a minimum that would be fantastic.

Remember general media criticsm should be posted to the fourth estate, general saga discussion should be posted to the ASADA boards.

I understand where you are coming from. At this stage there's probably not much that can be said apart from general statements wishing for his well being.

 

[BF Tiger]

Many have played a part in bringing James to this point, including James himself. We'll all have different opinions on how that pie should be divided. Personally I think JH bears quite a bit of it but nonetheless I am saddened to hear that his mental health has ebbed so low. I wish him a good recovery with all the support he needs, but I hope he remains on the outer of our game for some time yet.

 

[Brighton_Diggins]

I think Hird just needs to be left alone. He's stepped aside from footy. What more can we ask of him?
Needs time and space to recover and get himself sorted. Football hero or villain he's only human.

As for these gutter journos. Check out the Amanda Knox Doco on Netflix. The British journo Nick Pisa
encapsulates the journo 'story at whatever cost' to a tee. Absolute soulless wretch with no sympathy or regard
for those involved. Within 5 mins you'll wanna punch ths guy in the face.

 

[The_Wookie]

THE AFL has been slammed for its silence on James Hird’s drug overdose.

The league declined to comment on Hird’s hospitalisation despite on Saturday being accused of years of bullying by the ex-Essendon coach’s former lawyer.

The AFL said that it “would not be commenting publicly” on Hird.

Former St Kilda coach Grant Thomas has sensationally lambasted the league for being “notably absent” in the days following the former Bombers coach and 1996 Brownlow medallist’s hospitalisation, claiming executives are too “busy”.

He also hinted that he had been allegedly blocked from a media role by the AFL.

“I like the way the AFL have come out with a statement of support and concern for James — NOT! Notably absent,” Thomas wrote yesterday.

“Time for the AFL to provide some very factual, truthful ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers to some simple questions that remain unanswered. Brand is secondary.

“There is one reason AFL has not commented, one reason alone; it’s called hypocrisy. They are perplexed about supporting a guy they nailed to cross.

“Polo, couta boat racing, wineries, horse racing, cricket, tennis — there is plenty on to keep the execs busy.”

Hird remains under care in a specialist mental health treatment centre after being treated for a drug overdose at the Cabrini Hospital on Wednesday night.

Former Essendon chairman Paul Little said that he had privately contacted Hird, but did not wish to make further comment.


Former teammates have also indicated that they will not be speaking publicly about Hird.

Thomas, who coached the Saints between 2001 and the end of 2006, has not held a role at a club since he left St Kilda but has featured in various media roles.

He was employed by sports radio station SEN in 2009 but parted ways with the station in May of that year.

It was suggested at the time that he was let go due to his criticisms of the league.

The Herald Sun reported on Saturday that Hird had been told incorrectly — according to the AFL and SEN — that the league had blocked a move by the radio station to recruit him for its AFL broadcasts.

“AFL flatly deny any involvement in blocking Hird’s return to media at SEN,” Thomas wrote.

“I seem to remember that exact scenario happening before?.”

Hird’s former lawyer Steven Amendola declared that the former Essendon coach has been a victim of years of bullying at the hands of the league.

“They (the AFL) have relentlessly trashed his reputation and misrepresented the facts and the context,” Amendola told yesterday’s Herald Sun.

“I hope they are satisfied now, but it should hardly be surprising — even for someone with mental health and strong as James’s — that this has happened.

“They have to bear some responsibility for it.”

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/a...d/news-story/ebe7e7e9a7e30f3e4420690c82dfa8c3

 

[Bombfire]

James Hird's suspected overdose the latest sad chapter in Essendon doping saga
OPINION
TRACEY HOLMES
SUN JAN 08 06:36:36 EST 2017

To his critics, nothing James Hird says or does will ever be enough.

Almost a year ago the former Essendon coach, and before that, star player, opened a window on the guilt he felt for his role in Australia's longest running, and most publicised, sports doping scandal.

"I should have known more, I should've done more … I feel extremely guilty for that and bad for that and I can only apologise," he said.

Hird was speaking in front of a live audience at The Ethics Centre in Sydney, in an interview broadcast on ABC News24 and ABC NewsRadio, conceding that he had failed those closest to him — the players.

"I made a promise to Jobe Watson and the other players in 2010 … that I would create an environment for them where they could be the best possible athletes they could be, that they could achieve their dreams individually and that they could win premierships," he said.

"Quite obviously that environment hasn't occurred and for that I feel that they should feel let down by me, and I feel I have let them down."

But there were those who wanted more — a public prosecution, an interrogation with an admission that he lied and cheated throughout and he knew his players were being given banned substances.

It was an admission Hird could not give, one that investigators have never been able to prove.

Hird's penalties were not for anti-doping infractions, but for governance issues — a failure to adequately document the supplement program.

Some close to Hird say he is guilty of naivety, but an unforgiving and incredulous media has always suspected his guilt runs deeper.

Yet Australia's anti doping authority, ASADA, has never prosecuted Hird for doping offences. Its focus has always been on sports scientist Stephen Dank.

After his initial interview the sports doping police showed no further interest in Hird.

Dank was asked to show cause on a number of infractions, as were the players.

The players were cleared of their infractions by the AFL's anti-doping tribunal only to have the World Anti Doping Authority, WADA, appeal that decision.

WADA never called for Hird's role to be revisited, yet the suspicion lingers; the media scrutiny has never subsided.

Sections of the media have prosecuted this story more than reported it.

This week, Hird's hospitalisation for a suspected overdose shows the toll it has taken.

Interestingly, many of the critics who had cast Hird as the sport's ultimate villain, have been remarkably quiet.

Football fans may want to move on, but the scandal lingers. The players involved have either retired or are back in training for a new season, still carrying the burden of the four year struggle to prove their innocence.

Now this.

In a return to what has become a familiar scene since 2013, there are media crews camped on the Hird lawn. Think about that.


Inside the house are four children. The eldest has just finished year 12. For most of her teenage years she has not been able to look out the window and imagine, like other teenagers, what life has in store.

She has been shuttered from a world she must see as one of judgment made by those who could not possibly know.

The youngest knows nothing else. All the memories of his short life are of strange people with cameras and microphones parked out the front of his house like garden gnomes that speak.

As a father, James Hird has watched his family endure a malicious whispering campaign against him, slurs and hurtful unfounded rumours. His children cannot ignore the playground taunts about their father.

The 34 players — some who idolised James — feel let down. Some blame Hird, their playing hero, for not protecting them. They had put their faith in his hands.

How could he not know what was happening? That question must haunt James Hird still.

Friendships have been lost; others are strained.

Feeling guilty and apologising is sometimes not enough.

"He's looked in the rear-vision mirror for the past four years," sports transition specialist Deidre Anderson says.

"When all you do is look behind, there ends up being nothing in front of you.

"We all make decisions that we look back on and go, 'what was I thinking?' But now he needs to forgive himself."

James Hird is trapped inside a story that he helped write, but others have defined. He is not blameless; he has admitted that much. He has paid a price; he has lost his place in the game he loves. He has lost the players he sought to lead.

Still for some, this will never be enough. The story of the Essendon drug saga and James Hird's role in it is still being written; this is just
the latest sad chapter.

 

[Freshwater]

Was James Hird ever emotionally equipped to fail? He was such a success as a player, probably from 12 years old. He would have been told by everyone how good he was. He was apparently a success in business too. When he did fail, he was told by those around him that it wasn't his fault but someone else's fault and that he should fight that result. Instead of learning that to be a true success you must learn to fail. It's a very humbling virtue and it helps shrink the Ego. Those that are truly successful often had failure when they were younger. I think those that were closest to James, had their own Ego problems that were attached to James', so if he failed they did too. That would not have been healthy for James. Blind Freddy could see James was in the wrong, but he, his ally's and supporters could not. They are his problem. He is altimately responsible for himself but they haven't helped. His critics probably haven't helped either, but at least they could see the problem for what it was. James just isn't emotionally equipped to fail, this is a big challenge for him and those closest to him and those who support him to learn to deal with.

 

[puntking]

feel so sorry for the hird family he should never got talked into coaching worst choice of his life

 

[Bombfire]

Was James Hird ever emotionally equipped to fail? He was such a success as a player, probably from 12 years old. He would have been told by everyone how good he was. He was apparently a success in business too. When he did fail, he was told by those around him that it wasn't his fault but someone else's fault and that he should fight that result. Instead of learning that to be a true success you must learn to fail. It's a very humbling virtue and it helps shrink the Ego. Those that are truly successful often had failure when they were younger. I think those that were closest to James, had their own Ego problems that were attached to James', so if he failed they did too. That would not have been healthy for James. Blind Freddy could see James was in the wrong, but he, his ally's and supporters could not. They are his problem. He is altimately responsible for himself but they haven't helped. His critics probably haven't helped either, but at least they could see the problem for what it was. James just isn't emotionally equipped to fail, this is a big challenge for him and those closest to him and those who support him to learn to deal with.

Did you know him growing up?

 

[Reg Grundy35]

James Hird's suspected overdose the latest sad chapter in Essendon doping saga
OPINION
TRACEY HOLMES
SUN JAN 08 06:36:36 EST 2017

To his critics, nothing James Hird says or does will ever be enough.

Almost a year ago the former Essendon coach, and before that, star player, opened a window on the guilt he felt for his role in Australia's longest running, and most publicised, sports doping scandal.

"I should have known more, I should've done more … I feel extremely guilty for that and bad for that and I can only apologise," he said.

Hird was speaking in front of a live audience at The Ethics Centre in Sydney, in an interview broadcast on ABC News24 and ABC NewsRadio, conceding that he had failed those closest to him — the players.

"I made a promise to Jobe Watson and the other players in 2010 … that I would create an environment for them where they could be the best possible athletes they could be, that they could achieve their dreams individually and that they could win premierships," he said.

"Quite obviously that environment hasn't occurred and for that I feel that they should feel let down by me, and I feel I have let them down."

But there were those who wanted more — a public prosecution, an interrogation with an admission that he lied and cheated throughout and he knew his players were being given banned substances.

It was an admission Hird could not give, one that investigators have never been able to prove.

Hird's penalties were not for anti-doping infractions, but for governance issues — a failure to adequately document the supplement program.

Some close to Hird say he is guilty of naivety, but an unforgiving and incredulous media has always suspected his guilt runs deeper.

Yet Australia's anti doping authority, ASADA, has never prosecuted Hird for doping offences. Its focus has always been on sports scientist Stephen Dank.

After his initial interview the sports doping police showed no further interest in Hird.

Dank was asked to show cause on a number of infractions, as were the players.

The players were cleared of their infractions by the AFL's anti-doping tribunal only to have the World Anti Doping Authority, WADA, appeal that decision.

WADA never called for Hird's role to be revisited, yet the suspicion lingers; the media scrutiny has never subsided.

Sections of the media have prosecuted this story more than reported it.

This week, Hird's hospitalisation for a suspected overdose shows the toll it has taken.

Interestingly, many of the critics who had cast Hird as the sport's ultimate villain, have been remarkably quiet.

Football fans may want to move on, but the scandal lingers. The players involved have either retired or are back in training for a new season, still carrying the burden of the four year struggle to prove their innocence.

Now this.

In a return to what has become a familiar scene since 2013, there are media crews camped on the Hird lawn. Think about that.


Inside the house are four children. The eldest has just finished year 12. For most of her teenage years she has not been able to look out the window and imagine, like other teenagers, what life has in store.

She has been shuttered from a world she must see as one of judgment made by those who could not possibly know.

The youngest knows nothing else. All the memories of his short life are of strange people with cameras and microphones parked out the front of his house like garden gnomes that speak.

As a father, James Hird has watched his family endure a malicious whispering campaign against him, slurs and hurtful unfounded rumours. His children cannot ignore the playground taunts about their father.

The 34 players — some who idolised James — feel let down. Some blame Hird, their playing hero, for not protecting them. They had put their faith in his hands.

How could he not know what was happening? That question must haunt James Hird still.

Friendships have been lost; others are strained.

Feeling guilty and apologising is sometimes not enough.

"He's looked in the rear-vision mirror for the past four years," sports transition specialist Deidre Anderson says.

"When all you do is look behind, there ends up being nothing in front of you.

"We all make decisions that we look back on and go, 'what was I thinking?' But now he needs to forgive himself."

James Hird is trapped inside a story that he helped write, but others have defined. He is not blameless; he has admitted that much. He has paid a price; he has lost his place in the game he loves. He has lost the players he sought to lead.

Still for some, this will never be enough. The story of the Essendon drug saga and James Hird's role in it is still being written; this is just the latest sad chapter.

holmes has been running this line for a couple of years. she was hand chosen for that interview with Hird. Just writing it again doesnt make it any more credible

 

[Freshwater]

Did you know him growing up?

No, but we are all part of this problem, we all love our footy and put good players on way too high a pedestal. We shouldn't but we do. I do find it interesting that some, maybe most of the best coaches had real struggles as players and learnt a lot from that struggle.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

The article neglects to mention, firstly and foremost, Hird's, at best, negligence that lead to the biggest doping scandal in Australian sporting history, that will hold this status quo for the next 100 years without doubt.

It also fails to mention Hird's duty of care, or lack thereof, for Evans, Robinson, Demetriou, all these people were thrown under a bus, don't think Hird, Amdola, Tania gave much of a thought for their well being.

I've felt sorry for Hird in all of this, but I've also had sympathy for Demetriou, Robinson and Evans etc, Dank and Caro excluded. The former are humans who have made mistakes, perhaps I'm too lenient on Robinson, did he set out to cheat? Did Hird set out to cheat?

Hird set out to take on the ASADA/WADA the AFL in a bloody war, he had right wing politcal advisors giving him advice, let's not ignore that fact.

He is to blame for the predicament he is in, not the AFL who tried helping him and the Essendon football club, let's not ignore that fact.

In the end, the 'truth never set Hird or Essendon free.

What should the AFL say anyway? Is it right for the AFL to say something? They are dammed if they do and dammed if they don't. Just let it be, and let Hird recover out of the media spot-light.

Hird has taken responsibility for his part, and his negligence, and apologised countless times.

But it doesn't matter for some as the hatchet job did exactly what it was designed to do and gave them a head on a stake.

To borrow a line from the reasonably poor article above: nothing he ever says or does will be enough for some.

It's all about the optics.

 

[Gavin Excell]

holmes has been running this line for a couple of years. she was hand chosen for that interview with Hird. Just writing it again doesnt make it any more credible

Other than Caro who are those seeking so called vengeance.

 

[Bombfire]

No, but we are all part of this problem, we all love our footy and put good players on way too high a pedestal. We shouldn't but we do. I do find it interesting that some, maybe most of the best coaches had real struggles as players and learnt a lot from that struggle.

So if you didn't know him growing up you don't know whether he had already dealt with failures in those important years.

 

[Andrew Mc]

Not a lot of point keeping this thread open if people can't sensibly post their opinions. The Bay 13 thread is more credible than this one.

 

[The_Wookie]

Not a lot of point keeping this thread open if people can't sensibly post their opinions. The Bay 13 thread is more credible than this one.

thread is not going to be a debate on what Hird did 5 years ago. There is a board for that.

 

[DERO]

And the French mistress image continues to display at the bottom of my screen. If already not in extremely poor taste, it is certainly so now. Can we please have it removed mods?

 

[Andrew Mc]

thread is not going to be a debate on what Hird did 5 years ago. There is a board for that.

My comment was related to a post that is still there. So, I guess it just depends which point of view people take. And the other board is more locked up than Fort Knox.

 

[Bombfire]

thread is not going to be a debate on what Hird did 5 years ago. There is a board for that.

Post 1032 is a good example wherein it mischievously goes on about Hird throwing various saga identities under a bus. Get rid of that junk.

 

[The_Wookie]

My comment was related to a post that is still there. So, I guess it just depends which point of view people take. And the other board is more locked up than Fort Knox.

I havent removed some earlier posts, its true. But we arent wanting discussion to follow those lines further.

Post 1032 is a good example wherein it mischievously goes on about Hird throwing various saga identities under a bus. Get rid of that junk.

report it.

And the French mistress image continues to display at the bottom of my screen. If already not in extremely poor taste, it is certainly so now. Can we please have it removed mods?

I have no idea what your talking about, but if its advertising it might be something for Chief to look at

 

[DERO]

Thanks The_Wookie

 

[Andrew Mc]

Post 1032 is a good example wherein it mischievously goes on about Hird throwing various saga identities under a bus. Get rid of that junk.

And 1033 is just a rehashed article of the past too. But a positive one from your point of view.

 

[Andrew Mc]

Thanks The_Wookie

Ohhh, I just got that one too - yeah, that's not cool (the picture that is).

 

[DERO]

What's the point of everyone coming in here and all saying the same thing (all the best, James)? What has happened in the past week is inextricably linked to what has happened over the past five years. There's no reason why it shouldn't be discussed, albeit in context and with respect.

To me it appears a little disingenuous and hypocritical but you make a fair point.