1. nothings escalated.. thats a falacy. you can just see it now. 2. nobody "hates" anybody. they just look for an easy score. i mean come on... when rival holligans are texting each toher where to meet up to have a fight its hardly ahtred, more like simply wanting to have a fight. 4. far worse has happened in the past in england than happens now.. all we see is internet warriros unless you are really unlukcy at a home game or do go to away games where you will have to be careful.
Yes, he has replaced the Jews of the Middle Ages as the explanation of all that is wrong with England ; be it pestilence or war, caricatures will be drawn of him & his big teeth and he will be described as "diabolical" and calls will made by moral leaders of scottish descent to drive him from these shores..... We really should get around to burning him at the stake shouldn't we!
It aint in football it's in people. I have noticed TV in the UK, the comedy is all focused on slagging off people. Mock the week Buzzcocks and all of that sheite. Add to that the hate the tabloids tap into, the hate the daily mail taps into. You take someone's anger and give it an outlet. The commies figured that out a lon time ago Luis Suarez has become an outlet for people's ALREADY existing bottled up anger at things not related through the media, they tap into that. Do you really think Fistian Smith is a balanced individual with his outlook? Football is not responsible for that guy's issues Slating people has become a UK national past time. What the fk is with that about? I don't watch and never have watched much TV, My sons don't watch TV at all. TV for young minds is bad bad bad, why, when it gives you incorrect information it gets absorbed and cannot be challenged as it is a one was media device, and they are not even aware the information, which is mostly incorrect and biased, is being absorbed.
That's a great post & hits the nail squarely on the head imo. I would add that the internet age has exacerbated the issue, as forums such as this can re-inforce the 'hatred', with faceless people making hate filled comments that they would never dream of doing in a face to face situation. Which can cause social outrage which can then permeate to the terraces.
I remember seeing something in New Scientist about how the more tight-knit the group, the stronger the overall feeling of dislike towards people who belong to other groups. It's like an ingrained social function or maybe an old evolutionary trait. Not that it becomes excuseable through this explanation.
i tell you what boys and girls, in comparison to some of the ****e on this board over the last few days, this is a very interesting discussion.
This is true, but only in isolation, either through physical location or through information isolation. Though the latter is not ignorance. Both can be negated by bringing your kids up is a socially responsible and cooperative\teamwork environment with the important principle of always questioning everything.
haha, you would as well, you bitter auld kopite But joking aside, that's a great point, as I'm sure we could happily have a pint & some banter before a derby, as (no offence intended to anyone here) we're both from the City & 'get' the rivalry & where it should start & end. I find most of the most vitriolic abuse on the net comes from OOT's who maybe don't get the 'banter' element, as they they've not grown up with it.
Put that way, I can agree and admit a certain amount of jealously being an OOT. The "rivals" I have banter with in the pub are mostly united fans as we don't have that many Blues around (not a dig lol) its not vitriolic because they are largely my friends but banter is absent or at least more difficult on the internet without facial expressions, tone of voice or misinterpretation of personality. There's also an absence of consequence. You don't see the reaction to appalling comments one makes or the hurt it may cause.
No, I get that. As in Ireland the majority of fans who follow the EPL are either United or Liverpool supporters, so that makes sense, the banter you lads have will be similar to the 'red / blue' banter we grew up with. I also agree about the lack of context & facial expression on the net, however, it's the lack of boundaries exacerbated by the lack of consequence that's the key, abeit this is slowly changing, with people finding that the net is no longer a medium that is anonymous, should they cross certain lines.
It goes even deeper than rival teams and who you support and is part of the structure of the mind in some respects. In the 50's and 60's Psychological experiments (since banned under an ethical code) were performed to understand "in groups" and outsiders. One experiment consisted of splitting a group of, from what I can recall, about 40 people into two groups and designating one set as inmates and the other as jailers. It was set in a disused prison and had to be called off after 3 days as the jailers had all started to brutalize the inmates and the inmates had started to become placid and put upon. I recall another experiment I read where people were talked into pressing a button to give another person in a separate room an electric shock. The voltage was slowly increased and each press of the button was accompanied by horrific screaming and pain through the tannoy from the room where the victim was supposedly strapped to a chair. Out of 20 (ish cant remember) people four were prepared to press the button when the voltage had been increased to a fatal level, followed by screaming and silence. Of course the screaming was fake and the humming and noise of real electricity was a recording but these people did as they were instructed despite having no personal knowledge or issue with the victim. These experiments have been banned as they left long term scars on the people asked to do the beating and electrocuting but if you study very, and I mean very, basic psychology as soon as you are associated with a group mindsets change. You can see how extreamist groups develope and thrive. I have a habit on here of pretending all the anti Liverpool posters are really fans of the club, and then you can argue the merits of the comment and not the person, not that I ever argue, can't be ars*d. Funny went out with a girl from east Manchester for over 5 years, keen United fan, her best mate had four united season tickets, she and her husband went each home game and if she wasn't taking her two nephews my girlfriend and I were invited (though hand on heart I never went once). The four of us became the usual two couples that socialize a lot, going out for meals, etc. They were both really humorous (for mancs ) and really knew their football and were fun to be around, apart from when Liverpool came into the conversation with regard to united. To say they became mean, obnoxious, and in my mind childish was an understatement so we avoided direct conversations involving both clubs, but a great example of an ingroup and an outsider.
When we start getting references to the New Scientist popping up in posts it really is time to get back to the usual ****e... Somebody made the point earlier that there is so much 'hateful' stuff going on in the media (the reference was made to Buzzcocks & MTW) and I think we are slowly getting more and more jaded with the whole thing. I used to laugh my head off at the stuff Frankie Boyle used to do, but now it just seems so one-dimensional and 'hateful' in a very limited way. As I said, back to the usual ****e.... GKRK
Yeah I think that's fair comment. I was born in the '70s so grew up through school during the '80s at a time when the rivallry was probably at its zenith in terms of us both being massively succesful at the same time. The banter was endless and I loved it hence why I still consider our biggest game of the year (or rather my biggest game of the year) to be the derby. As much as I'd have laughed and ripped every blue in sight if you had been relegated (instead of bunging Hans Segers to throw the ball in his own net) I'd have been gutted not to have derby games to go to.
