Folks, this might be a bit of a lengthy post, however events since Friday night's "drama" have got me thinking.....
Putting the Adam Goodes incident to one side, on a broader scale I am saddened by the increase in personal abuse directed towards players and officials (and even the media) over the last five or so years.
I'm not talking about crowd abuse - although from a personal viewpoint I will probably never again attend an AFL match as I would be unable to bite my tongue at certain comments made by supporters of my own team about perennial whipping boys Matt Suckling and Ryan Schoenmakers, or indeed about opposition players. It probably puts me in the very low percentage, however I have never understood how purchasing a ticket "entitles" someone to say "whatever they want" to a player whilst hiding in a crowded area. Honestly, it's only footy.
The bigger problem though - in my view anyway - is what occurs on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, as well as online forums like Bigfooty. In essence, what exists is a vicious cycle. I (like a lot of you probably) subscribe/follow pages for various newspapers (Herald Sun) and media outlets (Triple M, Fox Footy etc) and a huge part of their business is the ability to encourage fan interaction/responses/opinions relating to footy issues (such as Adam Goodes' war dance).
Unfortunately, we live in a somewhat bitter, jealous, spiteful, angry society in general. I lived most of my childhood during the 1980's and although I didn't follow an actual VFL/AFL team until 1990, I grew up loving the players as well as the sport. My school diary would contain stickers of anyone - I even had the "cuddly" Brisbane Bears foil logo sticker! Whether it was a premiership captain or a second year player, it didn't matter to me. If I could fill the album - or even collect their footy card too! - I was a happy as Larry.
I can't recall a single "flog" or "spud" (or even someone who was "gutless") amongst them.
Today, everyone is a critic. Whilst some are reasoned, a lot are vindictive, uneducated, agenda-driven and callous. The Adam Goodes incident is a classic example. Initially, I felt that his war dance was overly theatrical. Outside that casual observation, I couldn't give a stuff what he did, because it didn't affect or threaten me. However, some saw fit to launch personal, hate-filled attacks on him once again using social media platforms. Why? Does it really affect a casual viewer THAT much? Really??
I reckon there is an "8/10" theory in play here. If you look at almost any general footy-related news item where online reader feedback is facilitated (though message board or via the "reply to post/tweet" function), 8 out of every 10 comments will be negative and you can bet "leftie" that some of those will be personally abusive. We need to take a big step back (to quote Eddie McGuire) here. The fun is being sucked out of the sport by an often deceitful media who hound and harass and harangue players, coaches and officials to an unhealthy degree. The minutiae of every bloody thing is picked apart and analysed to an extent that inevitably generates "the story".
The supporter is no longer trusted to make his or her mind up. We are fed half-truths and concocted rumour-based "stories". Your club bias then dictates which particular version you follow. The Essendon ASADA investigation is a classic example of this. In the Red and Black corner, you had Bombers supporters defending their players, accused on a daily basis of being "undeniable" drug cheats. In the other corner at supporters of 17 clubs, pointing an accusing finger and demanding a myriad of punishments. The Age (Fairfax) became the prosecution and the Herald Sun (News Limited) the defence. Today, we still have no f**king idea who is up who, or who did what....or even if who's on first still!
My point (elongated as it has been) is that it is still OK to enjoy footy. Last night I watched a game between Adelaide and Fremantle, neither of whom I support. The game saw three phenomenal goals (Eddie Betts x 2 and Michael Barlow at the end) and a head-to-head battle for the ages between Patrick Dangerfield and Nathan Fyfe. It was the game at its purest and most exciting. In fact, I actually leapt (poetic licence here folks!) and clapped the Michael Barlow goal.
Adam Goodes performing a ten second war dance as a once-off during a round celebrating indigenous players - and the ensuing vitriol - is not what I will take from the weekend, or comment on whilst using my social media account. Instead, I will recall the sportsmanship of Gary Rohan on Friday night, the beauty of Fyfe, the bullocking of Dangerfield, the audacity of Betts, the glee of Bob Murphy following his left-foot snap yesterday, Dusty's 400th and Richmond's new-found discipline.
We need to take our game back!!
