Really? Stick to talking about things you know about, although that will severely restrict you. Or could you have word with my son who is an asthmatic. Or some of the people who have treated him who would tell you a lot of what has been written on here is absolute drivel.
How do you support your team? By going and sitting quietly and applauding politely or by getting vociferously behind them?
This bit is a total red herring. How do we stop bombs being brought into stadia? Well we can't really can we? We just trust people not to. RE the top one, if you could provide evidence of 1 to prove it's unsafe that'd be a starting point. It isn't our responsibility to go and find out whether you're right, you have to prove your own point. RE number 3: I don't know if you've been near one but they really don't obscure your view at all, it's not exactly a wall of opaque smoke being let off. Look at the pictures from Goodison, it's more like an amber mist. RE number 4: Smoke bombs and atmosphere are hardly a modern, tacky thing of just copying the Americans. It's this sterile situation where enjoyment is banned so as to allow everyone to enjoy the game that is the unnecessary, modern nonsense.
PLT, the bit in bold is not a red herring at all and in fact the very reason I suspect they are banned. Whilst your usual coloured smoke flares are relatively safe so long as they are made properly, smoke flares can be made in a variety of different ways with a variety of different ingredients. Some can be highly toxic if fumes are inhaled, some can burn at temperatures of and above 2000 degrees celcius. If some ignorant cretin brought the wrong one, I'm sure you can imagine the disastrous consequences from it being used in a tightly packed stand.
I noticed during the Palace vs Fulham game that they (the broadcaster) turn their crowd microphone down every time there's a chant with a swear word in. What a load of bollocks that is. Who are they worried about offending there?
Actually, nobody needs to provide evidence of anything. The status quo is that smoke devices are illegal in football stadia, and that's the way it will remain.
The question of whether the flares/smokebombs are safe in the right hands is bit of a side issue. Are they safe in the hands of moronic idiots? Lets be honest, there are moronic idiots who support all football teams (none on this forum I hasten to add) who shouldn't be allowed anywhere near pyrotechnics. Can you guarantee they won't get hold of them and injure somebody? And if somebody DOES get injured by one, there is evidence this has happened already, they WILL sue the club. That is the culture we live in now. That is why they shouldn't be allowed in densely populated enclosed spaces.
No, I don't think that it is a bit dramatic: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/flare-kills-football-fan-at-world-cup-qualifying-match-1505057.html An isolated incident, but there is the Bolivian boy, also killed and mentions of injuries and use in rioting (hooliganism). But I didn't really make points, did I? I asked questions and those questions were based on the premise that these bombs / flares are very popular and that making them legitimate will increase (significantly) their use by a broader cross-section of those attending games. The questions do look at some of the potential for change in how football games might be stewarded and policed and how the cost of that might be passed onto the supporter. These are reasonable consequences that legalizing these pyrotechnics could have. Society is full of idiots who would get a kick out of enlivening the West standers, as you call them. I speak out against the unnecessary policing, just as many do, I also detest the way football support has had an history of being treated with an iron fist, but the real people I detest are the thugs, hooligans and football-terrorists who I watched make draconian control necessary. These subjects must be debated and discussed so that reasonable compromise can be achieved. It's not just a other excuse for headstrong posters to use it as a means of setting themselves aside as the only ones that really understand what being a football supporter is; especially when their memory span of what caused many of the concerns is very short and bereft of detail. Perhaps we should ensure that someone who wants free-for-all pyrotechnics is given a place on the football commission; at least we would be ensured a few fireworks.
I think you missed my point. I'm well aware there are different types of smoke bombs and also flares. My point was that this idea it would take so much more effort to screen is nonsense. There's all kinds of dangerous things that could easily be brought into stadiums but aren't simply because the vast majority of people are good people. You can't just go banning big categories of things because one small sub-category of them might be dangerous. There are plenty of awkward rules which the stewards struggle to police at the moment. Allowing safe smoke bombs but banning flares would just be another one. Since we're debating the pros and cons of it I'd suggest that's bullshit. If someone makes an assertion in any debate it is their responsibility to back it up. If it isn't backed up people will rubbish it. Yourself and others have been asked several times to back up your claims but have failed to do so every time. Tea and coffee are very dangerous in the hands of the wrong people but for some reason they aren't showering us with boiling liquid while in a tightly confined space with no hope of escape. Seriously these 'what if?' arguments are ridiculous. It's the same crap that the Police use to justify herding us around like criminals.
He hasn't hospitalised anyone ever, away from a rugby pitch. But he's been brought up to sort out his own problems and to look after his little brother, especially against those cnuts who think it amusing to take the piss out of his medical condition. And, yes, I am very proud of him.
Tea and coffee are very dangerous in the hands of the wrong people but for some reason they aren't showering us with boiling liquid while in a tightly confined space with no hope of escape. Seriously these 'what if?' arguments are ridiculous. It's the same crap that the Police use to justify herding us around like criminals.[/QUOTE] The tea and coffee at the stadium is at a lower temperature than your kettle at home provides. Seems someone was preparing for your argument! Seriously though, we live in a litigation society. These "what if" scenarios are what keep us safe/prevent us from being sued.
Sounds like one of my lads. And no one was taking the piss. I never take the piss out of medical conditions having problems of my own.One of my lads is asthmatic. He played rugby and football. In fact he was at a school of excellence but lost out when he missed a few sessions after a particularly bad attack. Had a lot of problems when he was younger. Always had trouble on windy days. Yet the silly sod started smoking in his teens, something which caused quite a lot of arguments. Yet he has never had an attack which has been put down to that or being in a smoky atmosphere. When rapeseed is harvested is a different matter. Other attacks are seemingly random.
Someone could stick a pen or pencil in your eye, or a key. A credit card or even a season pass could be adapted and made into a weapon. Should they be banned? Older fans will remember the "Millwall cosh". A newspaper folded a particular way which made a pretty formidable weapon. So we had better stop anyone taking a newspaper in. And as for umbrellas...
Actually, I don't think you can take newspapers in. I've seen people told to leave them outside more than once.
I don't get how flares provide an atomosphere, that's my biggest beef. They don't do anything for me. I thought most people on here (Agro, PLT, DMD...) where fans of "protecting British culture" and bollocks like that. Foreigners use flares y'know?
That wouldn't surprise me. At least not in Hull. Probably worried someone might rip them up and throw highly dangerous piece of paper in the air. At BP, when we played Chelsea in the cup, if was teeming down with rain and the police took an umbrella off a bloke who was well into his 70s. Some people pointed out how ludicrous this was and were threatened with arrest.
