Roast Where's the respect?

[witsend]

Now I know many people here will say "Let's fly under the radar/who cares what others think etc"" and I don't really mind as long as we continuye to improve, but I am staggered by the lack of respect in the media and AFL world in general to our performances so far.
I awoke to glowing reports for Hawthorn for it's sustained 4Q effort against Premiership challenger Western Bulldogs.
"Premiership Challenger"???!!! Give me a break! They are 12th coming off a 20+ goal shellacking by West Coast. They desperately and unsuccessfully played Gilbee and Lake who really should be in the VFL right now. Hall is a shadow of his former self. Yet Hawks who we already beat, are genuine Flag contenders.
Collingwood, who we also recently beat, are flag favs but thats to be expected.
Yet Geelong, who are 9-0 after losing arguably the games best player, 10 year coach and trying to install a new game plan, are "struggling/lucky/too old/no forward line".
We have massive room for improvement, particularly up forward, but our defence is aruably as good as it has ever been. Our MF is elite. let's be honest. We went into Saturday night against a pumped up GC, with a 2nd game ruckman who was all but knocked out in the 1st quarter. Of course we're gonna struggle at clearances!
God help the AFL when we settle into our structure and lineup.

 

[Poetic Justice]

I completely agree.

The only way I can see things getting better is the following happening:

Geelong to take care of Western Bulldogs @ SS R11 by 10 goals
Geelong to take care of Hawthorn @ MCG R12 by 6 goals
Geelong to take care of St Kilda @ MCG R13 by 6 goals

We need convincing wins over Hawks and Saints in those two weeks. Wins by at least more than a couple of goals.

Only one of these results I feel wont happen, but if we can get close to this result then perhaps we'll begin to have people rate us.

 

[vinum coupe]

I think people are just trying to identify a premiership threat to Collingwood.
Right now it isn't us.

But I also dont care if we aren't rated. I've had 4 excellent years of hearing our club being talked up.

 

[Generalissimo]

I think commentators are sick of us having been so good for so long. They want to talk someone else up for a change.

 

[Roadie]

I enjoyed BT's attempt at downplaying our home record during the Hawks/WB game by stating we only play interstate teams at home. Nevermind the side he was trying to talk up the chances of (Doggies) is one of the teams we've beaten at home.

 

[Partridge]

Now I know many people here will say "Let's fly under the radar/who cares what others think etc"" and I don't really mind as long as we continuye to improve, but I am staggered by the lack of respect in the media and AFL world in general to our performances so far.

I don't know why people are desperate for the respect of other clubs fans or the media or whoever. My feeling is you'll never get it so don't waste your time trying.

Bigfooty is a good reflection of the mindset of footy fans - most are hypocritical, narrow-minded, petty and jealous. You aren't going to get praise or genuine adulation if your team is successful from anyone outside your club. Won't happen. They're also sheep; you only need Mike Sheahan or Robert Walls or some other media halfwit to make a pronouncement 3 times and it's accepted as gospel by an awful lot of people (for example - Joel Selwood ducks his head).

Look at Saturday night. Karmichael Hunt kicked ONE goal, and that has generated nonstop publicity and praise. The fact that his immediate opponent was clearly best on ground and tore him apart (and kicked more goals in a game than he ever has before) has not been mentioned.

All that the club needs to do is keep winning. Focus on that and whatever false praise is desired will come.

 

[witsend]

I don't know why people are desperate for the respect of other clubs fans or the media or whoever. My feeling is you'll never get it so don't waste your time trying.

Bigfooty is a good reflection of the mindset of footy fans - most are hypocritical, narrow-minded, petty and jealous. You aren't going to get praise or genuine adulation if your team is successful from anyone outside your club. Won't happen. They're also sheep; you only need Mike Sheahan or Robert Walls or some other media halfwit to make a pronouncement 3 times and it's accepted as gospel by an awful lot of people (for example - Joel Selwood ducks his head).

Look at Saturday night. Karmichael Hunt kicked ONE goal, and that has generated nonstop publicity and praise. The fact that his immediate opponent was clearly best on ground and tore him apart (and kicked more goals in a game than he ever has before) has not been mentioned.

All that the club needs to do is keep winning. Focus on that and whatever false praise is desired will come.

I have my own frustration at the lack of the respect, and I'm sure many other Cats fans do.
I wanted to create a thread where we can express it other than the Bay.
My frustration boiled over after hearing Robert Walls on Saturday night proclaiming that the Suns were "toying" with Geelong, moments before we embarked on an 11 goal to 1 tear.

 

[Big Nasty]

I'm really getting annoyed at the lack of respect for Selwood.

He's been the in from player of the competition alongside Franklin this past 4-5 weeks, and yet all he gets talked about is "cheating", and not how bloody good his football's been. And yet Judd finally has a BOG after a quiet month or so, and they can't stop having a tug.

 

[Baudolino]

I don't know why people are desperate for the respect of other clubs fans or the media or whoever. My feeling is you'll never get it so don't waste your time trying.

Bigfooty is a good reflection of the mindset of footy fans - most are hypocritical, narrow-minded, petty and jealous. You aren't going to get praise or genuine adulation if your team is successful from anyone outside your club. Won't happen. They're also sheep; you only need Mike Sheahan or Robert Walls or some other media halfwit to make a pronouncement 3 times and it's accepted as gospel by an awful lot of people (for example - Joel Selwood ducks his head).

Look at Saturday night. Karmichael Hunt kicked ONE goal, and that has generated nonstop publicity and praise. The fact that his immediate opponent was clearly best on ground and tore him apart (and kicked more goals in a game than he ever has before) has not been mentioned.

All that the club needs to do is keep winning. Focus on that and whatever false praise is desired will come.

True, and it's especially ironic given the fact that BigFooty patrons inexplicably hate everyone in the football media. The media is abhorred, and yet their opinions and agendas are reproduced and perpetuated. It's absolutely bizarre.

Admittedly, in most social spheres - not just football and sport in general - you're a pariah if you have the audacity to compliment journalists and/or expert commentators. But the vitriol here on BigFooty is disproportionate, obscene, and lacking in perspective.

AFL writing and broadcasting is of an unbelievably high standard here in Australia - quality is diverse, to be sure, but every conceivable niche in football is given its place (see: TAC Cup Future Stars, Emma Quayle's draft analysis, Martin Flanagan's columns, etc etc), and most of all coverage is deeper and more insightful than that of any other sport I know.

No one gives the media any credit for this. Instead, as evidence of the alleged mediocrity of the media, we get lame cliche's like "statistics don't mean anything" when pundits furnish their opinions with empirical evidence. I mean, what can you say to that kind of mindless drivel? Of course statistics don't mean anything on their own - they're simply a means of using objective facts to back up a subjective point (a hypothesis), and a way of adding depth to the equation. There is no downside to statistics, and thankfully AFL fans are given more information about the game and the players than most sports.

Compare AFL to soccer, for instance. Soccer coverage is, as far as I'm concerned at least, anachronistic and frankly years behind AFL. As fans of Australia's greatest sport, when we open up the paper the morning after a game, we're met with a huge table of statistics - recording goals, behinds, tackles, hit outs, hit outs to advantage, contested possessions, uncontested possessions, inside 50s, rebound 50s, clearances, marks, clangers, 1 percenters, and more (a hell of a lot more in fact) - whereas what to soccer fans get? A comparatively pathetic list of stats limited to goals, yellow and red cards, and sometimes if they're lucky the possession stats and shots on target.

And this bleeds in to commentary as well. If you sift through the endless references to "structures" and other meaningless jargon, mainstream AFL commentatary actually has some great callers capable of offering genuine insight (I have no comprehension as to why Garry Lyon is despised for instance, he's a brilliant student of the game). Apart from one or two very rare exceptions, soccer does not have a single pundit capable of scrutinising the game to the same degree (one of the main reasons being that they don't have the tools at their disposal in the form of statistics). I'm generalising of couse, but I think it's a fair generalisation - fans in England actually have to go online to sites like Zonalmarking.com to get anything approaching intelligent tactical analysis.

Just by way of comparison: Martin Tyler - English soccer's doyen of cliche-ridden, plattitude-based commentary - is for some reason apotheosised as the godfather of sports commentators. We have a bevvy of fantastic AFL callers and special comments guys, yet I can't think of one who enjoys the same reputation.

It's ridiculous.

/rant.

 

[bingle]

I'm really getting annoyed at the lack of respect for Selwood.

^^^^^ yes

nothing does my head in more than people b!+ching about selwood getting frees for high contact. him being publicly crucified for developing a method of avoiding being tackled correctly that is still yet to be successfully countered really baffles me. the only thing worse is those numb skull people who say he is soft. sometimes im laughing that hysterically at games when i hear that i cant even respond.

Also the day Geelong hit the head lines and are the number one topic in town is the day they string a couple of losses together. I dont think it is so much a geelong hating thing, far from it, i think its more the football media's obsession with negativity. they sell more papers, get more viewers and get more money that way. a classic example is the fact that the number one football story the monday after our 2009 granny win was fev getting the a$$ and how he was the worst person in the history of the universe.
Negativity. Dogs, Saints and Roos have had a lot more publicity this season than the cats. why? they're under performing.
Everyone who was so keen to right off the cats as being "gone" starting from the third quarter of last years prelim up until now have been sitting and waiting patiently to say i told you so. Lets just hope we dont have to hear that crap at all this year.

 

[Baudolino]

I'm really getting annoyed at the lack of respect for Selwood.

He's been the in from player of the competition alongside Franklin this past 4-5 weeks, and yet all he gets talked about is "cheating", and not how bloody good his football's been. And yet Judd finally has a BOG after a quiet month or so, and they can't stop having a tug.

While I echo your sentiments re: the Selwood ducking controversy - the hyperbole is absurd, to say the least - what you've mentioned there about Judd is just one-eyed fan syndrome conspicuously manifesting itself. You're only reading the negative stuff about Selwood and ignoring the media praise, and you're only reading the positive stuff about Judd and ignoring the (still) ongoing debate about whether he deserved to win the Brownlow last year. When Harry Taylor appeared on Before the Game a couple of weeks ago and predicted Judd to win another 2 Brownlows, Mick Molloy asked "and how many will he deserve?" That kind of comment would piss Carlton supporters off no end.

 

[CF]

nice posts Baudolino

 

[GFC123]

The media and people in general just don't want us sitting up top being a "challenger" to Collingwood, they all expected us to slide and so even though we are 9-0 they arn't paying much attention because they still don't see us as a threat. The media is all over Hawthorn and the "best" (which he isn't) player in the comp, Buddy. Give me a f****** break .

 

[nbashan]

nice posts Baudolino

+1

Well said Baudolino, while I think the negativity we see from fans and the media is occasionally understandable, it occurs far too often and is usually biased and short-sighted. Please post more often, I enjoyed your rant!

 

[thejester]

LAST week's win over Collingwood underscored Geelong's flag credentials, all the best of the Cats on show. And in a different manner, so arguably did last night's thrilling two-point win over Carlton.

Few believed they could, but the Cats have stayed ahead of the pack.


Geelong in its dotage remains formidable. Can its remarkable four-year run continue? Scott warns against premature adulation, but these facts are compelling: they're 5-0, have few injuries and another six games at the Cattery.

That took me five minutes on the Age website. Seriously, people on here need to buy a can of harden the **** up and get over it - there are 16 other teams in the competition, not every article needs to be about how awesome we are.

 

[kd35]

I'm fine with flying under the radar and not having half as many puff pieces pumping us up but I can't stand the potting of Geelong as lucky and all those terms. You create your own luck and some of the match reports speak of Geelong losing yet the margin says otherwise.

 

[FoxC]

We're becoming so precious that we demand constant "respect" for Geelong after almost every round when the season has not reached its half way. We could easily have lost a few games. The flag is not won in May. If we don't have the premiership cup, no-one will care at season's end how well we were doing after 9-10 rounds.

 

[Catsace]

It would be nice to be given absolute positive press about our season so far, but i'm not really worried if we are not accorded 'respect' by anyone in the media or even BF contributers. As Cat fans as we all are and as i would think that Scott and co would emphasise, it's all about what we do and how it goes by the end of the season.

Remember how North under Laidley would pipe up every season going back some time (2005-07-08) as an example demanding 'Where's our respect' in the media after winning a few games on end. Usually they would air their grievances toward the media, Mike Sheahan would then write something saying that North are doing well....then they'd fall flat on their faces with a crap effort against an also-ran or particularly a contender and their calls of respect would look like the puffery that it always was.

All that i am worried about is that we keep our players injury free and finely tuned, we are 9-0 and are in a luxuriant position of being able to just about roll the arm over to make a top-4 position. We are bringing in young blokes also, so as someone mentioned in another thread.....rebuilding while contending. From watching last night's game the Dogs should be a win, and then we play the Hawks and Saints.

Basically, no amount of puffery in the media or by BF posters at this point of the season does anything to change the big picture. But i will say, if Geelong can take out the flag this year, we'll have adulation showered upon ourselves to our hearts content. That's all i'm hoping to see!!

 

[krisholio14]

I'm actually loving the treatment we are getting at the moment.

Shows we are a good side

 

[Sarah2Donohue]

I have my own frustration at the lack of the respect, and I'm sure many other Cats fans do.
I wanted to create a thread where we can express it other than the Bay.
My frustration boiled over after hearing Robert Walls on Saturday night proclaiming that the Suns were "toying" with Geelong, moments before we embarked on an 11 goal to 1 tear.

I missed that comment...Wallsy did "a Laney", who would've tipped it


On the respect part, I think team & form analysts were being reasonable in their predictions/forecasts the Catters would fall away from this year. I know I'm constantly pinching myself after each round at what we keep achieving .

 

[SJ]

We're certainly not at our best. I'm more concerned about how Geelong are looking to improve rather than how the media rates our current form. Seriously, who cares?

 

[Beth]

We aren't playing brilliantly and are 9-0 and it is pissing everyone off. We've been one the best if not the best team of the last 4-5 years. The meeja is bored with us. Go read the articles on us 3 odd years ago (08 GF notwithstanding) it was a love fest.

I agree with Krisholio I hope we keep boring the crap out of everybody!

As for respect I would reckon we have the respect of 16 other footy clubs and thats what counts.

 

[Hoops]

toughen up princesses.

Who cares what they think

 

[Catsace]

As for respect I would reckon we have the respect of 16 other footy clubs and thats what counts.

Remember the joy Adelaide, Carlton, etc had when they beat us last year and the energy in their theme song? That's a sign that other clubs treasure a win against us.

Our respect is also accorded by the fact that all clubs continue to do their utmost to knock us off our perch after all this time, that's what the Pies will need to deal with, can they be the hunted for a few more seasons without feeling the pressure?

Geelong are also probably not the hunted now, and the club is probably very happy at that also.

 

[witsend]

LAST week's win over Collingwood underscored Geelong's flag credentials, all the best of the Cats on show. And in a different manner, so arguably did last night's thrilling two-point win over Carlton.

Few believed they could, but the Cats have stayed ahead of the pack.


Geelong in its dotage remains formidable. Can its remarkable four-year run continue? Scott warns against premature adulation, but these facts are compelling: they're 5-0, have few injuries and another six games at the Cattery.

That took me five minutes on the Age website. Seriously, people on here need to buy a can of harden the **** up and get over it - there are 16 other teams in the competition, not every article needs to be about how awesome we are.

This is the Geelong Board on a Footy tragics' internet forum. Where else can we vent our spleens?
I am just expressing the view that MANY in the media are rushing headlong to predict our demise. despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary. We see Selwood insulted on a daily basis by pricks like Lloyd, our win/losss ratio diminished by Sheehan and the list goes on.
I know why, and ultimately I don't care as long as we win, but I don't have to ****ing like it!