To Spinny, the Article

[RooDog]

to Spindoctor this is the article Mr Rucci referred to in Inside Football by Jim Main, i thought it was quite an interesting read!

FERAL WEBSITE MAKE NOT A THREAD OF SENSE

by Jim Main Wed July 14 Inside Football

Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy recently told me i was a "grumpy old man". I dont think he was joking

However the funny thing is thaat in writing this week's column i really am grumpy. Indeed angry or furious would be more appropriate descriptions.

I am writing as Essendon captain James Hird is in hospital with yet another serious injury and it would be impossible for any genuine football follower not to symphathise with one of the finest, most courageous players of the era.

Yes, i wrote earlier in the year that Hird should have been suspended over his outburst regarding a particular umpire, but that column had absolutely nothing to do with his immense football ability or his standing in the community.

I expressed my opinion honestly and i stand by it, but that does not mean to say a humble football scribe like myself cannot feel a sense of loss when a footballer of Hird's great character is seriously injured yet again

I was not at the Richmond-Essendon clash when Hird was injured as i had taken a rare afternoon off from football and instead, listened to the game on radio.

When Hird was injured i tried to get the latest possible information. The radio and television guys did a great job in the circumstances, but i thought there might be something on one of the football websites.

What a mistake! I made a hit on one of Australian football's most popular- and most scurrilous- websites. What i read made me sick as i didnt realise there were so many base supporters in our great game.

Firstly, i came accross a thread that suggested that as Hird was playing his 200th, it was "time to reach for the bucket- the Hird tugfest has begun". I kid you not!

There also was one line of "enough to make you spew", with the rider " No mention of squibbing it against the Hawks or being scared sh*tless by Scott in the 2001 Grand Final."

But, as they say in the advertisments, there is more, much more. And worse, much worse.

Some nong going by the tag of Morgoth (I assume it means a mixture of moron and the fabled English village of Gotham, noted for the foolishness of its inhabitants) on hearing of Hirds injury wrote:
"I havent been to church in years, but decided to go to midnight mass last night .... there is a God. He has really answered my prayers."

Another thread, by someone going by the tag of Lidge, suggested: " So much for braveheart fluff in the Hun (Herald Sun) this week. Wonder if William Wallace would've fought on after a whack in the guts or a cracked rib?"

Morgoth, so witty, then wrtoe: "Oh well, at least we can look forward to the countless sob stories in the press about 'braveheart'."

There are specific words to describe those who penned these comments and my Thesaurus lists them as blockheads, boneheads, cretins, d*ckheads, dimwits, dipsticks, dolts, dopes, dorks, dummies, dunces, fools, lamebrains, muttonheads, nitwits, numbskulls, pillocks, sikpletons and not to mention tossers.

How would these heroes go after standing under a pack, copping knees in the ribs? Or coming back from a severe facial injury? The words "Gutless wonders" also comes to mind.

I have not given the name of the website (presumably bigfooty though) as i do not wish to give it any more publicity than necessary. Many of the threads and comments are too ridiculous for words and abusive in the extreme.

I even got a mention several weeks ago, but someone warned that at present i am in a very litigous mood.

Dead Right!

The kind of garbage expressed on this site is beyond disdain, but it really would serve some of writers to cop a writ or two. They hide behind nicknames and think they are funny.

Yeah, as funny as an accidental knee in the back, a bruised lung and a couple of broken ribs.

And, while im on the subject, i also dislike a certain Syndey Swans' fansite as it is far too negative, with thread-writers whingeing about certain players, bagging the coach and even suggesting who needs to be traded.

Meanwhile, genuine football fans wish Hird the best and hope that he is back in action as soon as possible.

For Morgoth, Lidge and company, go juggle some buzzing chainsaws...

i think that is a very good article actually!!

adam

 

[Macca19]

Originally posted by RooDog
i think that is a very good article actually!!

adam

Other than the fact that Jim Main has a go at morgoth for being a moron....but then misquotes him and puts his name up against something that Mark Viduka actually wrote, not morgoth.

So if someones gonna call someone a moron, especially in a paper, its generally a good idea to get things right!!

 

[Jars458]

I can't believe that was written by a credible journalist

What was the point of it?

Everyone knows that on footy websites, there is a lot of absolute trash written. There is lots of good stuff as well.

Jim comes across as someone stuck for ideas if he has to write about that.

FWIW most of what he says is true regarding the idiots that have a go at Hird and use inflamatory language to do so.

However, what his has to do with Rucci and SpinDoctor I am even less clear about.

 

[RooDog]

Originally posted by Jars458
I can't believe that was written by a credible journalist

What was the point of it?

Everyone knows that on footy websites, there is a lot of absolute trash written. There is lots of good stuff as well.

Jim comes across as someone stuck for ideas if he has to write about that.

FWIW most of what he says is true regarding the idiots that have a go at Hird and use inflamatory language to do so.

However, what his has to do with Rucci and SpinDoctor I am even less clear about.

not 110% ill ask mr rucci what it had to do with him and spinny!

also i thought the general consenus of the article was spot on too!

 

[tribey]

Originally posted by Jars458
Everyone knows that on footy websites, there is a lot of absolute trash written.

Not to mention the trash that is spewed out by spectators. Last year when I went to the Carlton vs Hawthorn game at the MCG some Carlton nuffy standing behind us was yelling and laughing "WHERE'S PICIOANE?! HE'S IN THE HOSTABLE!! [sic]"* for a good five minutes before the start of the game.

It's always been a part of footy hasn't it?


*In reference to Picioane's facial injuries caused by Jess Sinclair a week or two earlier against the Kangaroos.

 

[DaveW]

Originally posted by Jars458
I can't believe that was written by a credible journalist

It wasn't.

Originally posted by dyertribe
Not to mention the trash that is spewed out by spectators. Last year when I went to the Carlton vs Hawthorn game at the MCG some Carlton nuffy standing behind us was yelling and laughing "WHERE'S PICIOANE?! HE'S IN THE HOSTABLE!! [sic]"* for a good five minutes before the start of the game.

It's always been a part of footy hasn't it?


*In reference to Picioane's facial injuries caused by Jess Sinclair a week or two earlier against the Kangaroos.

Yes it certainly sounded like an article written by a man who, if he evens goes to the footy, watches it all behind glass.

 

[tribey]

Originally posted by DaveW
It wasn't.

If it was Rebecca Wilson on the other hand...

 

[Stiffy_18]

Originally posted by DaveW
It wasn't.

Gold

 

[spindoctor]

I think Rucci is trying to claim that I am a feral supporter who should shut up like Main suggested, or alternatively that I shouldn't pay out journalists like Main is complaining about.

To both I say - I have made my case about why I have problems with Rucci. I have written it out sensibly and in point form and it has been agreed upon by most of the board who have read it.

Rucci's jjournalism has been of an incredibly poor standard this year over all past years, and yet he respond only by insinuating I am a 'feral supporter'. If that is the way he responds to criticism, he needs to take a good hard look at himself and realise that his credibility is pretty low when he is working for what amounts (in general consensus in Adelaide, in fact) as a gossip rag.

A new point to add to my list of gripes wit his reporting this year - his out-and-out support for Craig despite his obvious tactical flaws and the fact that he has performed no better than Ayres. Stinks like favouritism to me. A truly unbiased reporter would be talking about the strengths and weaknesses of all potential coaches - and admitting Craig isn't the best man for the job.

 

[jc67]

It annoys me that a lot of people dismiss all of us because of a few idiot posters.

 

[macca23]

Originally posted by RooDog

How would these heroes go after standing under a pack, copping knees in the ribs? Or coming back from a severe facial injury? The words "Gutless wonders" also comes to mind.

I have not given the name of the website (presumably bigfooty though) as i do not wish to give it any more publicity than necessary. Many of the threads and comments are too ridiculous for words and abusive in the extreme.

I even got a mention several weeks ago, but someone warned that at present i am in a very litigous mood.

Dead Right!

The kind of garbage expressed on this site is beyond disdain, but it really would serve some of writers to cop a writ or two. They hide behind nicknames and think they are funny.

Yeah, as funny as an accidental knee in the back, a bruised lung and a couple of broken ribs.

And, while im on the subject, i also dislike a certain Syndey Swans' fansite as it is far too negative, with thread-writers whingeing about certain players, bagging the coach and even suggesting who needs to be traded.

Meanwhile, genuine football fans wish Hird the best and hope that he is back in action as soon as possible.

That's a fair mixture of an article IMO.

I've got nothing but praise for his attack on those morons that participate in low-class threads such as the ones about James Hird.

The main AFL board is full of such threads. There are some good footy ones as well, but threads like these drag the overall standard down to a low low level.

But he loses me totally with these comments on the Sydney fansite "i also dislike a certain Syndey Swans' fansite as it is far too negative, with thread-writers whingeing about certain players, bagging the coach and even suggesting who needs to be traded"

God forbid that footy fans dare to have an opinion!!! Is he the only one allowed to have an opinion??? Has he never written anything that criticized players, coaches or any articles on trades???

Jim Main - it would have been a good article without this last part. Remember that Biblical saying "let he who is without sin cast the first stone??"

I seriously doubt that you're in a position to cast the first stone in this respect.

 

[WaynesWorld19]

Originally posted by jc67
It annoys me that a lot of people dismiss all of us because of a few idiot posters.

Brings the credibility of the board down due to some funsters.

 

[spindoctor]

If he's not religious though...

But anyway, clearly Rucci and Main would prefer if football fans praised their team absolutely win or loss like automated drones and left gossiping and scurrilous bitching to them.

 

[macca23]

By the way spinny. Your comments re Rucci's journalism this year carry a fair degree of weight.

The poison pen used for Gary Ayres has been replaced with a sugar coated one when writing of Neil Craig.

A much more balance perspective on Craig with some genuine comparisons to the other main candidadtes in Wallace and Eade would certainly give him a lot more credibility.

 

[_espoir]

Re: Re: To Spinny, the Article

Originally posted by macca23
God forbid that footy fans dare to have an opinion!!! Is he the only one allowed to have an opinion??? Has he never written anything that criticized players, coaches or any articles on trades???

come on macca!! we are "supporters" we know nothing i guess in their eyes only people that can criticize others have to either be in the footy field of empolyment or a ........news journalist. Its apparently their job and other their's

 

[tribey]

Re: Re: Re: To Spinny, the Article

Originally posted by _espoir
come on macca!! we are "supporters" we know nothing i guess in their eyes only people that can criticize others have to either be in the footy field of empolyment or a ........news journalist. Its apparently their job and other their's

Exactly right - and reading between the lines he says as much in his article... 'Well ummm uhhh I may've called for Hird's head after he went off at the umpies on TFS but ummm get a load of what this muppet says on the internet!'

It's like the army of print-media turkeys who gave/give Shane Crawford guff about the 'distraction' of his performances as Hank Bulger. I mean really, if "Mark Viduka" or "spindoctor" or "macca23" makes a derogatory comment about a particular player what are the realistic odds of that player reading it and him or his coach being offended by it?

However, the next player Jim Main or Michelangelo Rucci or Flaccid McHack lines up will more than likely hear about it, as will the rest of that paper/magazine's circulation.

 

[napsyd]

I too found this article very interesting. The part about the Swans Board is particularly shocking.

The suggestion that we should all follow whatever happens at our club blindly is very scarey. The debate and differences of opinion are what makes boards like this interesting.

I too am incensed by the concept that we should all be good little vegemites and believe whatever is stuffed down our gobs by the clubs and the journos. Hell, it would be bad if us footy fans started to think for ourselves, wouldn't it?

 

[RooDog]

i do have a problem with the bit about the swans board too actually, so what if they bag players, so what if they suggest who gets traded! We do that on here every day with crows players! But it is also done at the footy, eg. one fan may say to another "oh perhaps such and such might get traded at the end of the year." but from what i gather from the article this is okay because they are genuine footy supporters. What Main needs to realise when writing articles like this is that so are the people that post on these boards, id say atleast 75% of us crows supporters try to get to the home games!

 

[Mong]

Jim Main:
And, while im on the subject, i also dislike a certain Sydney Swans' fansite as it is far too negative, with thread-writers whingeing about certain players, bagging the coach and even suggesting who needs to be traded.

The words Sydney Swans fansite could easily be replaced with The Advertiser, or Rucci.

The differences are, as dyertribe pointed out, one source gets minor coverage among fans and one gets major coverage across the nation. As well as the supposed professional nature of one and not the other.

Yet both bear similar negativity and scurrilousness. Maybe that's the point Michelangelo wants to make. That he is as bad as the folks Jim Main is talking about.

Somehow I don't think that's his point. It is OUR point, though.


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